Native Plants
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Smarty Plants Question Topics
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| Diseased non-native red tip photinias from Richmond VA April 08, 2014 Our red tip trees have a while substance on the bark at the base of each tree..look like some kind of fungus or mold, but we don't know how to get rid of it. Please help. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Growing Loblolly Pines Outside Native Range April 03, 2014 I would like a stand of pines on my property but do not know if they will grow in my area. Do you know if the soil in Waelder, Texas will support pines? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Yellowing leaves on Carolina jessamine from Las Vegas NV March 21, 2014 Carolina jessamine, has yellow leaves. 3 years old, grows on south wall, full sun. Same plant, in partial shade, has green leaves. Should I feed yellowish plant some nitrogen? If yes how much? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with Quercus texana (Nuttall oak) in Alabama March 12, 2014 I have a 3" diameter Nuttall Oak that the builder planted when building the house. Last summer I noticed that several spots on the trunk were oozing sap (vertical approximately 1.5" long by 0.5" wi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sap dripping from redbud in Bertram, TX March 03, 2014 Our multi-trunked Texas redbud has sap dripping down 3 of the trunks. It seems to originate from a very small crack in each trunk. The tree is just starting to show pink this week, and is about to blo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problem with Prosopis glandulosa (Honey mesquite) February 27, 2014 One of our mature Honey Mesquite trees is losing thumb sized branches high up in the canopy because something is stripping the bark. The branches are completely white for 8-12 inches. Of course the ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Salvia farinacea and rust fungus from Kerrville TX February 22, 2014 Are Henry Duelberg salvias (Salvia farinacea)susceptible to rust fungus? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Cenizo dropping leaves from Corpus Christi TX February 20, 2014 Leucophyllum frutescens:I planted a Texas sage hedge in September of 2012. One of the plants is dropping its leaves. It is situated at the corner of an L-shape at the end of drive and corner of road. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Care for California lilacs from Portland OR January 16, 2014 Hi There, We live in the Portland Oregon area, so temps are moderate and winters are wet. We have several California Lilacs that are about 7ft in height and have created the perfect screen. Love th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native citrus trees from Mesa AZ January 13, 2014 We have one valencia orange tree and one naval orange tree in our Mesa, AZ yard. Just noticed some oranges on both trees have a 1/4 inch diameter hole through the skin and the orange fruit and skin a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| New Jersey Tea shrub wilting and losing leaves December 30, 2013 I have New Jersey Tea shrubs transplanted last spring from nursery stock (18 tall, grown local) I live in SE WI. They are planted in part shade. There has been 6" of snow on the ground for weeks now... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Oak root resistant hedge for Southern California December 28, 2013 I live in Southern California and my cypress hedge has oak root fungus. What kind of hedge can I plant that will grow fast and be resistant to the fungus? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Trees failing to prosper from Denham Spring LA December 23, 2013 I live in Louisiana. Out of all of the native trees that we grow, there are two in particular that always struggle no matter what the conditions are in which they grow. The first one, sassafras, is ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Growing Dwarf Yaupon Holly in Texas December 04, 2013 We planted 10 extra dwarf yaupons in our Austin front yard. They were identified as 'Gremici' dwarf yaupon. I googled them to get more information about them in order to determine why five have di... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Is post oak resistant to oak wilt from Dallas TX November 22, 2013 I am confused. The NPIN website says that Post Oak IS susceptible to oak wilt, but all the other information I have been able to find says that it is resistant to oak wilt and rarely gets the diesase.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Incorrectly planted anacua from San Antonio November 22, 2013 I purchased a 12' anacua tree from a local nursery about 18 months ago. It was not planted correctly (root bound, rolled into a hole about 3" larger than the pot) but is still alive with the number... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Yellowing leaves of Texas Sage (Cenizo) from Las Vegas NV November 21, 2013 Leaves of Texas Sage are turning yellow. Can you tell me why? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Young pecan trees with leaf and branch problems from Gatesville TX November 18, 2013 I have a young pecan tree that had very rapidly browning Leaves. They became brittle and so did the branches with affected leaves. The branches soon fell off. We treated with fungicide during that pro... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Cutting Back Perennials in the Fall? November 13, 2013 We have large beds of flowering native perennials that we planted around our house as part of a landscape conservation plan (various Joe-Pyes, goldenrods, turtlehead, blazing star, brown-eyed Susans).... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Ruffly foliage on native lantana November 05, 2013 A native lantana in my front yard has developed ruffly foliage on one stem. It looks like miniature broccoli. What can this be? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Fasciated Texas mountain laurel November 05, 2013 I've noticed some strange things hanging off some of the purple mountain laurels in my area. They hang low, and look almost like large, dangling trumpet flowers, but are flat, and have little bumps o... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | | |
| Strappy leaves on rudbeckias from Houston October 31, 2013 My Rudbeckias keep sending up odd shoots with strappy leaves on them. Should these be cut off? What is their purpose? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| School project on acid rain effects on plants from Austin October 18, 2013 Hi I go to an Austin high school and I am doing a project on how acid rain affects plant growth. I am wondering if you know any plants that would be more or less susceptible to acid rain for this proj... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native photinia in Austin October 07, 2013 Hi, I live in Cedar Park, TX (Austin Suburb)and have planted a number of Photinia shrubs in various areas of my property. All about 10 months old. The leaves are curling along their length on many... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native St. Augustine lawn from Austin October 06, 2013 We have St. Augustine in our front lawn. There are some patches where the grass has entirely died but mixed in with the dead areas are little clumps of living grass. It seems to be spreading througho... