Getting Re-Introduced To Birch Trees - January 2023
One of the great joys of keeping a garden journal or garden diary is that it allows you to see how much you've changed over the years. The changes happen with growth and die-back of the plants, but also in your tastes and preferences of plant materials. That's certainly happened to me as I've gotten to know trees and plants and both what works and what doesn't. But also, what is the *right* plant (natives, drought-tolerant) and what might be the *wrong* plant (invasive or short-lived). Take for instance the flowering pear tree. When I started, I was so excited and proud to plant a small, $5 Cleveland Pear tree in our old yard. It thrived . So much so, that I bought even more of them. Little did I know (at the time) that they're both NOT great trees in terms of longevity, but also...if you get the wrong variety...they're invasive. I even went so far as to plant a couple at our new house when we moved. Would I plant t...