Native Plants
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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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| Yellowing of leaves in Texas Mountain Laurel from Austin June 25, 2012 I planted a Texas Mountain Laurel in my Austin, TX yard this January. The tree was good sized (about 5 feet tall) when I planted it. Recently the leaves of the tree have started to turn yellow alon... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Mexican Plum with wilted leaves in Austin, TX. June 06, 2012 I am new to Texas & have a yard with mature mexican plum trees. They are quite beautiful however as summer sets in I notice that the leaves appear "wilted". Is this normal or should I be providing... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with Cedar Elm in Kerrville TX April 28, 2012 We live in 10 miles outside Kerrville - have a Cedar Elm tree - planted 4 or 5 years ago, 15-20 foot high, is losing leaves in the top 1/4th. Rest of leaves look healthy and green. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Harvesting washer rinse cycle water from Austin April 24, 2012 Mr. Smarty Plants, My question is different. I am "harvesting" 8-9 gallons from the rinse cycle in my top loading washer. I was told not to use this water on vegetables, just shrubs and flowers... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Interaction of Habiturf and St. Augustine grasses from Willow City TX April 16, 2012 How does Habiturf and St. Augustine interact? Does one dominate the other? Can you plant them in close areas? Thank you. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Decline ot Heartleaf rosemallow from Austin March 26, 2012 My tulipan del monte -a new small plant from the wildflower center--did great all winter and was forming a new flower bud, just died in a matter of a few days. It looks like it "dried up", no visib... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Watering a vegetable garden in San Marcos TX March 24, 2012 Can you give me a general idea how long to run my drip irrigation on my raised vegetable garden? Currently I use it twice daily for one hour. The soil feels slightly moist but not very damp. Should... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Care for non-native 'Glacier Blues' from Charlton MA March 24, 2012 Do you have to prune or cut down Glacier Blues in the garden? My plants look brown and wilted. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Difference between soil moisture and water use from Austin February 20, 2012 In the native plant data base "growing conditions" can you explain the difference between water use and soil moisture? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Ilex vomitoria Sufering from Drought? January 19, 2012 My Ilex vomitoria has always thrived. It is about ten years old. This fall, a portion of the leaves on the ends of the branches have turned yellow on the edges with green veining in the center. Othe... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Replacing Drought-Stricken Cedars January 16, 2012 Hello, I live in Williamson County on a couple acres. We have several dead cedars as a result of drought; we're reluctant to cut them down because many of them provide a friendly barrier between us... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Is installing irrigation with Habiturf a good idea in Round Rock Texas? December 05, 2011 Mr. Smarty Plants, I am in the process of planning a new lawn in my front yard. We have decided to plant the Habiturf seed mix (thank you, by the way). Originally, we planned on installing a spri... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Transplant shock in desert willow in Austin November 09, 2011 We planted a desert willow 5 days ago. It came in a 15-gallon pot but the tree is quite large (~10 ft) with a wide spread. We watered thoroughly during planting but have not watered since (light rai... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Is sulfurous well water affecting leaves on trees in Belton TX November 07, 2011 We installed an irrigation system for our buffalo grass lawn last spring. The grass is fine but the leaves on the trees are burned where the water hits them. I suspect that the well we are using fo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Restoring fire damage in Bastrop TX November 03, 2011 I live in the Bastrop State Park area. We were severely affected by the wildfire and as we are trying to rebuild our home, we are being very aware of the particularities of the recovery process. We lo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Water eroding corner in Austin October 25, 2011 I live close to the Wildflower Center. My yard slopes - as do my neighbors' yards to one corner in my yard. The result is constant moisture in one corner. The rest of the yard is caliche, rocks (m... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Non-native lambs ears wilting in heat from Fredericksburg TX October 19, 2011 3 days ago I had professional landscaping done in an area with plants that tolerate heat & sun well. We planted 7 healthy, large lambs ear & mulched. Everything planted is doing well except the lambs ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Baby mountain laurels are ready to move, in Lockhart Texas October 19, 2011 I want to harvest the baby mountain laurel plants which are growing under a large bush. What height would be best for the young plants survival? Please recommend a soil mixture for the pots. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| New growth on live oaks in Houston September 27, 2011 My 2 10yr. old live oaks are putting out new growth (branches?) although, here in Houston, TX we are having such a drought. For the last 3 months, I have conscientiously watered my entire yard via ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Has overwatering harmed cherry laurels in Austin? September 27, 2011 I am so upset. I know we've been having a terrible drought this year in Austin, and I've been trying to balance water conservation with protecting our recent very large investment for massive lands... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Drought stressed wooly butterflybush in Atlanta, TX September 24, 2011 My butterfly bush is dead looking from the drought. Do you think there is a chance it just went dormant and will return next year. I am still putting water on it. I believe it is a white wooly butterf... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Sad Germanders in Johnson City Texas September 16, 2011 I have some grey bush germanders that never seem to do well although they did at first when I planted them four years ago. They have sun and dappled shade on the south side of the house. A friend in ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Watering practices for live oaks in drought from New Braunfels TX September 04, 2011 We have conflicting info about watering live oaks. An arborist says to water now using soaker hoses or small sprinklers and a landscaper who spoke to our garden club said that after August is too late... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Survival of bluebonnets in extreme heat from Tioga TX September 03, 2011 Is there anything I can do for my bluebonnet patch in this extreme drought for the rest of the summer and fall? Should I have watered this summer? I had a good show and think seeding was fairly normal... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with Carolina Laurel Cherry from Pflugerville, TX September 02, 2011 In 2007 we planted 7 Carolina Laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana)across our back fence. Everything was fine until this year. Three of the trees seemed to get sick and a local arborist said the roots ne... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | | |
