Recent drought impact reports from near Cincinnati. Click on the county for the reports:
It is important to remember as dry or drought conditions persist to water landscape plants correctly and measure water you are applying. Read more>>>
As we head toward fall, you may be interested to know that Arbor Doctor plants trees and shrubs. We also work with qualified landscape designers and installers for larger jobs.
Recently, I put together a list for a client who was interested in replacing a small tree in a front corner home landscape location. These are all trees which would work in such a location and are generally low in maintenance needs. Additionally, planting trees correctly tends to cut down on maintenance problems. The right tree in the right place, planted correctly!
Photos and information on serviceberry can be found here and here.
Other trees which could work include (with links):
Paperbark maple or Girard’s hybrid maple
Tanyosho pine (photos are of plants planted in 1966, so these are atypically large)
Cascade Falls weeping bald cypress
Spring Grove western arborvitae
Whether you want us to work on helping an existing tree or price a new tree, we can do either! Contact us today!
The Arbor Doctor has his own recommended list on the Plantplaces website. This excellent, comprehensive virtual arboretum is a wonderful resource. See the Arbor Doctor’s recommended list here>>>.
The black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) is perhaps my favorite tree and merits more widespread use. Black tupelo goes by many names, including black gum, sour gum, tupelo, bee gum, and pepperidge tree.
Black tupelo is a beautiful native tree with few problems and beautiful foliage. It turns a brilliant scarlet in fall. The winter outline is also picturesque with fine twigs and sharply horizontal branching. The tree grows in native stands in parts of Hamilton County, especially to the west and north, and in adjoining portions of the tri-state. There are many fine trees in southeast Indiana and Warren County, Ohio.
Black tupelo can vary in growth rates from slow to relatively fast. An adaptable tree, it will withstand dry, hot locations but will grow slowly and may be stunted. Alkaline clay soils disturbed by construction can result in iron chlorosis, but this tree is not as sensitive to such conditions as pin oak, red maple, and river birch.
On the other hand, the tree can be quite vigorous if given adequate moisture and fertilization, potentially growing to a rather large size. I planted a six foot tree 25 years ago. That tree is thriving and is now nearly 50 feet tall with glossy, deep green leaves which turn a fluorescent combination of yellow, orange, and red in fall. I have seen trees 80-90 feet tall, including a stand of large, old trees in a central section of Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum.
Black tupelo is also the namesake for a famous food maker. Pepperidge tree is the common name in New England, and the Pepperidge Farm brand was born in a farm named after a giant Pepperidge tree. Read more here>>>.