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Savannah holly from Livingston TX October 05, 2013 Our Savannah Holly standards, planted in spring 2012, are now 10' tall, with 2-3" caliper trunks at the base. Some are in decline or have died. We thought the ribbons holding them to the nursery's ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaf browning problem on unidentified plant from Batesville MS October 01, 2013 Have a night series plant that is all of a sudden the leaves on the ends are turning dark brown and eventually back to the stalk. I flushes good and cut off dead parts and it continues. Any ideas? it ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Berry-looking parasites on live oak leaves September 20, 2013 Dripping Springs TX Live oaks. What are these berry looking parasites on my tree's leaves. As many as 4 1/4 in berries per leaf. I have 3 acres with dozens of liveoaks all having them on the leav... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Green cyst-like growths on Texas persimmon leaves September 20, 2013 We have a mature Texas persimmon. We just noticed some green cyst-like growths on the tops of some of the leaves. The undersides of those leaves have black spots where the growths are. They looks like... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Disease or insect damage on a Mexican plum September 08, 2013 Help, Our Mexican plum tree is about 13-14 years old. Earlier this year we noticed the trunk is oozing black stuff and whole branches are dying off. We have watched as our beloved tree has lost most ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with non-native Chinaberry tree from Tucson AZ September 05, 2013 I have a 30+ year old Chinaberry tree and this year the branches are much sparser with leaves and there are a lot of small dead branches. Should I fertilize and what should I use? Thank you View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tree Lost Leaves September 05, 2013 Are leaf cutter ants found in Michigan too? My leaves are being completely stripped off the tree. It went from growing very well when we planted it, to having completely no leaves at all. I know the l... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Young Maple Dropping Leaves in Late Summer September 05, 2013 I have a 6-year-old maple tree. I'm not sure what type it is as the builder planted it. It is as tall as our two-story house and very healthy. It's the biggest tree in our neighborhood because we fe... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Recently planted Monterey Oaks doing poorly in Jourdanton, TX. September 02, 2013 We planted 2 nice size Monterrey oak trees in April .they were doing good with new growth on them. But now I have been noticing the leaves are turning brown around the edges. We water about once a wee... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Stressed live oaks from Lakeway TX August 19, 2013 I have some Live Oaks who appear to be stressed (Ball Moss is becoming very prevalent on some of them) during the drought in Central TX. How often and how long should I water them? Thank you very much... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaves wrinkling on Tecoma stans from San Antonio TX August 16, 2013 My two year old esperanza (planted in the ground) froze back last winter, came back from the roots & has been doing well all summer. Recently one branch has leaves that are nice & green but very wrin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Help for Collapsing Tradescantia August 14, 2013 My tradescantia has completely collapsed at the crown. The stems are yellowish. This happened once before when I had it planted in full sun and I just had to discard it. This time I have one plante... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Tip Dieback on Lonicera sempervirens August 14, 2013 I have a Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle) vine in Virginia which does well early in the season, but then around July, the very tips of its shoots (just the last 1-2 inches) wither, turn black... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Dry browning leaves on Monterrey Oak from San Antonio August 08, 2013 I have a Monterey Oak that was planted four years ago and was doing great until the last two weeks. It has turned brown and the ends of the branches are very dry and brittle. The root flare was cov... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Possible maple scale on non-native mophead hydrangeas from Newport RI August 07, 2013 I have a mophead hydrangea that has small white cottony tufts under the leaves and on the stems. I believe this is maple scale. Is there a home remedy I can use to rid this disease? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with red oak from Austin July 31, 2013 I planted 3 Texas Red Oaks several years ago. The trees are in a tight cluster just a few feet apart. At the end of last summer, one of them began to develop brown spots and yellowed leaves. This summ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Leaves turning yellow on Banana Shrub in Eutaw. AL July 28, 2013 We have a very large (about 12' tall), very old (probably planted in the early 1900s) Banana Shrub in our front yard. It was very healthy until last year when its leaves began turning yellow and fal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trumpet Vine Dropping Buds July 25, 2013 My trumpet vine is dropping its buds before flowering. This happened last year as well. Do you know what is causing this and what I can do to prevent it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problem with Habiturf. Is it dormant or dead? July 24, 2013 We planted habiturf in spring 2012. It's beautiful. But since last summer, we have had one area that seems to go dormant much more rapidly than the rest, even though it receives the same amount of ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Soaptree yucca falling over in Mesa AZ July 24, 2013 My soaptree yucca is about 5 ft tall and has fallen over. Does this plant require staking for I thought not, or is something else going on with it? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Yellowing leaves on Mexican Plum in Salado, TX. July 24, 2013 I do live in Cental Texas (Salado) and I have the same problem with my Mexican Plum as the lady in Bellaire, TX. Mine was planted in June in a raised bed and receives sun all day long. Within the la... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with unknown tree in Austin, Texas July 23, 2013 Have recently moved to Austin, Texas and have a tree in my backyard that has been dropping leaves and one major branch appears to be dead. That branch has hard rust colored sap circles (about penny si... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Sudden death of one side of Mountain Laurel from Canyon Lake TX July 22, 2013 Hello! We live in Canyon Lake TX and have a Mountain Laurel that is in distress. It is planted in an irrigated flower bed and has been happily growing for 5 years. It is about 5' tall and has sever... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Curling, Red Leaves on Gaura July 18, 2013 My gaura had most of its lower leaves turn red and then fall off. It is July now, I bought and planted it in May where it seemed to do really well growing several more inches tall and blooming nicely.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with red oak trees in North Central Texas July 13, 2013 What is the disease effecting Red Oak trees in North Central Texas; causing them to lose leafs in Spring/Summer and turning the remaining leaves light yellow/lime green in color. Thank you. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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