Hub Gardens: The Blank Spot
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- Category: Home and Garden
- Published on Thursday, 17 May 2012 21:52
- Written by Brid Craddock
Hurricane Irene, and the ‘arbor-geddon’ of the October snow storm has left great blank spots in the gardens of many Connecticut towns.
It’s May, and the arborists are still at work taking down trees and picking up branches. With the old trees gone we are left with the question, "What to put in that blank spot?"
Going to the nursery to select new trees can be overwhelming. There are so many choices.
We tend to fall back on the trees we know, the weeping cherry or the flowering pear. Last year’s storms have taught us a few things about the characteristics of trees we want on our properties.
Trees with weak wood or branch arrangements such as the flowering pear and weeping cherry can be destroyed in storms. Large trees can cause serious damage when they fall or lose large branches.
When planting near your home or power lines smaller trees are a good choice. We still want trees with showy flowers in the spring - several good choices are the Pagoda Dogwood, Eastern Red Bud or Service Berry trees, all are fine native trees.
The Pagoda Dogwood, Cornus alternifolia, unlike the more common Florida Dogwood, has healthy foliage. It is not susceptible to a fungal disease, anthracnose, that plagues the Florida Dogwood.
The Eastern Red Bud, Cercis canadensis, with its bright pink flowers and heart-shaped leaves is a super choice for a “front of the house” tree. The variety or cultivar ‘Forest Pansy’ has burgundy-colored leaves for good foliage color all season.
The Service Berry, Amelanchier arborea, has white flowers in spring, and berries for the birds in June, followed by excellent fall color. These three trees grow to only 25’ in height, perfect for that ‘blank spot’.
Try these three for smaller trees for tight spaces or to fill those blank spots in front of larger trees.
How many trees in your garden flower in February? The Witch Hazel does. Hamamelis vernalis, has a bright yellow, fragrant flower on a lovely small tree, grows to 15’ high. It even blooms when snow is on the ground.
How about a summer flowering tree? When the show is over in spring you can look forward to seeing the American Snowbell in flower. Sytrax americanus, is only 15’ high and 10’ wide, with bell-shaped white flowers, blooming in summer with berries in fall.
Speaking of berries, Nannyberry, Viburnum Lentago has a white flower, which turns into pink, blue and black berries in the fall. It grows to about 20’ and has multiple trunks.
The time to fill in those blank spots is right now, spring is an excellent time to plant these trees. If you must wait, plant in fall when the weather turns cooler and we have reliable rain. If you do plant, make sure you water your new trees throughout the summer and into the fall.
They’ll reward you next spring when you are no longer looking at those blank spots.
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Brid Craddock
Landscape Designer, Growing Solutions, LLC
Connecticut Master Gardener, Founding Member APLD CT
(203) 947-9937
