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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| topic | question | |
| Hardy taproot trees for Oklahoma City June 13, 2013 What are some hardy tap root trees for central Oklahoma? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Brown rings on grass under live oaks in Austin June 13, 2013 There are brown rings in the grass at the dripline on several Live Oak trees in our neighborhood. What causes this? The trees appear healthy. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Garden instructions from Austin June 12, 2013 I'm a beginning gardener putting in some new landscaping in my front yard in north central Austin, TX. The yard faces almost due east, so it gets full sun until early afternoon, when the house's sha... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Perennial Suggestions for Under Ash Trees in Minnesota June 12, 2013 With our house we have inherited 2 ash trees in our front yard with a large amount landscaping underneath. I'm replacing the landscaping but there are tree roots at the surface preventing me from bei... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Damage to Pine Tree on Cape Cod, MA June 11, 2013 My pine tree on Cape Cod has bark that is perforated with holes covering the entire tree. Bark can be removed by hand. Looks dead. What did this? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| What's causing holes in trunk of white oak tree in SouthBend IN? June 10, 2013 We have a huge White Oak in our backyard that is approx. 130 years old. This evening I became aware that there are several small holes around the trunk that appear to be oozing a dark sappy liquid. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Identity of tree with fragrant yellow flowers and thorns June 06, 2013 I'm not sure if this is a native plant. It's a tree, around 15" tall. The leaves are in bunches with 3-4 very sharp small spines at each bunch. Flowers are small, yellow, hang down from the leaf... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Treating scarred Gum Bumelia from Lampasas TX June 05, 2013 We have a very old Gum Bumelia with a scarred open tree trunk. In the past concrete was used to fill the scarred trunk. What is the acceptable method of helping the tree. More concrete or using blac... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Looking for a specimen shade tree in San Rafael, CA June 04, 2013 I'm looking for a specimen shade tree that can get 30'x30', that doesn't drop a bunch of crud (seeds, etc) on the patio (leaves are ok), medium to low water requirement, roots are behaved, zone 9,... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Western soapberry dropping leaves in San Antonio June 03, 2013 My Western Soapberry tree (China berry?) Suddenly started dropping full, perfectly healthy green, leaf units. Now half the tree is turning yellow. There is a second tree in the yard not far from this ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Problems with non-native Callery Pear tree from Louisville KY June 03, 2013 I have a Cleveland select that has a bark issue. It is on its second season and I just saw this. It looks like the bark is bubbling up kinda and then wants to peel off the main trunk. I have a picture... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Plants for the Shade of a Pine Tree in Pittsburg June 03, 2013 I live in Pittsburgh, PA. My neighbor has a huge pine tree. Last year everything I planted on that side near the tree died. That part of the yard only gets morning sun, as the tree overshadows it. Wha... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Photographing and Identifying trees of Long Island June 01, 2013 After being in a car accident I got into photography as sports are a distant memory due to my injuries. As a new hobby I thought of taking pictures of trees and then finding out their species name. ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Windbreak [Dustbreak] for Shelton, WA May 31, 2013 I live on a well traveled, dusty, gravel road in the Pacific North West and would like to plant a barrier to help control the dust. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | | |
| Windbreaks for Monterey County, CA May 31, 2013 I am trying to find good wind breakers for Monterey County area, very windy in the valley. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | | |
| Trees for privacy screen in California May 31, 2013 Hi Mr. Smartypants, We are first-time home-buyers of a cute little house and a relatively large lot in Pacific Grove, CA. Unfortunately the neighbors to the north have built a second story with a nic... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Would like a small tree for yard in Las Vegas, NV. May 31, 2013 would like a small tree with root system that grows down not spread on surface. Had raywood and medesto ash tree both died of desease. Diagnosed by arborist. Stated that these trees to big for my yard... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Leaves on new water oak turning brown from Matagorda TX May 30, 2013 We had water oaks planted in January when they had no leaves. Leaves came on but are now turning brown. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Desert Willow and Orchid tree with no upper leaves from Kerrville TX May 30, 2013 I have two 5 year old Desert Willows planted in my yard. This year only one has leaved out and blooming. The other is bare but the branches are not dead and it has new growth at the bottom. Do you kno... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Fruit crops to grow in Tennessee mountains May 27, 2013 My property has a lot of rock formations throughout it and has hundreds of cedars where it is not pasture. I am wanting to grow fruit trees and berry bushes but don't know what can grow in this e... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Need suggestions for a replacement tree for Hackberry tree in Austin, TX in Austin TX. May 25, 2013 We have a large hackberry tree in our front yard. We are cutting it down this fall. I would like to replace it with a tree native to this area..preferably something fast growing. What are your reco... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Problems with Ashe juniper from Lakeway TX May 25, 2013 Dear Sir/Madam, I have been living for the last three years in Lakeway, Texas approximately 20 miles west of Austin. In my back garden there are several ashe junipers about 15-20ft tall. However... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
| Why so many Sugar Hackberry seedlings in my back yard in The Woodlands, TX? May 25, 2013 Why do I have so many Sugar Hackberry seedlings (Celtis Laevigata) sprouting up naturally in my back yard? There are a few Winged Elms in my neighborhood, but no Sugar Hackberry trees that I know of.... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Is it OK to remove soil around oaks - Austin, TX. May 24, 2013 I have several oaks trees (one live oak + burr oaks) from 15'-35' in height. They seem healthy. A local arborist says they were planted too deep and that the soil around them needs to be excavated t... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
| Planting Texas Persimmon in enclosed planter from San Angelo TX May 23, 2013 I want to plant a Texas Persimmon (in West Texas) in an enclosed planter 4' X 4' X 2.5' deep. What would be a good planting medium. Does it need to be deeper? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer |  | |
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