A Grower Perspective

In honor of the arrival of fall, we have a shade tree celebrated for its vivid color this time of year. As the love child of ‘October Glory’ and ‘Red Sunset’, ‘Autumn Radiance’ boasts the best qualities of its parents with vivid, red foliage two weeks before other red maples.

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My favorite tree for gorgeous fall color: the parrotia. Today, on the first day of autumn, it is just beginning to show the splendor of what is to come.  At its best, it will show jewel toned leaves of amethyst, garnet, topaz and ruby. Do you have a favorite fall tree?

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Our native shore pine is a sturdy, adaptable, compact tree. I’m sure you’ve seen the wind blown version of this plant on the coast. Grass green three inch long needles in bundles of two cover this particular tree. In youth it grows in a random way and as it matures it grows into a tighter form eventually reaching twenty feet or more. This attractive tree has grown in two of my gardens, one city one country. Size wise it fits very well into city gardens and can be pruned as needed. In a larger setting it grows well amongst larger trees, evergreen and deciduous, as well as a backdrop tree for shrubs and perennials. It adapts to all soil and water conditions (except standing water year round). Additionally this is a very good wildlife tree providing nesting sites and forage for woodpeckers, chickadees, bushtits and chipmunks. Can be planted as a hedge or integrated in the garden. Pinus contorta blends well with native plants as well as other landscape plants. The shore pine will fill a need for a smaller evergreen able to thrive in many conditions, a choice and desirable tree. Grows 20’ to 35’ tall and wide. Plant in full sun or partial shade.

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 We had a customer call the other day looking for a columnar tree to fill a specific location between buildings. It got us thinking about all of the trees that we have in the nursery that are super narrow but grow tall without large, spreading heads. These trees are great to line driveways or provide a strong vertical element in an otherwise low, shruby landscape.


Here are our suggestions for columnar trees:

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Bloodgood maple is not an unusual plant, yet it is spectacular. The color of the leaves with sunlight coming through is a stunning crimson red. It is a tree that fits in most gardens large or small or even in a container on a deck. This maple grows 15 feet by 15 feet in about 10 years. Plant in full sun or partial shade. The trunk and branches are a nice gray and the whole tree has a wonderful look year round. In the nursery garden the ‘Bloodgood’ maple is under planted with Piersis, wood fern and lithodora ‘Grace Ward’.

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