PreferredConsumer.com | Don't Just Buy. Know.

Trees & Shrubs: Articles - Page 1

Selecting Conifers for the Garden -- Like so many of us, conifers really love the fall season. The brilliant sunshine, cooler temperatures, and more reliable soil moisture of autumn provide the perfect growing conditions for this group of plants. Early and mid autumn are the best times for planting conifers.
FULL ARTICLE

Deciduous Hollies Brighten the Winter Landscape -- When we think of holly, we think of spiny, evergreen trees or shrubs with red berries. Some of the best hollies are deciduous, and some of these have berries that are not red. Deciduous hollies are great landscape plants. They are more cold-hardy than their evergreen relatives, and they work well in mass plantings or when used as specimens. Like all hollies, a male plant is needed to pollinate the female plants, or they won't bear fruit.
FULL ARTICLE

Thinning Boxwood -- English boxwood, Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa', is a popular evergreen shrub. It is easily grown in many parts of the country and its needs are not difficult to meet. It has only one major annual need for maintenance–thinning.
FULL ARTICLE

Azalea Questions and Answers -- I planted a new azalea and it died. What did I do wrong? It may have simply dried out. If you plant azaleas in late spring, it is very important to give them some extra water while they are growing new roots.
FULL ARTICLE

Camellia Questions and Answers -- How hardy are camellias that were introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum? Quite hardy. The cold hardy camellias introduced by Dr. William Ackerman have experienced temperatures as low as -12 degrees F without injury and are fully hardy in USDA hardiness Zone 6B. The hardiness of these hybrids comes from a seedling tea-oil camellia, Camellia oleifera, that was planted in Asian Valley in 1949. It was one of the few camellias to survive the brutally cold winters of the late 1970s and is itself a U.S. National Arboretum introduction named 'Lu Shan Snow'.
FULL ARTICLE

Boxwood Questions and Answers -- Why are they called boxwood? And shouldn't you be calling them boxwoods when referring to them in the plural? The name boxwood is derived from the young stems of some species of boxwood they are strongly four sided and are square in cross-section. Boxwood is the word to use when referring to this plant whether you are talking about one or many of them. There is no such word as "boxwoods".
FULL ARTICLE

Conifer Questions and Answers -- What conditions do I need to grow conifers? Depending on your soil type, available sunlight, and climate, you can choose a conifer that is very likely to succeed no matter where you live. For most conifers, slightly acid soil that is loamy and well-drained is ideal.
FULL ARTICLE

Dogwood Questions and Answers -- When should I prune my dogwood? When and how you prune your dogwood depends on what kind of dogwood you have. Shrubby dogwoods that are grown primarily for the colorful bark on the young twigs should be cut back to the ground periodically to remove less attractive older stems and promote the growth of new, colorful stems. The other dogwoods require little pruning.
FULL ARTICLE

Crapemyrtle Questions and Answers -- The United States National Arboretum has released a lot of crapemyrtles over the years. Which one is the best for my own garden and color preference? When selecting a crapemyrtle, think about the flower color and ultimate size first. With so many cultivars to select from, it isn’t difficult to find the flower color you want in the size and shape that will fit your planting site. Consider the impact of the autumn leaf color and the color of the beautiful exfoliating bark that is so prominent in the winter landscape.
FULL ARTICLE

Holly Questions and Answers -- I planted a holly, but it never produces fruit. What do I need to do to make it produce red berries? Male and female holly flowers grow on different plants. Although the male plants never produce fruit, they must be grown near the female plants to provide the pollen needed for fruit production.
FULL ARTICLE