| Landscaping plant for Austin September 01, 2011 Great site! Have gotten lots of ideas. We're about to start construction on a fairly major landscaping project: raised beds/privacy screen. We're at the top of a hill in the Hill Country just wes... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | | |
| Erosion at edge of driveway in Abilene TX August 26, 2011 My lawn suffered a great loss of grass over the winter and the soil at the edge of the driveway is washing away with watering and the occasional rains that we have. I am trying to get the grass to gr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Watering Houseplants with Soapy Water August 22, 2011 I accidentally watered my house plants with a container that had a some dishsoap in it. Will they be okay? One of the plants is a 20yr old cactus, with small roots. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Drought affecting native trees from The Woodlands August 18, 2011 I've been trying to grow native trees in my yard for the past 3 years and I'm starting to question whether the amount of time required to spend watering them during the long hot season in Texas is r... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Difficulty of watering at drip line of trees from The Woodlands TX August 18, 2011 I'm watering my couple dozen native mature trees to make sure they survive this drought and its aftermath..and I'm reading about how to water at the drip line. But..all of my trees' drip lines ext... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Shade trees for Spring TX August 17, 2011 Dear Mr.Pants, our west-facing backyard in Spring, Tx, is unbearable in this Summer's heat. Neither us nor the neighbors has any backyard trees established yet, as the subdivision is pretty new. C... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Oak tree with browning leaves in Brenham TX August 16, 2011 I have a large oak tree in my small back yard. I also have a sprinkler so the tree has been receiving some water. Nevertheless, some of the leaves are turning brown in patches. Would drip watering ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Cedar elm with brown leaves August 12, 2011 Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, We feel we may have limited time to save our beautiful Ceder Elm. We have many trees in our yard (Post Oaks and Cedar Elms) and have been told they are all between 50 - 75 year... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Defining drip line on trees from Austin August 08, 2011 When you say that trees should be watered at the "drip line," do you mean that literally? I assume that the drip line means at the outside edge of the leaves or branches. Does that mean that waterin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Dormancy in Pin Oaks without water in Del Rio, TX August 02, 2011 Can Pin Oak trees go dormant without enough water? If so how long can they live that way? Can they be brought back to producing leaves? If yes, then what do I need to do besides giving them water. I d... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| It's so hot, even the Salvia greggii are sad, in Bulverde Texas July 28, 2011 I have several Salvia greggii in large terra cotta pots. The leaves have developed a yellowish tint and are thinning. What is the best process to get them back to full green foilage? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Shy blooming non-native Crape Myrtle, in Littlestown Pennsylvania July 25, 2011 My Crape myrtle has been planted about three years, and reached a height of about 4'. It blooms late July and for the past two years, has only had one or two blooms on it. I have a lot of buds whic... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possible freeze damage in Wax Myrtle from last winter in Bastrop, TX July 25, 2011 Our Wax Myrtle is about 7 yrs old and in good shape until this past winter when we had several very hard freezes. Now several of the large branches are dead and more are dying each month. We have not ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Why did mountain laurel turn brown and die? July 20, 2011 I have (had) a lovely mountain laurel that I planted more than 25 years ago. Many times one or two branches would turn brown and I would trim them out. The shrub is about 10 feet tall and is many tr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Should Texas live oaks be mulched under drought conditions? July 19, 2011 Should we mulch our live oaks in pastures for water retention? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Cedar trees dying in CO July 18, 2011 We have mature cedar trees at the home we bought in SW Colorado. The large ones have begun to die. Can too much water kill a cedar tree and is there anything I can do to keep them alive? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Premature browning of bald cypress needles in summer July 15, 2011 I have several 10m high taxodium distichum trees in the lawn, with drip irrigation twice a week, and same soil content, and on just one of them, several leaves have started turning brown, it seems to ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Watering Oak Trees in the Summer July 15, 2011 Should you water oak trees in the summer? Some people say its not good for them. But many trees seem to be withering up and dying in this heat. Especially the black jack oaks. There are also post ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possibility of hydrophobic soil in Austin, TX. July 13, 2011 I believe I have an area in my garden with “hydrophobic soil”: no matter how much or how slowly I water, it just beads up and rolls off and the soil beneath remains cement dry and powdery. In my readi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Possumhaw losing leaves in Liberty Hill, TX. July 11, 2011 I have two female possumhaw trees and one of them is losing its leaves. I planted both of them in February and they were doing very well, getting green and full. What's happening? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| What fertlilizer for live oaks under drought conditions? July 01, 2011 In your June 7 answer about helping live oaks survive the drought, you state that additional fertilization may help as well. What kind of fertilizer to you recommend and how should it be applied? Th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Need help with my Mountain Laurel in Sugarland, TX June 22, 2011 Texas Mountain Laurel - My plant's leaves are turning yellow and falling off. I don't know if this is caused from over watering or under watering. I have skipped days of watering to see if it will h... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Suggestions for flowerbed in Mesquite TX June 17, 2011 I live in Mesquite and am new to the area. I am trying to make the flowerbed in the front of my house look better. I've planted some yellow roses and red roses but would like some perennial that bloo... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Watering newly planted woodland plants in VA June 12, 2011 How frequently should newly planted, native plants, growing in wooded areas be watered? Is it better to not water at all than to use sprinklers in which case the water rarely saturates the leaf... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Mountain Laurel having trouble in AZ June 07, 2011 A Sophora secundflora (Texas mountain laurel) was planted to an Arizona north faced front yard last year in August under full sun. Starting early this year, I noticed its leaves turn to light green an... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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