Why I Oughta...

Imagine my surprise when I came across an upright tree amongst a bunch of other shade trees in the parking lot nursery recently that was leaf'ing out ahead of the others.  And, it was leaf'ing out with thin, vertical-heading branches all the way down to the ground.  See below for a photo showing the tree(s) in question mixed in amongst other taller, traditional shade tree trunks: What is that?   I walked closer and noticed the foliage.   Wait a second....I know those leaves.   That's a Hornbeam.  A columnar hornbeam.   There's no tag, but I know what I'm looking at and it is an upright, narrow, columnar Hornbeam.   I have those.  And I love them .  Off I went to grab a cart to load one of these trees on-to.  It is sitting in a 15-gallon pot and appears to be pot-grown because the roots are peeking out of the bottom holes.  Not ball-and-burlap stuck in a pot.  It rang up at a price that is too-good-...

In the Fall of 2023, I (also) planted a pair of small Baby Blue Spruce trees in the (then) newly expanded IB2DWs bed.  They were both in five-gallon containers and were small trees that were 50%-off at the end-of-year sale.    $50 for the pair .  Looking back, that's pretty good.   When I planted these, I talked about how they are dwarf trees - hence the name 'Baby Blue'.  That means they are very slow-growing and add just a few inches per year.   This will be the third full growing season (Planted in Fall 2023, so 2024, 2025 and now 2026), but I'd certainly declare these as 'slow-to-grow'.   Below are a couple of photos showing the current state of these two trees.   First up, is the tree planted further West (closer to the house).  This one is less-perfectly-pyramidal in shape.  It almost looks like it is leaning over to the right.  And...that might be the case, because of the growing canopy of the growin...

I planted a small, ball-and-burlap Oregon Green Austrian Pine tree in our front yard in the Fall of 2024 .  This came one year after my big "Fall Planting" sprint in Fall of 2023 when I had so much success with evergreens/conifers.    I wrote a 'Getting to Know' post about this tree and talked about how it will reach a 10' height in ten years and has an open-branching look.  But, it also has some of the best 'candles' of all the conifers.   Last May, I posted some photos showing off the candles emerging for the first Spring in our garden .  In that post, I talked about how some folks choose to prune those candles to keep the tree more compact.   Here below are a few photos showing the current state of this tree and the current set of candles.   Spring Candles on Oregon Green Austrian Pine Candle'ing - the pruning of these candles - typically focuses on removing or shortening the 'dominant candle'.  Others, like the folks at th...

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos showing the purple (or are they red?) cones on our Weeping Norway Spruce trees that are planted in the IB2DWs bed in our front yard.  Those trees went in the ground in Fall of 2023.  But, so did a few other conifers in that same "Fall Planting" cycle.  One of those conifer trees that also went in the ground in October 2023 was a small, ball-and-burlap Montrose Charm White Spruce tree .  It was a pretty small tree in Fall of 2023.  And, a little mal-shaped.  Today, in its third full growing season, it has taken on a more traditional profile and shape as an upright, narrow conifer tree.   It has also put on some mass and height.   Below is a look at the current view of the tree - showing the full conifer from ground to tip: But, something else is happening this Spring.  Something that didn't happen in previous years.  That's the green cones have burst from the tips of this tree and are putt...

I planted a pair of small Weeping Norway Spruce trees IB2DWs in the Fall of 2023 and that experience has changed how I think about Fall Planting in general.  I've planted a ton of trees on our property, but these late-season conifers have been some of the most enjoyable to watch grow.  Not just because the Fall Planting allowed them to get established, but because of how they provide structure and four-season interest in a long, linear bed that sits between two driveways (hence the IB2DWs name).   That means that this is their third (full) growing season (2024, 2025 and now 2026).  In each of the first two Springs, we saw some red cones emerge on the trees and that has been a real treat. Here is a post from Spring 2024 showing the red (or purple?) cones .  And, here is a post from early May 2025 (a little under a year ago from today) showing those same red/purple cones.   Back in February, when there was snow-cover on the ground, I posted a phot...

The flowering tree in our front yard - a Saucer Magnolia that was planted in Summer 2017 - is in bloom this week.  It is always a nice treat to see the pink blooms that are ephemeral, show up this time of year.  The form of the tree continues to grow (mostly) upright with some branching out of the tips which is creating a ball-shape standing on top of the multi-trunk base.  I haven't pruned this tree much, but it might be time to think about a 'limb'ing up' of some of the edges after it finishes this year's bloom cycle.   Below is a photo showing the tree (and the Chamber of Commerce day) in Downers:  Last year, the tree appears to have had MORE blooms than this year.  Here's the post (and photo) from a week later in the year that shows a more vibrant tree (at least to my eye).   This tree has now had nine growing seasons ('17, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23, '24, '25) and sure has grown quite a bit from what it looked like whe...

