IN THE GARDEN

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette In the garden Illustration
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette In the garden Illustration

Q I would love your opinion on a foundation planting tree that I could use in front of a tall and hot front window facing south in Conway. Currently there is a low growing Japanese maple but I would love some shade and relief from the sun. The tree would actually be in the front flower bed, but the bed is deep so there is room for a medium-size tree. The tree would sit out in front of the window several feet, and there are azaleas between the tree and window. I would like to see under the tree, so I am visualizing a dogwood. If I choose dogwood, which variety would you go with? Any other suggestions? I would like a fairly quick-growing tree. Maybe a river birch, and again which variety? Finally, any suggestions on digging out the existing maple? It has been there 10 years.

A It sounds to me like you need a tall but narrow growing tree. There are many fastigiate species of trees on the market. Fastigiate is just a fancy word for column-shaped trees. The most common one seen across the state is the "Slender Silhouette" sweetgum tree. While it does form sweetgum balls eventually, it has great fall color and grows 40 feet tall but only 4 feet wide. There are also columnar ginkgo -- "Princeton Sentry," columnar pin and English oaks and a few columnar maples. I think they would be better choices than a dogwood since it is a hot-facing window and dogwoods prefer to be understory trees. They also tend to grow almost as wide as tall. River birch trees get larger than you would expect and need a lot of water. As to removing the old maple, you might consider hiring a tree spade operator to remove the old and plant the new.

Q What are the shrubs/trees we are currently seeing along the roadways of Arkansas that are leafless and "sporting" oodles of orange to red berries? What a wonderful display of color this time of year.

A The leafless small trees or large bushes that are covered in berries now are deciduous hollies. There are many species available at nurseries across the state. Size and fruit color will vary by variety. They do best in full sun, and only the females produce fruit.

Q I am looking for a good ground cover for a shady area and one for a sunny area to plant in the spring. I would like something without stickers/thorns, and would like it to be something that stays green all year.

A For the shade there are many options including ajuga, "Ogon" Acorus, Liriope, asarum or ginger (there are evergreen and deciduous forms), and partridge pea (Mitchellia). For the sun you could train Carolina jasmine as a ground cover instead of a vine or plant Asiatic jasmine, sedum, thyme or Liriope.

Q We recently moved to a new house next to a small lake. The lake is beautiful, but came equipped with its own beaver. The beaver promptly devoured the new trees we planted before we wizened up to wrapping the saplings in chicken wire. After that the beaver left us alone for nearly a year. He returned this last week and began gnawing on a mature Osage orange tree nearly two feet in diameter -- see picture. The tree was stripped of bark about three-quarters of the way around. Should I do something to keep it from dying, like paint the raw wood to protect it from insects? I since wrapped it in chicken wire.

A Unfortunately, tree paints or wound dressings will not do much to help the tree and also will not hinder the beaver. I would suggest making loose cages around all your trees to prevent future damage. I can tell by the rolled edge along one of the wounds that this is not the Osage orange's first attack. Clean up the wound by removing any frayed edges and then hope for the best. Preventing more damage is the only thing you can do now.

Janet B. Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Write to her at 2301 S. University Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 or email her at

jcarson@arkansasonline.com

photo

Special to the Democrat-Gazette/JANET B. CARSON

The rolled edge on exposed wood suggests this is not the first time a beaver attacked this Osage orange.

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