Ornamental Trees For Your Personality
The environment surrounding someone when he or she steps onto your property creates the first impression for the visit. Keeping a well-manicured lawn is a great move for giving yourself the yard that you deserve, but it does not showcase your personality. People often spend time shopping and installing interior decorations, but give less attention to the exterior. With ornamental trees, you can design a landscape that will really pop and give onlookers a sense of who you are.
We offer a variety of ornamental blooming trees which will bring a vibrant and tranquil ambiance to your property. The blue chiffon rose of sharon is an excellent example of an eye-catching plant that will enhance the view in your yard this summer. With its beautiful double blooms, this shrub can grow up to 18′ tall and 8′ wide. Once you plant this perennial in your garden, watch the show as wildlife, such as butterflies, birds and bees arrive.
Another dazzling option is the redbud. These trees come in a few different colors and can reach sizes of 30′ tall, 20′ wide depending on the type. Adorned with heart-shaped leaves, redbuds create an atmosphere that anyone can love. Include the fact that these trees require minimal care and your own heart will ache for this lawn addition.
If you do not mind a plant that needs a little extra love and care, the crape myrtle could be for you. These plants bloom in midsummer and come in several colors, making it difficult to choose just one. During the winter months, the exfoliating bark will add a little extra flare to your yard.
Make your yard the talk of the town with a natural touch to your property by planting stunning ornamental trees. With some planning and research, you could develop a paradise you will be able to enjoy for years. If you have any gardening needs, contact Chambersville Tree Farm.
Protect Your Foundation with Native Evergreen Shrubs
The plants you have in your yard have a large impact on your monthly maintenance and your water bill. Many people in North Texas are switching to native varieties for their plant choices. Local varieties are more resistant to diseases and they need less artificial irrigation. If your goal is a beautiful lawn that needs little to no maintenance and stays green throughout the seasons, find local evergreen shrubs and trees.
What are the best shrubs for lining the perimeter of your house?
If you look at most North Texas lawns, there’s a thick line of plants along the front of every house. Most homes even have shrubs along the sides of the house away from the entrances and patio. This is because shrubs and flower beds have root systems that lock the soil in place. They also shade the soil and keep it cooler. This is essential to protect the cement foundation and prevent any incidental shifting because of temperature changes.
Tree roots are too strong to be near the foundation because those roots can eat into the concrete. Given enough time, they can even enter the pipes and.
Evergreen shrubs keep the conditions the same, or as close to the same as possible, all year round. Holly shrubs, which are evergreens that are native to Texas, are the best option. Not only do they look beautiful and they stay green throughout the fall and winter so your yard has a splash of color even when the grass is brown.
Other varieties of native, evergreen shrubs that you can use to protect your soil and your foundation include yucca, rosemary, and spirea plants. Using a combination of flowering evergreens and base shrubs can add layers of color and more depth to the display. It also provides more protection for the soil in the warmer months. Having more shrubs and trees also means you have to maintain less grass, which is one of the biggest users of water and irrigation. Go to Chambersville Tree Farm to find the evergreen shrubs that are perfect for your home.
When Should You Stake a Tree?
Staking is a common practice used by gardeners, landscapers, and even residential homeowners to help ensure that trees grow up healthy and able to support themselves without toppling over in high winds. As useful as the practice can be, it’s important to make sure that staking is only done when it’s actually beneficial to the tree in question. Luckily, there are a few common and clear signs that a tree would benefit from staking.
If a tree is tall for the size of its root ball, then the odds are low that the trunk will be able to provide adequate support unless it’s allowed to grow and strengthen with external support. Young trees with small root balls and a thick crown of leaves with benefit the most from staking as they’re more likely to be toppled over in high winds or to develop a crowbar hole. These holes occur when harsh wind causes the root ball and bottom of the trunk to move along with the tree’s crown, eroding the surrounding soil. This creates a pocket where water can collect and cause rot.
