Return to the Perennials Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
Posted by
paulsiu 5a (
My Page) on
Sat, Apr 14, 12 at 12:02
| I was thinking of growing some epimedium around some ash tree. How do I plant it spacing wise to have it grow around the tree? Are they difficult to grow?
Paul
|
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| There are several species and hybrids. Do you know which ones you are going to grow? Some are easier than others. They can get to a couple of feet across and are easily divided. Generally for the unfussy ones just dig a hole and plant them. Water until established. Cut off the old foliage in late winter but make sure you avoid inadvertently cutting off the new shoots. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Epimediums
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I don't know which ones. Which species is generally easiest to handle? I am somewhat limited by what's at the nursary, they said they come in 1 gal containers. Paul |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| All the commonly available Epimediums are extremely easy to grow. Some are clump formers and some (slow) spreaders. Most are highly drought resistant. Any that a local nursery has are probably bullet proof. I have some 15 or more cultivars, all originally purchased from Darrell Probst, the epimedium man, now focusing his energies on Coreopsis and the breeder of the new Coreopsis cultivars like Cosmic Evolution, Full Moon etc. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I just got my first epimedium at a plant swap last year. I must say, I love it. It's a very nice, subtle plant, and as it didn't get killed by all the workmen we had tromping through the garden this winter, it is obviously pretty bullet-proof. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| How closely spacing-wise do I plant them around the tree? The lady said they were 1 gal containers. They appear to be somewhat hard to fine in my area. Only one nursery seems to carry them. Paul |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| Let's not forget about the health of the tree roots during this project. No roto-tilling, no add several inches of new soil, etc. I'd plant very sparingly. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| All epis are rhizomatous spreaders and can be expected to spread in width at least 12" but more commonly 18-24" and often greater with age. I consider them "colonizers" :-)) They make a superior groundcover for dry shade and I'd space them out at least 12" apart. Since these are larger plants to begin with, digging sufficiently large holes in rooty soil is hard so best not to locate right up against the tree. I'd site 24-30" away from the trunk. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| Probst divides them into spreaders and clumpers in his catalog--Garden Vision (not available on line). The clumpers spread so slowly that you can't call them spreaders. The spreaders spread slowly. You need to know which type is which. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I doubt we need to make that fine a distinction :-) I too grow a large number of epis, including some pretty unique species and hybrids (courtesy of Dan Hinkley/Heronswood Nursery and Naylor Creek Nursery) and ALL have spread over the years to encompass the dimensions outlined previously. And some have grown far beyond! Since it tends to be some of the more uncommon or rare varieties that demonstrate a much slower spread or rate of growth, I think Paul can be safe in the spacing information provided. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| If you get good sized plants there's also the possibility of splitting them before you plant them and planting the divisions, thus increasing your stock straight away. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I gotten 3 plants and planted them around the tree with a distance of roughly 2 to 3 feet from the trunk. The tree is an ash, so the roots were fairly deep so I didn't hit too many roots when I dug the hole. The Epimedium turns out to be epimedium rubrum, which according to the profile should work with the alkaline clay soil in the area. It's supposedly an aggressive spreader, which would actually be welcomed, since the area is choked with weeds. Thank you everyone for your help. Paul |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I've had E. rubrum for many years, and it is a very slow spreader, much slower in fact than E. sulphureum, which is a slow spreader. I have light, sandy soil and anything that has spreading tendencies will spread very fast in my soil. BTW, no Epimedium will "choke out weeds". You'll have to weed as the plant spreads, and then it will keep weeds out pretty much. But it won't choke them out by itself. |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| Ah OK, I thought the profile for rubrum said it was an aggressive spreader. Only time will tell. I did remove the weed prior to planting and will just have to pull them as times go. Paul |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I'm in the same zone as you, paulsiu, actually warmer now, and do not fear it is not aggressive. Another tough one is e.sulphurium or e. versicolor sulphurium. Oh, there are so many lovelies out there. Both rubrum and sulphurium have great spring leaf color, colonize (not run rampant) steadily and as the planting gets more mature and thick, weeds will be suppressed (unless they've had a chance to grow and reproduce while you weren't looking) See if you can find the mailing address for Garden Visions Epimediums andrequest a catalogue. It is very instructive and tempting; great bedtime reading. They have a limited mail order window, but you may still have a few weeks. After I studied the catalogue and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of plants in person (I live in MA) I started seeing some of the more unusual ones in better nurseries; much bigger plants at good prices. But I knew what I was seeing and could take advantage of it. It is good thing to support this small cottage industry. Good quality, very unusual, very wide selection.
I'll look up the place myself and if I find the contact info will post here. idabean |
garden visions epimedium address
| | |
the link, which I lifted from an earlier epi. post, is
http://home.earthlink.net/~darrellpro/
I think that email address listed must get to the new owner, as well. She worked with Darrell for years, and clearly has some sort of on going arrangement.
idabean |
RE: How do I plant epimedium around trees
| | |
| I will include another great epimedium source - Naylor Creek Nursery here in WA state. A superior shade plant mail order source (very highly rated by the "Other Place") with an excellent selection of some pretty uncommon epis as well as a full selection of the standbys. And a whole bunch of other neat shade stuff!! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Naylor Creek Nursery
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Perennials Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
