Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
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Smarty Plants Question Topics
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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| Trimming Texas mountain laurel in Austin August 27, 2009 Is there a specific time to trim established mountain laurels? Should I cut off the dried seed pods since they are weighing down the branches? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Fragrant foundation plants for sunny, dry area in Illinois August 26, 2009 We need suggestions of what to plant on the south side of our house heave sun and rather dry soil. We just took out old dead bushes. Would prefer something that flowers and smells nice that would gr... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trimming live oaks in Mamou LA August 24, 2009 We have 3 large Live Oak trees in our yard. The problem we are having is when we trim a branch off so we can walk under the branch, the whole branch dies back. Is there a certain way to trim the limbs... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| How to prune Opuntia ellisiana in Decatur, GA. August 20, 2009 Hi Mr SP--How do I go about pruning an Opuntia ellisiana? I have saws, newspaper, heavy leather gloves, goggles, etc. But my question is more about what section of the plant to cut. The base has de... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Yellowing leaves on non-native weeping birch in Brick NJ August 16, 2009 I have a young weeping birch-planted in spring-we water regularly, it gets good sun-and rain has been perfect--the leaves get yellow--and now they are a lot! Whats the matter? I love my little tree.I ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Corkscrew willow damage to roof in Detroit, MI. August 13, 2009 I have a corkscrew willow (Detroit, MI) that is huge and whose branches hang on top of the asphalt shingles of my mobile home. It has now been discovered that these shingles, under the branches, are ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Hail damage to Cenizo in Austin August 03, 2009 We have some Texas sage Silverado. After the latest hail, they look very sad. If about the half of plant is OK and the other half looks dried/dead?, should we prune the dried half? Are they ever comin... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Transplant shock in my Nuttall Oak tree in Moore, OK. July 23, 2009 I had a Nutall oak tree planted; it is 5 inches in diameter and about 24 feet tall. It was planted in March of this year, leafed out ok; now since June 20th I have had a large quantity of the leaves t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trimming dead blooms from turkscap in San Antonio July 10, 2009 Great answer to the Turk's Plant question. But, I can't seem to find an answer to mine. I've had Turk's plants for years and cut them back as you suggest, but have always been confused about wha... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Brown leaves on possumhaw holly in Grandview TX July 02, 2009 What would be likely causes for brown leaves on possumhaw holly? We have 2, one was planted in spring 2008, and a slightly larger one planted late winter/early spring this year. Most of the leaves a... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Will the blooming stalk of my century plant eventually tip over? Yes June 24, 2009 I have a century plant in bloom. Will the stalk eventually tip over? Would appreciate any Internet references on the subject. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Care for penstemons in South Jordan, UT June 21, 2009 I have Firecracker Penstemons and they bloomed beautifully this year. How do I trim them and when? Will they continue to bloom throughout the summer? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| How to prune my Linden tree? June 17, 2009 We have a 15 yr old Linden in the backyard. North side of home. It can use some pruning at the lower branches. Which branches do we prune and when? Also we have some river birches back there. Oth... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pruning tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) June 05, 2009 Thank you for your answer regarding when my tulip tree will flower. I also understand it can/will grow to over 100 feet so should we be pruning it a certain way to keep it contained? thank you View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Center of Yucca filamentosa looking rotten in Howell, NJ May 31, 2009 I live in central NJ. I planted some Adam's Needle Yucca in my garden around 5 years ago. Since then, they kept growing and ended up developing three trunks off of the main trunk. I noticed recentl... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Pruning of wax myrtle in St. Augustine FL May 30, 2009 How severely can we prune our wax myrtle? It had grown 10 feet tall and very spindly and we want it to be a border hedge in front of the preserve in back of our yard. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Pruning smoketree in New Jersey May 29, 2009 How far from ground level do I prune a relatively young Smoke tree to get the bush effect? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Perennial summer blooming plant for Livonia, MI May 22, 2009 I want to find a plant that I can cut back in the fall, will come back in the spring, flower throughout the summer, be a medium size plant, no taller than 48", about 36" in diameter. It would get f... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Cleaning up Adams Needle yucca in Vancouver Island BC May 19, 2009 We have Adam's needle yucca's in our the flower bed of our newly purchased home here on Vancouver Island BC. They thrive and produce impressive flowers. How do I clean them up in the spring time ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with crapemyrtle shoots in Victoria, TX May 13, 2009 I have a problem with crepe myrtle shoots coming up in my flowerbed. I had to remove a large crepe myrtle tree (18" diameter stump) and digging out the stump was not possible. I killed the stump wi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Getting rid of yucca plants in Blanco, TX May 12, 2009 How does a person get rid of Yucca plants? We have four fig trees that do not bear figs, what do we need to do? We live in SE Blanco County, Texas. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Can I trim back my 20 ft Yucca plant? May 11, 2009 I have a yucca tree which is about 20 ft. tall, has four main trunks. I would like to prune it to approx. 10 ft. but wonder if that will kill it or if new shoots will come out up near the cut. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Care of Northern honeysuckle bush April 26, 2009 I have a honeysuckle bush, I have had it for about year to two years. I would like to know if I should cut the brown parts off. There are some vines that do not look good, but some of the branches ha... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Bignonia capreolata with brown leaves in Pennsylvania April 24, 2009 3 year old crossvine leaves brown and dead looking. Will it come back and bud out? Crossvine on fence southern exposure. Crossvine on fence in another area has leaves and are dark green/purple - sa... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Survival of yucca plant mowed down in Oklahoma April 15, 2009 I have a yucca plant that came from a very old plant of my late father, and had transplanted it 6 years ago and it came back every year and bloomed. This morning I went outside and noticed my husband... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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