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| I have a 14 inch tall purple smoke tree that has been growing in a pot all summer. It began as a dry stick, so it has grown to my delight. Is it too small to plant in the ground and survive the a Michigan winter?
If I do plant it soon, is it advisable to plant it away from the house? If so how far away should it be kept? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 10, 12 at 7:48
| yes plant it soon ... in the way back machine ... i planted one about 6 feet from the house.. and that was only about 10 feet too close ... within a few years.. i was hacking on it like a guide thru a rain forest ... IMHO ... its a middle of the lawn plant ... all that presuming its just the regular old plant.. rather than a dwarf ... may i guess.. an arbor day dry stick??? .. lol ... if so.. then its the plain old type ... native soil.. no amendments.. shake the potting media off it .... put some mulch around it ... and dont worry about it ... ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: first 15 seconds or so.. up to you to watch the rest.. lol ...
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| Thanks Ken~It was a discount bin at a discount store for a buck fifty, but it did have a root system. ;o)If I were to plant it near a fence line, how far away would be safe? 4 ft? 5 ft? I was considering putting it in two places: 1. my problem back corner in front of all the stumps I've been working on killing (still a work in progress) 2. Along the fence line in near another stump mess that I've managed to actually cut down and kill. Removing the weed trees has left a big hole that used to block the view of the neighbor's sun room. We both would like something back in this spot. It is about 10 feet from the corner of both houses. I could bring it out from the fence to give it room to grow. Totally bad ideas? |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 10, 12 at 11:59
| in the corner.. 6 feet out from each fence ... why cant you kill a stump??? what have you been doing??? do you have clay soil??? ken |
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| I've been primarily working on the other weed trees and trying to get one or two REALLY dead before I try to tackle others and wind up with many half dead messes that come back again next year. ;) I have focused on the ones that were too close to the house foundation and were getting nearly too big for me to tackle. Yes, I have lousy clay soil. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 11, 12 at 18:12
| I'm not sure I'd necessarily consider a purple smokebush as a "middle of the lawn" plant (not sure I'd consider anything a "middle of the lawn" plant.....except lawn :-)) It gets no larger than any of a couple dozen other very common shrubs and it is immensely prunable. In fact, many folks keep it to a relatively petite size by coppicing each year in spring. And you can prune to direct growth habit in this manner also. Plant it wherever you like (but enough sun so that it colors up properly) and prune out any growth you find awkward or in the way. NBD |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Sep 12, 12 at 7:05
| surely no big deal.. if you want an annual job pruning it .. i recall a green one in front of a hundred year old farm house.. trained to tree form .... that was almost as big as the house ... and i am talking a 2 story square box house ... treat it like a lilac ... it has the same potential ... ken |
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| I'm going to give it plenty of room, because I would like to not prune it and just let it get big. It will be getting over 6 hours of sun a day so I expect if it survives, it will go crazy. Treating it like a Lilac tells me exactly what I need to know. Thanks everyone! |
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