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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Saturday - June 12, 2010
From: Salt Lake City, UT
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Getting flowers to grow under non-native globe willow in Salt Lake City
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
We have a globe willow in our back yard that is about 15 years old and cannot get any flowers to grow under it. Can you recommend what we need to do to treat the soil, and what type of flowers will grow best?ANSWER:
Please see this previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer on Globe Willow, Salix matsudana, which is native to Asia and therefore falls out of our range of experience and is not in our Native Plant Database. Their invasive roots compete with nearby plants for moisture and nutrients, so gardening underneath is difficult. The willow will lap up anything you do to treat the soil, as well as suck up the water. The good news is, willows grow very fast and don't live very long, so when it dies you can cut it down and plant whatever you want to.
More Non-Natives Questions
Removing a non-native windmill palm from Austin
February 27, 2013 - I have a fairly good size windmill palm (about 15ft high) that is planted too close to the house. I also don't like having to constantly remove its fronds as they block a walkway. Is there a good wa...
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Could lilacs grow in Georgia?
April 27, 2010 - Hi Mr Smarty Pants,
First off, I want to commend you on your promotion of native plants. I am passionately anti-invasive plants (in fact, it was the subject of my master's thesis). That being said...
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Heirloom plants for Gault Homestead in Austin
April 15, 2009 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
The Gault Homestead at 2106 Klattenhoff in the middle of Wells Branch Subdivision is to be planted with heirloom or heritage plants soon. There is some sun for the planter bo...
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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...
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Pruning of non-native chocolate mimosa
August 07, 2008 - I have a one year old chocolate mimosa that has grown 2.5 feet in height. It has seven leaf stems two feet from the bottom and only three at the top canopy. The trunk is only three quarters of an inch...
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