Yesterday, I posted photos of the Oregon Green Austrian Pine tree in our front yard .  That is one of two conifers that have been planted in the past few seasons as small trees up in front.  The other one is a Skylands Spruce tree - Picea orientalis 'Skylands'.  This was planted in Fall of 2024 in the front yard 'island bed' and looking at the photos, it came right behind the small (dwarf) Spring Grove Ginkgo and the Northern Glow Korean Maple that were already in place up there.   Interesting to note that both this Skylands Spruce and the Oregon Green Pine went in the ground the same week in October 2024 .  (Good week in the garden, huh?) This tree, too, has put on some growth, but not a massive amount during its first full growing season of 2025.   The Skylands Spruce is noted for the color of its needles - bright lime/yellow-green new growth that hangs around most of the year.   And, that includes Winter.   Here, below, ...

Yesterday, I posted an update on the small caliper Black Tupelo native tree that is planted in our parkway and talked about the small, pointy buds that the tree had set on the tips of the lower limbs.   I talked about how I've been 'turned on' to the beauty of tree buds in Winter over the years.  But, it isn't just the action that is taking place on the deciduous trees in our yard that is worth noting.  Last week, I showed some photos of one of the Weeping Norway Spruce trees planted IB2DWs and talked about the brown 'buds' that were set on the tips of that conifer tree.   Another conifer tree in our front yard is an Oregon Green Austrian Pine.  I planted it back in the Fall of 2024 and it, too, was a tiny tree.  The Oregon Green pine is known to grow into an open-branching habit in form, but also comes with heavy 'candling' - or the emergence of white candles on the tips.  In May of 2025, the first Spring for this tree, I posted some phot...

Back last Spring, I planted a very small caliper Blackgum (or Black Tupelo) tree in our parkway in a spot that I had previously planted a London Planetree (Exclamation) that didn't make it.  This native tree was on my 'get to know list' for a while because it isn't *that* common to see, it puts on a great 'fall show' and is shaped right for a parkway tree.  We have a large, mature Norway Maple in our parkway that has begun to decline and will inevitably either suffer some weather damage and crack or die due to root damage/impact from construction.  My plan has been to plant a small caliper tree in the parkway - sort-of *next to* the existing Norway Maple and let it grow up in the canopy of the larger tree. After time, the smaller tree will have a chance to show-off when the larger tree goes away. The problem with the first tree in this spot (London Planetree) was that I didn't do a good-enough job paying attention to it with water.  These small trees need t...

Planted in the Fall of 2023, a pair of (still) small Weeping Norway Spruce trees are standing in the long, narrow (and hard-to-grow) IB2DWs bed that runs between our driveway and our neighbor to the north.  They were the first successful conifers that I have grown from small trees and I attribute that Fall Planting to their success.   They've had two full growing seasons (2024 and 2025) and over those two years, they've both put on some new growth at the top (growing taller) and the limbs have gone a little bit longer (and weeping, curving or 'pendulat'ing').     The first Spring, they put out this tiny red/pink cones .  A nice treat.  And, they've also taught me something about how conifers grow.  Like decidious trees, they 'set buds'.  But, the buds are different.  They're these little brown clusters that appear at the tips of the existing limbs and branches.  They're signs of where the upcoming season's growth is going to c...

This post is going-up in December, but the photo is from mid/late November (before Thanksgiving).  We had a good storm come through with a couple of days of wind that blew all the needles off of this tree and most of the rest of the trees in our yard.  But, before the needles fell... the Bald Cypress that is planted IB2DWs put on a nice 'fall show' this year.  Below is a photo showing the shape and color of the tree.   8-Year Old Bald Cypress Tree With Fall Color in Zone 6a Earlier this year, I pruned this tree (dormant pruning) for the first time and took some of the lower limbs off the trunk to lift up the canopy .    I'll probably get out there again late this Winter and take a branch of two off in order to raise the canopy up even more.  Hard to remember planting this tree as a tiny whip back in Fall of 2018 when we had different neighbors.  Seven years later, this is (probably) the most-successful small tree planting that we've had on o...

The 'fall colors' don't stop with the reds and oranges and yellows.  Down IB2DWs (extended) near the sidewalk is the (now) two-year-old ( Planted in October 2023 ) Purple Smokebush/Smoke Tree.  This tree (shrub?) has been no-fuss since it went in the ground and has put on some size in the two growing seasons.  I've watered it in a limited way, but the neighbor's sprinkler system likely saturates the ground where the Smoke Bush's roots draw from around the canopy.   Did we get any of those ' smoke-like airy seed clusters ' to emerge on the tips of this tree this season? No. No...we did not.   But, we *are* getting a small purple, pink and maroon 'fall show' as the foliage changes color.  Below, is a look at the current state of the leaves on this tree that is down by our sidewalk: When I planted this , I wanted to add some texture and color contrast to the 'expanded' conifer garden that I was planting along the property line IB2DWs.  I h...

