Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Smarty Plants Question Topics
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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| Eastern red cedar as tall privacy hedge for North Texas February 28, 2006 I live in Northern Texas, outside of Dallas, and I need a very, very tall hedge to hide the view of the neighbors car lot from our second floor. We see everything beyond his fence and it drastically ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Differentiating between red oak, Shumard oak and American sycamore February 05, 2006 I have a few trees growing in an arroyo and I'm pretty certain that they are either red oak, shumard red oak, or Texas sycamore. The trees are deciduous and have a scaled grey bark which becomes lig... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tahitian gardenias (Gardenia taitensis) salt and wind resistance in Hawaii February 03, 2006 Are Tahitian Gardenias salt tolerant? We live on a rocky coastline in Hawaii and we get a lot of salt spray. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possible identification of Post Oak in New Braunfels, TX January 27, 2006 I live 6 miles north of New Braunfels in the Hill Country and own 5 acres of land. The property consists of many escarpment live oaks, texas persimon, and ashe juniper. I believe I also have some Te... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Determining distance of trees from paving in NE Indiana December 09, 2005 I'd like to plant 3 types of trees (Catalpa speciosa- Northern Catalpa; Juglans cinerea - Tulip Tree; and Acer saccharum - Sugar Maple) next to sidewalks and driveways, but need to know if they have ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Viability of Desert Willow in clay soil in Fredericksburg, TX November 25, 2005 I have recently purchased a house in a new subdivision in Fredericksburg, TX. The lot was not landscaped. I have a small lot (85 X 135), my back yard is about 50 X 85. The soil is a heavy clay. I am c... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Questioning native status of Alberta Spruce in New Jersey November 11, 2005 I am in the process of transforming my yard to native plants. Several years ago I planted a Dwarf Alberta Spruce. I want to be sure this isn't native before I remove it but haven't been able to fi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Late leafing and early leaf-drop of Ohio buckeye tree October 28, 2005 We recently bought a house which has an ohio buckeye tree in the back yard. It stands about 40 feet from a large creek in Troy, Ohio. The tree is about 30 feet tall. A strip of the bark is missing.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possibility of saving hurricane-damaged Umbrella Magnolia October 12, 2005 Our beautiful umbrella magnolia Magnoliaceae Magnolia tripetala was toppled during Hurricane Katrina. We have lifted it back in place, however it looks very distressed. I have the following questions:... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Landscaping with native plants in Austin October 06, 2005 I'm expanding a flower bed in front of my house and would like to keep it all natives. 1) How do I find out what type of soil I should add? (I live near Hyde Park, Austin and haven't had a soil te... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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