Staking is also useful for protecting trees. If a tree is from a species that is sensitive to soil compaction, like sugar maples or white oak, a ring of stakes or mulch around the base of the tree will make it clear to people that they shouldn’t be walking so close. Stakes can also be used to prevent lawn equipment like mowers from hitting the trunks and removing the bark, potentially exposing the tree to a higher risk of infection or infestation by insects.
With very few exceptions, stakes are intended to be a temporary support measure. If you can shake the tree and see movement at the base, the stakes need to remain in place. Otherwise, it’s time to remove them and allow the tree to strengthen and grow without artificial support.
If you’re in North Central Texas and are looking for quality, organically-grown trees at competitive prices, contact us at Chambersville Tree Farm. Our growing operation is wholesale to the trade and open to the public for retail sales.
How Trees Help Maintain Healthy Streams and Waterways
Trees are an amazing natural resource, as well as being an aesthetically pleasing, curb appeal-increasing addition to homes, business, and rental properties. They help to clean the air we breathe and provide us with more oxygen, but did you know that planting trees can even help keep the water clean?
Water is the most vital ingredient in an environment. Without water, nothing else can really grow and thrive. You might not think much about the environment on a day-to-day basis, but placing trees near streams can sometimes go a long way toward helping everything stay balanced while also giving your property the aesthetic boost it needs.
If your home or business sits near a waterway, consider adding trees along it to help filter pollutants and hold the soil in place. Trees bury their roots deep into the ground and help stop erosion during events like runoff from storms. They can also help to filter out certain kinds of toxins from the soil as they grow, slowly working to restore both stream and soil health.
Large trees can go a long way toward helping keep larger streams and waterways clear of debris, especially during the rainy season, and can even reduce the risk of flooding by keeping excess dirt out of the water where it may build up and either block or divert the course of the waterway. Smaller trees work great as barriers when placed near stream beds and on slopes where storm water runoff can occur.
If you’re in North Central Texas and looking for quality, organically grown trees at competitive prices, look no further than Chambersville Tree Farm. Our operation is wholesale to the trade and open to the public for retail sales, conveniently located in the small community of Chambersville, just a short drive from Dallas and about 12 miles northwest of McKinney.
A Look At Gorgeous Mexican Feather Grass
Mexican Feather Grass is a gorgeous type of ornamental grass that can be used for a variety of different home yards and growing situations. Those who develop this kind of grass need to know a few care tips and understand when it is a wise decision to raise it in their lawn.
The Nature Of Mexican Feather Grass
Mexican Feather Grass is what is known as a mounding plant. This term means that it grows rather large and bulky, spreading far across your lawn when you install it. It is also effortless to fit in a yard because of its shape and size. Even better, its seeds will naturally spread in the wind, meaning that you can get more Mexican Feather Grass around your yard without doing a lot of work.
The Best Ways To Use This Plant
If you are interested in Mexican Feather Grass, it is wise to use it in a large mass. That’s because it so quickly spreads and is easy to maintain. It makes a perfect cover for the ground and is also a great way to cover hilly areas. If your yard has a lot of slopes, dips, and rises, Mexican Feather Grass is the perfect addition.
Care Tips For Mexican Feather Grass
Make sure that your soil has a pH range between 5.8-8.0 to avoid any damage to its roots. The soil must also be well-drained and aerated to provide its roots room to grow. Try to make sure it gets as much sun as possible, as this grass needs a lot of sunlight and warmth to succeed. Trim it during the later winter to help promote stronger growth in the spring and summer months.
If your goal is finding the best ornamental grass for your yard , please don’t hesitate to contact us today. We can help you find a the grass that suits your yard best, provide planting and care tips, and improve your yard to make it look better than ever.
How to Keep Your Japanese Maples Healthy This Fall
Japanese maples can add a splash of beautiful color to every yard. The red and purple leaves look great whether you have a large tree planted in the middle of your front yard or you have a collection of small, potted maples around your patio. Here’s how to keep them healthy as summer turns to fall.