I planted a native Black Tupelo (Blackgum) tree in our parkway earlier this growing season as a replacement for the London Planetree that didn't make it down there.  They both were small caliper trees, but I paid *a little bit more* attention to the Black Tupelo in terms of watering this season.  Despite some die-back, the tree seems to have made it through the growing season with foliage on the limbs.   And that foliage is what is starting to 'show off' with its Fall colors.  Turning a bright red.  Here, below, is a look at the fall show from the leaves turning red: Back in the 'Getting to Know' post on the Black Tupelo , I included this description:   "One of the most spectacular and reliable fall coloring trees, turning brilliant shades of red and orange..."   Seems that characteristic of the tree (reliably turning fall colors) is turning out to be true - even in this small, young (< 1" caliper) tree.   Late this Winter,...

Planted two years ago in a #FallPlanting sprint of October 2023 , the small upright Montrose Charm Spruce tree has put out some cones on the upper tips of the tree.   The photo below shows the cones, but doesn't show the rest of the tree, but when I look back at the planting photo, I can say that the tree has put on some new growth in the two years since it was put in.   Looking back at the tree in October 2023, the tree had a thin middle with a growing crown.  Today, the tree has shot up and out, but retained it's upright/narrow habit.  

Last Fall, I planted a small Oregon Green Austrian Pine tree in our front yard that managed to handle the Winter and is seemingly doing ok this Spring.  When I planted that tree, I also wrote a 'Getting to Know" post about the tree that included this description of part of the tree: ... In the Spring...there is a firework explosion of pearly white candles that come out in clusters. Candles.  That's neat.   I was waiting to see if it would happen on our tree this Spring and watching and watching.  This past week, these white tubes began to grow and 'explode'.  Just like the description said.  See below for the candles on the Austrian Pine Oregon Green tree: Pretty neat to see them - as this is a first for me.   There is something that some folks do called "Candling", where they deliberately REMOVE or SHORTEN the candles in Spring.  Here's more from the Seattle Japanese Garden : April to May is when we begin the spring pruning process, o...

This is the second Spring with the pair of Weeping Norway Spruce trees (planted IB2DWs) in our garden - with this growing season showing the same unique color as last year:  red or purple cones growing at the tips.    Here's a post from last April showing the brightly-colored small cones on the tips of the Norway Spruces .   This year, the trees are showing those same red or purple cones - but in greater numbers.  Below are a couple of photos showing these colorful cones on Weeping Norway Spruce - Picea spruce 'Pendula': But those aren't the *only* Spruce trees we have in the front yard; as I planted a small Skylands Spruce in the Island Bed last Fall .  This being the first Spring (for the tree) is also the first year for the red or purple cones on Skylands.  Lovely to see.  Photo of Skylands Spruce with purple cones below: What follows these cones is the small burst of lime green - or in the case of Sklyands...likely chartreuse green - grow...

One of the best decisions we made when we installed our initial landscaping was the planting of a multi-trunk Saucer Magnolia tree in the center of our front yard .   That was Summer of 2017 and now eight growing seasons later ('17, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23, '24), the tree has grown to be a Spring-time standout.  But, just briefly.   The crown of the tree has taken on a globe-like shape - and I've never pruned any part of the tree.  And, thanks to the maturity of the tree combined with a seemingly not-to-harsh Winter (and in particular...late Winter), that crown is now littered with pink blooms.  Below is the view from our front porch: I posted about the pink buds swelling and starting to open a week ago and this show will last for a few more days.   Then, the pink and white petals will scatter across the lawn before the green foliage emerges and this flowering tree transforms into a shade tree for the rest of the season.  

Last week, I pulled out a small London Planetree that we had planted in our parkway .  The tree suffered from drought last year and didn't come back this Spring.  No buds set, no green under the bark.   Replacing it was a no-brainer when I came across that Black Tupelo tree that I posted about yesterday .   Just because this Black Tupelo was a $20 tree - sold by a Big Box store, I'm one to follow the advice of Ralph Snodsmith and gave this 50-cent plant tree a $5 hole .  Because I dug up the dead London Planetree, the digging here was easy. I dug a wide and deep hole and then backfilled it in to make sure the rootball was placed not-too low.  These big box store trees always have their root-flare buried.  So, it is easy to plant them too low.  Right now, the root-flare is under some soil.  But....in terms of position the ball, I kept this one up 'high enough' to where - if/when the trunk develops, the rootflare will be 'above' the ...