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| So...brainstorm here. I'd like to share ideas for alternative trees and shrubs to the typical suburban fare that every damned builder, landscaper, and homeowner plants...so I'll start.
(climate allowing of course, but here are ideas suitable in my area) Instead of crabapples or Pyrus calleryana or Kwanzan cherry, why not use one of the more rare flowering Prunus, like a P. subhirtella Instead of a blue spruce, plant a Cedrus deodara Instead of daylilies, why not a Lycoris? Instead of one of the red-leaved Acer palmatum cultivars, why not one of the green-leaved A. palmatum or an A. japonica cultivars? Instead of a "Crimson King" Norway Maple, why not a pile of dog poo (sorry, had to put that one in there) Instead of a Zelkova, why not a nice Lacebark elm? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 19, 12 at 12:33
| oh man.. am i with you on the maple.. rotflmbo ... i dont understand your premise.. are we discussing cheapbutt developers who buy the cheapest fastest growing common stuff .. in bulk.. to fill a new subdivision.. or are we to discuss.. enabling a new connoisseur .. who is willing to invest in some prime UNIQUE stock??? and asking about the schmoes choices???? ken |
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| Well, what I mean, is the builders do exactly as you say - they buy cheap crap in bulk. However, what I see is that a lot of homeowners, seeing these trees everywhere, assume that they should use them as well. So...if you were handed a landscaper's blueprint and it called for the common/boring trees, what would you replace them with in your implementation of it. |
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| You can always get creative with the boring and overused. Here's a Norway Maple. Crimson King? I cut the larger shoots back further than the smaller ones. That keeps it looking tidy without that sheared look. It's about 15 years old. Mike  |
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| Actually, that looks very nice as a cutback perennial. Just a lot of work, I assume, to keep it under control. |
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| Not much work. I cut it back two or three times a growing season when I walk by it. It's right next to my driveway so it's always available. It almost looks like a Heuchera. I sure don't want to let it get big. Mike |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Jul 19, 12 at 17:40
| Crazy-cool idea there bot! I too thought heuchera....until I looked at it. +oM |
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| That looks very cool! |
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| Well, I guess if people planted "rare" plants more widely, they wouldn't be rare. We would walk into Home Depot and say, "Oh, my God, another sea of Kalopanax and Chamaedaphne". |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Jul 19, 12 at 20:04
| I'd say too that the most rare of plants isn't necessarily less boring than the most common. Trees which make up a large percentage of the population in any given area tend to be the ones which give that area its flavor, so to speak. +oM |
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- Posted by Dzitmoidonc 6 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 19, 12 at 21:42
| Oh lord, Tom, we live in Callery Pear and Forsythia Land. Arborvitae estates abound, and they look down their noses at everybody else! |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Fri, Jul 20, 12 at 1:46
| Yeah, I get what you're saying. I'm being a bit hypocritical too in that as my city's horticulturist, I've long been known for bringing the unusual to the fore! +oM PS.....not a tree, but another sub. for daylilies and/or iris-Belamcanda-the blackberry lily. I've got a bunch of these growing in city gardens. Great plants. And many folks will wonder what the heck they are! |
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