Why I Oughta...

This is the second Winter that we've had the young(ish) Triumph Elm Tree in our front yard and that means this is the second season that I've used a paper tree wrap around the bottom few feet of the trunk - all the way down to the rootflare - to protect the trunk and bark from Wintertime sun scald.  Here's a link to a post from last November (2022) where I talk through scald and why I was choosing to wrap the tree. Below is a photo showing the wrap in-place this year:

Listed at number 3 on my 2023 to-do list , figuring out the newly configured front porch bed is a pretty significant planting priority for me, but one that I've done the least posting about in the garden diary.  That lack of posting on a 'plan' for the bed, doesn't mean that I haven't been busy working the bed already by moving some things around, adding some things and thinking a lot about what we want up there. The season started with some vertical mulching of biosolids to try to improve the soil overall - that was after some topdressing of biosolids last Fall around the hydrangeas.   Then, just recently, I did three things:  first... I dug-up and transplanted the Green Velvet Boxwood that was left orphaned once we planted the Triumph Elm tree.   I moved around three Karl Foerster Grasses (see below for placement) and then just this past week, I planted three bareroot Disneyland Roses in the bed where the old Norway Maple tree was situated.  ...

When we planted the new Triumph Elm tree last Fall , I had to relocate one of the original boxwoods that were planted in that bed.  As a temporary measure, I had the guys who planted the Elm dig up the boxwood and just put it further back in the bed.  If you look at the photos here and here , you can see the lone boxwood that was moved out from the front line to the back of the bed.   As part of the shaping-up of the front porch bed, it was time to move that boxwood out of there and find it a new home.  With it being mature and larger than anything I can buy at the store, I decided to plant it as a stand alone in the back beds vs....say...the IB2DWs area (where I want to plant boxwoods this year).   Here, below, is a photo showing the front porch bed.  On the right is the Triumph Elm that was planted last Fall.  On the left is the dug-up and moved Boxwood in question.    It is a big, heavy clump, so I dug it out and used my wh...

Just yesterday, I posted some photos of the first tulips that I was able to spot in our front yard beds (in between two driveways down by the sidewalk) and mentioned that I wasn't sure if there were going to be more up by the house.  We took down the large Norway Maple tree and replaced it with a Triumph Elm last Fall .  As part of that process, the crew ground out the stump and with it (I presume) a bunch of the bulbs that I planted around the base on the tree.   But, life finds a way.  See the photo below that shows the trunk of the Triumph Elm up on a bit of a berm.  But...at the very bottom of the photo - in the middle - you'll see some tulip bulb tips: And, so too, have the tulips down around our parkway tree emerged.  See below for a few photos:

The guys who planted our new Triumph Elm tree in our front yard told me three things when they were leaving it:  1.  Put the tree away wet.  2.  Wrap the trunk this winter to protect against sun scald and cracking.  3.  Don't touch the tree for years.    Of that advice, I *sort of* understood the first and third one.  Watering in a new tree for a couple of weeks is very important.  But, having the tree installed so late in the season meant that I could 'put it away wet'.  As for #3 - pruning - I've learned my lesson and don't touch trees for a number of years.  But, #2...wrapping the tree.  That was new to me. So, what is sun scald?  From the University of Arkansas Extension office comes this explainer : Sunscald is a fairly common physiological problem found most commonly on young, thin-barked ornamental and fruit trees. Research suggests that during the winter, frozen tissue on the south or southwest side of the tr...

A couple of weeks ago, we had a 3.5" caliper Triumph Elm - Ulmus Morton Glossy - to our front porch beds.  At the time the tree arrived it has *some* leaves on it with some branches already bare having dropped their leaves.  Today - just two-or-so-weeks after planting, the tree has dropped ALL of its leaves and has a set of roundish, brown buds all over the limbs.  Below, is a look at the buds that have set on our new Triumph Elm tree: Over the years, I've documented in the [garden diary] a look at some of the tree buds in our yard - including these Exclamation London Planetree that I planted during the pandemic .  I'll go out and try to capture some photos of this year's tree buds in the Fall/Winter garden in the coming weeks.  

Once I knew the large Norway Maple needed to come down, I immediately switched into tree planting-planning mode.  I looked around-and-around and thought about what we wanted in a tree: 1.  Disease and pest resistant  2.   Fast-growing 3.  Unique 4.  Something 'stately' and (when mature) large I worked with a few people to sort options.  The temptation of the Fall-Colors of the various Maple trees was strong.  But, ultimately, the experts that I consulted said that Maples make up far too-much of our local, urban canopy and that I should plant something different.   Further research sent me towards this narrow list called "Chicagoland Grows".   What is Chicagoland Grows?  From their site: Established in 1986, Chicagoland Grows® Plant Introduction Program is a unique partnership among the Chicago Botanic Garden , The Morton Arboretum , and the Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois (OGA) , dedicated to devel...