For Release May 22, 2001

What Do I Plant to Replace That Dead Tree?

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

When we had the weather that we had last summer and fall, I knew that we would see damage to landscape plants. I knew it was going to be worse than most homeowners suspected, but it even turned out to be a little worse than I expected! The unfortunate thing is that we may continue to see stress damage for several more months.

By now, we can fairly well determine what plants are dead, what plants are alive and what plants are so severely damaged that they might as well be replaced. A friend suggested that I write a column on what species I would recommend to replace damaged trees and shrubs. So let’s see how many toes I can step on and feelings I can hurt!

When we are talking about plant selection we need to keep in mind that each and every yard has different micro-climates in it. There are hot spots, dry spots, cool spots and wet spots as well as combinations. A plant that might do well in one location will not do well in another location. Even though these locations may be less than 50 feet apart, it can make a difference.

Some of the severest damage was on evergreens, especially blue spruces. Folks, this is not spruce country, or fir for that matter. I will not recommend any kind of spruce (or fir), even the dwarf Alberta spruce. The kind of weather that we periodically have around here, such as we saw last August and early September, is simply too harsh. The plants can not move enough water through their system fast enough to prevent the sort of damage that we saw. Evergreen suggestions follow discussion of pines and yews.

Pines are so very questionable in our region of Kansas as well. I know that there are some beautiful big pines, and spruces, around the area. But I can also show you a lot of dead and dying pines as well. Scots (Scotch) Pines are too subject to the fatal pine wilt disease. Do not plant any more Scots pines. Austrian pines are probably our best pine choice, although, as they get older they will have tip blight disease problems. White pines will work in certain locations. They need soils that don’t have too much sand or clay and where waterlogging won’t be a problem. Mugo pines are okay for smaller shrub plantings, but they will have pine tip moth and pine sawfly problems. Other pines, such as Lodgepole, Red and many others have their own potential problems.

Yews are still okay to plant, IF we keep them in locations sheltered from the southwest winds of summer. Keep them on the north and east sides of homes. Also remember that any plant advertised as being drought tolerant will only be so once it is established.

I’m still convinced that the best evergreen for Kansas is going to be something in the juniper family like our good old eastern red cedar. Bagworms can be a problem, but we can treat for those. Junipers, for the most part, can survive our weather extremes. They are our only native evergreen.

I’ve also seen a lot of damage on the likes of Rose of Sharon and Burning Bush. I think that this is simply an indication of how severe the weather really was. We have had a pretty good long term history with these plants and I would not hesitate to replace with the same. Some of our ornamental plums and cherries got hit hard too. These are not long lived plants and we may be better off to replace these with a flowering crabapple.

Kansas has a harsh climate. There’s no two ways around it. Some years we are going to experience weather extremes and we will have damage. The amount of damage can be limited by proper plant selection as the first step and proper care as the next step.

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