13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Uh Oh. You had the silver maple "pruned mercilessly." That almost always means that you had limbs hacked off all over the place. That kind of tree torture is common here and the result is a huge flush of very unstable and weak growth that is all but guaranteed to have limbs break and fall on the slightest excuse--wind, heavy snow or ice. Get an expert with proper accreditation to look at your tree and assess its safety.
then have it taken down ASAP
Hello, laceyvail --
Thanks for writing to me.
Maybe I shouldn't have said "mercilessly."
After the main trunk, the tree divides into three equally giant limbs. One of those was threatening the house -- would have caused great destruction if...
On the advice of my contractor's arborist in August 2013, that mighty limb was removed right at the trunk. Another tree service had said, "Oh, no, you can't do that. The other two limbs will split apart. The tree will die."
The second arborist said, âÂÂLet me get my chainsaw.âÂÂ
The limb was removed, and the tree woke up in the spring fresh as a daisy. The wound was sealed and hasn't gone moldy or oozy or anything. For the rest, the tips of a few branches here and there were trimmed.
My house is safe(r), but the tree is still a monstrosity. Completely out of scale with my house. Depending on my mood, removing it bounces between my to-do list and my bucket list.
Cheers!
Bernard
I accquired it when I was in college (way back in the 80s) and know I transplanted some to my new home back umm say fifteen years ago. It since died out at parents house (but then it was untended and unwatered).
It seems pretty reliable here, though I have seen a late frost kill the tops once or twice (but it does resprout at ground level).
I am amending my suggestion here since transplanting, rather than division, can be done (carefully) at any time. Mucking about with pruning saws and trenching spades is a different proposition to merely relocating an entire plant......although even this would be far more than the amellus types can bear - spring is the ONLY time for dealing with either amellus or frikartii types.
I love 'Alma Pötschke', AM, not least because I take the colour to be magenta and I don't take kindly to people trying to ban particular flower colours from other peoples gardens (as per Gertrude Jekyll).
Interesting comments, Campanula.
"When do I transplant Asters?"
Perhaps the first answer should be, as you indicate, "Which asters"?
There's evidently more latitude with some than with others.
I have used both New England asters and Frikart's asters for years. The former is extremely hardy here and the latter (at least in my experience) is definitely not. Individual Frikart's aster plants may last five or more years, but the large majority I've planted lasted a notably shorter period of time.
Wild New England aster is extremely widespread in North America (east of the Rockies) and it has also naturalized in Europe. On the other hand, Frikart's aster is a hybrid between Italian aster (Aster amellus) and Thomson's aster, both plants from mountainous regions of Europe and western Asia
My sedums 'Frosty Morn' had been always leggy , floppy and ugly towards the middle of the summer. I was almost ready to get rid of it completely when I read an advice on gardenweb about cutting it back by 1/3 in June to make plants bushy, short and non-floppy. I tried it this year and I love the result. I will definitely try this trick next year with other sedums like Neon and Autumn Joy. Same with New England asters.
Here are 3 of my sedums 'Frosty Morn' now - full, short and attractive
This post was edited by green_go on Mon, Sep 15, 14 at 19:41
Thank you all, for your continued kind words. Campanula, yes, exactly. Setting the garden (and home) within the larger context is always the tricky thing, right? Like, on one hand you want to have your way over the landscape, to tame it and mold it into more of what you like. But on the other hand, the cues really need to come from what's already around you otherwise it's either going to be a ton or work to fight nature, and/or it won't even look right when you're done. So the rock theme really plays well here.
GreenHearted, that's a great question. I have done the foundation differently on different stone projects here. I'm not an expert on this, but none of my walls have fallen down yet! (With the older ones being over 10 years old.) You are quite right, a dry-stacked wall is an inherently flexible structure and is very forgiving of expansion and contraction of the ground.
On this wall, I dug/scraped down to the subsoil layer, which is a very compacted, concrete-like substance. I didn't put down gravel or anything, mostly because the very idea of that pushed the project into the realm of unrealistic for my diy self.
Stonework does have a tendency to slowly sink into the ground. Rocks that used to be standing above grade are now below the level of the grass. I'm not sure how much a gravel foundation would help that. One of my walls has a gravel foundation and it hasn't behaved any differently than the others as far as I can tell.
Not sure if that answer helps or not! :)
That helps a lot, thank you Karin!
It gives me hope that I will be able to replicate this one day. I love the flush ledge around the wall too... you can probably get a wheel of the mower on it and not have to line trim.
The cinder block base for the steps is another great idea!
I have had a half dozen of these for five or six years. In my garden of many pines and high, bright shade they have grown slowly. In fact, they were moved to a sunnier spot in year two and have done better. In my experience they have produced more rebloom each year and are quite lovely at the moment.
Since these were an impulse purchase by my husband and since I prefer the big-blooming "pride of Mobile" varieties that
are blooming machines in the spring, I have considered taking them out; however, these have not required pruning to keep them tidy (as the large varieties do).
This post was edited by sweet_betsy on Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 7:17
arbo_return.I haven't had the pleasure of ordering from either place..
dbarron. I noticed Jung seed has quite a selection of named Hellebore cv.'s. It's my understanding, you've got to be nearly a pro, to attempt starting those by seeds.
I think, much of what I may be wanting to purchase now, is not available until the spring, but is probably better for fall planting, in my area, in autumn.
Usually having a typically short spring growing season here, with rather mild winters. With the rare exception of this past one, which didn't help matters, of new plantings, as last winter so cold, it was horribly destructive with some plants freezing solid, or heaving nearly entirely. I had never seen such things as foxglove or Penstemon seedlings turn brown & die, so quickly.
Many plants thrive by being chewed up by animals. I believe that butterfly bushes, and maybe forsythia, benefit from being cut down every year. I had butterfly bushes many years back and never pruned them. I think that is why they died out.
I planted more in the same place and learned that they want to be chopped back and I have been successful with them ever since.
Even if deer don't eat these plants, other animals do and it works for me.
I had the same question! I'm also zone 7b. I an thinking of just pulling them and putting them inside for the winter in containers as I've gotten such mixed answers as to their cold hardiness.
Pitimpinai - chicago should be a similar zone, if not the same, as us in 7b I would think. your friend had them outside all winter and they came back again next year? (for a few short years I guess?)
Yes, the microclimate in Chicago itself is much different from the surrounding area.
My neighbor planted it outside in front of her house. It came back a few years then died one winter. I also remember another friend planting it in her garden. Hers also disappeared after a few years.