Native Plants
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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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| Repairing Previous Silver Maple Pruning Damage May 09, 2015 I cut a limb off my silver maple wrong and now the trunk is developing a hole. What is the best treatment? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Non-Blooming Bridal Wreath Spirea in PA April 23, 2015 We have 12 - 15 Bridal Wreath Spirea across our backyard. We have lived here for about 10 years (the plants longer). They have always bloomed except last year (2014) several didn't bloom and this y... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Passiflora and Leucophyllum together in Texas April 23, 2015 I've got a Passiflora incarnata that has self-propagated around a cenizo sage. My question is, will the passionflower vine choke out or otherwise damage the cenizo? Do I need to cut back the vine? ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Southern Magnolia Damaged by Deer April 16, 2015 I have a young Southern Magnolia (about 6 feet tall) that was damaged by deer on the main trunk. The bottom 2 feet looks okay, but where they damaged it and tore branches off, and above that, the leav... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Dealing with live oak suckers in Central Texas March 05, 2015 Hi, I have a couple huge Live Oak trees in my back yard. Trunks are 4' in diameter. These Live Oaks produce a lot of root sprouts/suckers. I had always head that a tree's roots feed on water/oxyg... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Need to control Turk's cap in front yard in Austin, TX February 28, 2015 I have several turks cap in my front yard- they grow well, but they grown huge-high and spread out. My neighbors' are much more compact! how can I keep them in control? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pruning Gaura February 19, 2015 My Gaura lindheimeri is very "leggy", but is blooming well at the end of the spindly stems. Should I prune it back or leave it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Time for pruning wax myrtle in Texas January 31, 2015 We live in Houston. Can we prune back our southern wax myrtle now? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pruning Citrus Suckers October 06, 2014 Mr. Smarty Plants, you are the only person that has "not" insisted that the little balls on Satsuma and lemon trees were clumps of bugs. They are surely what you described in the answer to my previo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shearing Pink Skullcaps September 21, 2014 My pink skullcap plants keep dying. The ones that are still alive are about 3 years old, but have large sections of dry twigs. Do I shear them and hope they come back or are they gone? I live in Helot... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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