The summer heat isn’t over yet.
If your home is on the border between the 9A and 9B hardiness zones, then your Japanese maples may have had a difficult summer. High temperatures and too much sunlight can overload the plant. If you have your maples in large pots and containers, keep them away from straight southern exposure for now; the relative shadiness of the east and north sides of your house are still the best places for them. If your tree is planted in the yard and you can’t shade it, make sure you protect the roots and base of the truck with a few inches of mulch. This will also help fight back the drought.
Diagnose leaf damage carefully.
If something is wrong with a plant, the general rule is that it’s been watered too much or it’s been watered too little. Plants can have the same withered leaves and yellow patches either way. But, unless you’ve been watering your Japanese maples frequently, the usual Texas culprit is too little water. So make sure both planted and potted maples have a good layer of mulch to hold in water.
But some leaf damage isn’t a sign of drying out. If you see irregular patches of crispy leaves, that could be sun damage. If most of the problem is concentrated on the southern side of a planted tree, it’s almost certainly the sun, so don’t increase your watering schedule just yet. While potted plants can just be relocated, on planted trees all you can do is remove the damaged leaves.
For more tips on how to care for your Japanese maples, or to add more varieties to your yard, go to Chambersville Tree Farm.
The American Chestnut: A Cautionary Tale
There are a number of chestnut species throughout the world but the American chestnut is only native to the United States. It long provided versatile timber and food for the eastern United States and beyond. After millions of years of robust growth throughout the forests of its range, this species was brought to the brink of extinction through an invasive species. Luckily, there is hope that this remarkable tree will make a comeback.
According to The American Chestnut Foundation, this species was once prevalent throughout the eastern United States with approximately 4 billion trees. It was fast growing, large and tall and provided rot resistant, straight-grained wood suitable for numerous applications. The nut crop it produced was used as food for people, livestock and wildlife. It seemed the chestnut was a resilient tree that would be around forever.
Then the chestnut blight struck. Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent, began killing American chestnuts around the turn of the 20th century. It was accidentally imported from Japan via Japanese nursery stock and was first noticed in 1904. In approximately 40 years the species became functionally extinct. The blight doesn’t, however, kill the root system. Chestnuts have barely endured by sending out stump sprouts that grow well before ultimately succumbing to the blight and dying back, only for the cycle to be repeated. As long as there are chestnut stumps and viable roots, there is a chance this species can be saved.
Through breeding and scientific research TACF has been working to develop a blight-resistant strain of chestnut. There are plantation efforts underway throughout the chestnut’s native range but nothing has proven altogether viable. Through the work of countless volunteers and paid staff, tremendous fundraising and donations, and lots of research, the American chestnut has managed to hang on. But it would have been infinitely preferable to have avoided the situation in the first place. This is why it is critical to prevent invasive species from entering ecosystems and spreading.
One of the best ways to do this is to consult with local nurseries and tree farms to select native species that have been grown in the area. Contact us to discuss what trees that best suite your needs and will have minimal to no negative environmental impact.
The All-American Wintergreen
The Wintergreen Boxwood, otherwise known as the boxwood, is native to the eastern portion of North America. It does not survive in clay soils, so provide it with well-drained soil, preferably acidic. The Native American tribes of North America used this plant medicinally, brewing a tea from the leaves for ailments such as: headache, fever, sore throat, and bodily aches and pains. The ripened berries can be used to make pies.
This beautiful plant is a treat for the senses. It is a handsome shrub, coming in at a mature height of 6″. Its creeping stems have clusters of dark green leaves that are very aromatic when they are crushed. That is, in fact, where Wintergreen oil comes from. Though it is evergreen, the leaves take on a reddish appearance in the winter. It has little, light pink flowers in the summer that turn into dark red berries in the fall, making this a plant for all seasons.
