Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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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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| Deciduous tree with tap root August 04, 2008 I have a 13 foot space between two town houses and would like to plant a slender deciduous tree up to 30 feet in height with a tendency to tap root so as not to disturb the foundation of the houses. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Are poplar trees and willows safe for animals to eat August 04, 2008 poplar trees and willows, are they friendly for farm animals to consume leaves? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tree resembling live oak, but with thorns August 04, 2008 I'm trying to ID a tree in our backyard, most of our trees are Live Oaks and the tree in question has a dark almost black and gray bark that looks just like a Live Oak. The leaves are similar but lig... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Yellowing leaves on weeping willow August 03, 2008 We have a 4 year old Weeping Willow, 12+/- ft. tall and this week the leaves are starting to become yellow. This willow is full and robust in appearance, best it's ever looked. We have 2 other Wee... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Tulip tree with white spots on leaves in Mississippi July 31, 2008 I have a tulip tree in my yard that blooms in the spring that is about 10-15 years old. However just this past week or so we have noticed that there is lots of white spots on the leaves and the branc... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Hiring a landscaper in New Jersey July 28, 2008 Soon I will be hiring a landscaper to plant a privacy line of arborvitaes with a 1' retention wall and I need some help on prices. The quote I was given, which included 48 arborvitaes (and I will ac... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Thinning out of maple tree following heavy winds July 26, 2008 A 15 yr old red maple lost significant fruit in spring from heavy winds, in summer the tree seems thinned out. Is this the reason? Tree is otherwise very healthy and has always had thick foliage in ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Loss of leaves from globe willows in Utah July 26, 2008 I have four globe willows that have been in my back yard for the past 6 years. For the past month they have been losing their leaves from the bottom up. We had aphids in some of our other trees and ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Failure to thrive of potted blue-green cypress July 26, 2008 I received a small 14" potted blue-green cypress for Christmas 2007. Kept it in a bright window, not direct sun. It was doing great until two weeks ago when it started turning brown from the center. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Controlling native chickasaw plum July 23, 2008 How do we kill the chickasaw plum? We have an abundance and want to get rid of them. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Large ash tree with round white spot on bark July 21, 2008 I have a large ash tree that seems to be fairly healthy. However, it has a large round white spot (about 18" diameter) on the bark, about 3' up from the base. Within the solid white circle the bark ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Will desert willow (Chlopsis linearis) grow in N. E. Mississippi July 21, 2008 I am located in N.E. Mississippi. A friend of mine sent me a few desert willow seeds. I have about 5 plants growing now that are about 6 inches tall. I was wanting to know first of all, is it possi... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Trimming oak threatening fence in California July 21, 2008 I live in Diamond Springs,California,I have a large oak tree growing between my neighbors' house and mine. A large branch is cracked and in danger of falling on my fence,I would like to lighten it up... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Effects of patio under large tree July 17, 2008 I would like to put in a patio under a fairly large tree. I understand a tree needs some open ground around it for air and water. Can I use flagstone leaving 6-10 inches of space between the stones?... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Transplanting live oaks in summer July 17, 2008 I have a need to transplant a live oak tree on a home building site. The need is now, the house is almost completely built out and the owners did not prep the site by moving trees or prepping them to ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problem with flameleaf sumac (Rhus lanceolatta) July 14, 2008 My Flameleaf Sumac appears to have an insect infestation in the bark which oozes a sappy sticky substance. This has apparently caused one of the limbs to die. Will it kill the whole plant and is there... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Propagation of maple tree in Canada July 08, 2008 I have a gorgeous maple tree in my front lawn and I want to plant more like it. The tree gives off very few keys a year so I want to make sure this works. How do I go about planting a maple key? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Lack of fruit on Texas persimmon July 08, 2008 I have several Texas Persimmons on my property, most have nodules covering most of the leaves that I am presuming to be insect eggs. Between my neighbor and I we have over a dozen of these tress grow... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Non-flowering mimosas in Texas July 08, 2008 I have two mimosa trees, about 3 years old. Both were grown from volunteer seedlings. Neither have flowers nor have they produced seed pods. Are they too young or do they need a source of pollenation... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Changing color of crape myrtle blooms July 08, 2008 I have 5 well established crape myrtle trees whose blooms are a very light lavender/pink color. I would like to know if there is any way to deepen or change the color of the blooms. I would prefer a m... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Catalpa and maple with dying branches in Wisconsin July 07, 2008 We have a northern catalpa in our front yard. It's been there for about three years now and is probably 25' high. This year it appeared to be doing great. It flowered and then all of sudden last ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Trees for creek side in Illinois July 04, 2008 I have a creek that runs along my back yard, and was wondering if you could give me some suggestions on water loving trees to grow next to it. The creek gets sun all day and is located in zone 5. (so... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Columnar evergreen for Colorado July 04, 2008 I am looking for an evergreen 6-8 (or more) feet tall, very columnar; 3 feet spread in diameter, zone 5, full sun, dark green, clayish-OK soil. Thank you so much! View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Effects of concrete patio poured around tulip poplar tree July 01, 2008 We have a beautiful tulip poplar tree in our back yard that we wanted to be the focal point of our patio. We had seen pictures of patios with trees incorporated in patios leaving two to three feet of... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Selection of trees for new home June 30, 2008 We are moving to Roanoke, Texas(Denton County) into a new home. Our home will have 3 trees which we can choose. They are Texas Ash, Live Oak, Sweetgum, Silver Leak maple, Cedar Elm and Bradford Pear... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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