If you do not live in the mountains, it is not a problem. This partial shade loving beauty will do well in a woodland or shaded rock garden setting, as well as a large pot on the porch or patio. Just be sure to give it regular waterings and plenty of organic matter for nutrients.
If you would like to know more about this American native, or if you would like to purchase it, contact us today.
It’s Time to Get Your Garden Ready for Autumn
Even if you don’t have seasonal vegetable harvests, September is still an important turning point for your garden. Not only are plants starting to burst into fall colors, this period of time actually helps set the stage for your spring garden next year. Here’s a quick to-do list so you can keep your garden healthy even as the year starts to speed up.
Should you start getting your yard ready for winter?
A lot of national advice and major gardening websites are starting their winter preparation articles. But a large majority of those are aimed at regions that not only have snowy winters but also have a chilly autumn. That’s not something you have to worry about in the DFW area. Whenever you’re Googling about your yard or how to prepare it for a seasonal change make sure your searches include ‘Texas’ or our specific growing zone; Texas occupies USDA Hardiness Zones six through nine, and this area is in 8A. Finding regionally relevant sources helps you match up with your trees’ active and dormant seasons, and takes into account factors like rainfall. But here’s what Texas gardening should look like for September:
Prune only what needs to be pruned.
This largely includes dead and damaged branches. Cutting away the wood before it gets infested or infected is better for the whole tree, so make sure this is a monthly priority. This is also a good time to ensure your tree’s branches are at least five to ten feet away from any structures. Windy storms and falling leaves are on their way, and you don’t want to damage your roof or clog your gutters.
You can also prune perennial flowers, but don’t prune spring-flowering plants unless you see signs of damage.
Watch for pests.
Your harvesting plants will get a lot of attention soon. Acorn, pecan, and other nut trees will invite squirrels into your yard and pests will want to comb over anything that’s rotting on the ground. Keep your yard as sparse and uninviting as possible by raking up any early leaf piles and smashed nuts.
If you want to use September to get a new fall garden in order, go to Chambersville Tree Farm to get started.
When Should You Trim Your Trees?
Trees are some of the best additions to your home’s lawn and yard. Not only do they provide shade year-round, they add character to your home’s curb appeal and help maintain the soil. But if you let your trees overgrow, their branches can start to scrape along the roof and damage your shingles. Instead of waiting too long and needing a professional to do the job, maintain your trees by trimming them regularly. It’s better for both your house and your budget.
When should you trim your trees?
Most heavy maintenance is saved for late winter. Not only does this mean you can prune without leaves getting in the way, the trees can heal and start to grow according to your pruning. If you have flowering trees, pruning can also safely be done after they finish blooming. However, you should also trim any time you notice thin branches getting too close to your roof or your driveway.
The most important aspect of timing when you’re trimming to protect your roof is to monitor the tree while the branches are thin and manageable. Not only are thicker branches more difficult and sometimes dangerous to cut through on your own, you don’t want to risk the damage they might cause falling on your roof. Instead, regularly trim back the branches as thick as your finger.
How do you know when the branches are too long?
Branches shouldn’t be within six feet of your roof, as a general rule of thumb. Not only does this give you a longer margin in case you fall a bit behind in trimming your tree, it means you don’t have to trim it as often. This rule also means squirrels are less likely to jump on your roof and there are fewer leaves that can land in your gutters.
Other signs you should look for are:
- Dripping sap. Even if the branches aren’t causing direct damage to your roof, they can still leave behind residue that can impact shingles, flashing, and any vent grilles in the area. If you have a tree near your driveway, you should also check your car for signs of sap and use that as a guideline for more trimming.
- Sounds of branches scraping your roof during a storm. Even if you’re maintaining the six-foot rule, some trees bend more than others in a high wind. While it can be hard to hear over the rain, take note of any scrapes or rustles.
Keeping your trees trimmed keeps your home safer. Go to Chambersville Tree Farm for more seasonal maintenance tips.
