Native to China, paperback maple trees grow more slowly than many other maple varieties (less than 12 inches a year) and may take up to 20 years to reach their full height, which can be up to 30 feet. Its slow-growing habit also means it can be a relatively expensive tree to purchase as mature from garden centers. Paperbark maples are best planted in the fall but can be planted any time the ground is not frozen....

Light The Black Hills spruce will grow in partial shade for those with less than ideal light conditions. It does prefer full sun, though, and you will see slower growth if you plant your tree in anything less than 6 to 8 hours of sun. Soil For those looking for a particularly adaptable tree for soil conditions, the Black Hills spruce might be the tree for you. It can do well in clay, loam, sand, and slightly alkaline soils, as long as it is in a well-draining area....

Though there are a number of plants referred to as buttonbush, this guide will focus on the common buttonbush, or Cephalanthus occidentalis. These shrubs contain cephalathin, which is toxic when ingested. Light Buttonbush prefers partial to full sunshine. It often grows better in full sun exposure but it can be a delicate balance. Shrubs planted where the sun readily dries out the soil will struggle to thrive. Soil Buttonbush is perfect for low-lying, wet areas where other plants may not grow well....

Its narrow, bluish-gray or pale green leaves form a dense mat. The underside of the leaves are silvery-white and fuzzy and this is increasingly visible when the leaves curl up (a sign that the plant could use water). But, in an established plant, this is not a reason to panic. When this happens, dymondia won’t die right away. The plant is very drought-tolerant. During the summer, dymondia blooms on and off, and the small, yellow, daisy-like flowers attract bees and other pollinators....

Selecting a Planting Site Elderberries are not finicky plants and the shrubs tolerate many environments. Choose an open area that gets plenty of full sun a day for the best flowers and berries. A open area will also help the plants benefit from better air circulation. Spacing, Depth, and Support Elderberry bushes have shallow roots that are almost mat-like in their growth pattern. Continuous weeding is essential as elderberries can’t compete well with aggressive weeds....

These palms can grow both as a shrub with multiple trunks or as a small tree with a single trunk. The light blue-green to silver-green, fan-shaped fronds stretch roughly 2 feet long and wide and feature 10 to 20 long, narrow leaflets. Clusters of bright yellow flowers bloom in the spring but they are not always visible because they are hidden behind the leaf stems. Small, round inedible fruits in yellow, orange, or brown follow the flowers....

Golden star makes an excellent groundcover and can tolerate light foot traffic. It flowers nearly year-round from mid-spring to late fall, and regular deadheading will help to encourage ongoing flowering. Occasionally, golden star can be bothered by snails and slugs but otherwise, it is not prone to any serious pests or diseases. Light If you’re looking for a plant to fill up some shady areas of your yard, golden star is a perfect choice....

This desert species has a branched form and grows fairly quickly, often adding between 1 and 2 feet of height a year. Those that flower do so at night and all are most easily identifiable by their attractive blue-green skin, which is complemented by bright yellow spines. Pilosocereus cacti are mostly tree-like, and their flowers are shaped like tubes and grow fleshy fruits. In cultivation, they are planted and grown year-round, mostly in greenhouses due to their large size and need for warmth in the winter....

Plant them in late spring, after evening temperatures have warmed and all danger of frost has passed. Start with large bulbs, which will produce multiple flower stalks on unusual, burgundy-speckled stems. When planting in the springtime, bury the bulbs at least 5 inches in the ground to help them overwinter in hardy areas. Even in warm weather, it takes a while for the foliage to emerge, so look for leaves after about a month....

Best planted in the spring, pitch pine trees grow slowly, often taking between 20 and 30 years to reach maturity—1 foot of growth per year is typical. These long-lived trees can live well over a century. Care is minimal. This tree normally thrives with roughly 1/2 inch of water per week, but month-long droughts will not harm a mature tree. Prune away dead or diseases branches, but pruning for shape is not necessary, as a twisted, gnarly appearance is normal for this species....

Many privet species are not especially ornamental plants when considered in isolation. They’re either evergreen or deciduous (dropping their leaves over winter) with dense, oval or lance-shaped, glossy green leaves, though some varieties have different leaf shades. Small, tubular flowers bloom on panicles in the early summer with a strong fragrance that some people dislike. Round, black fruit clusters follow the blooms. Privets have a quick growth rate and can be planted in the spring or fall....

Its common name comes from its Midwest history as it was seen as a perfect tree for west-bound settlers to use to make shingles as they pushed west across the plains. One other interesting feature to note is the shingle oaks distinctly un-oak like leaves. Compared to other oaks, the shingle oak’s leaves have an appearance that lacks lobes and looks more akin to a laurel leaf. If you’re looking for a shade tree with the ecological importance of oak but a different look, then the shingle oak may be a great option....

When in its native environment the ash is host to over 100 of insects, which is one reason the tree is considered magical and is the model of the iconic tree of life imagery. Not all of the insects the European ash plays host to are beneficial. Like most members of the genus Fraxinus, in most of North America the European ash is ravaged by the Emerald ash borer. If you live in the narrow hardiness range that the European ash thrives in, and are up to a gardening challenge, maintaining this giant in your landscape might be exactly the mythic quest that you’ve been looking for....

Each year, Bartlett pear trees burst forth in a bloom of showy white flowers before their leaves appear. In late summer (about three to five months past the peak of full bloom) these flowers produce delicious, juicy pears. Unlike other fruit trees, the pear tree grows in a conical shape, similar to a spruce tree. Green, oval-shaped leaves that measure up to three inches long and have a very fine-toothed edge fill the tree’s canopy during the growing season....

Cardamom has thick knobby rhizomes, which create upright shoots that bear long, narrow, dark green leaves. Outdoors in tropical climates, cardamom can grow on cane-like stems from 6 to 15 feet tall. Leafy shoots have linear-lanceolate leaves, each shaped like a sword and measuring about 24 inches long. In late spring or summer, leafless flowering stems spread from the base and produce white to yellowish-white flowers, reminiscent of orchids, with lilac-purple veins and pink or yellow margins....

Solanum species are also called nightshades. They include these ornamental eggplants, other eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes and are toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. A pumpkin on a stick is a monoecious plant that insects must pollinate to produce fruit, so make sure you have other flowering plants nearby that attract pollinators. As the plant grows to 3 to 4 feet high and 2 to 3 feet wide, it develops strong branches that will need support as the fruit matures....

The foliage on this species is a bipinnately compound, meaning that each leaf consists of up to 25 pairs of leaflets, and each of those leaflets is further divided into up to 25 more pairs of leaflets. This tree is renowned worldwide for its clusters of exquisite red flowers that blanket the tree in the warm summer months. Each of the five petals is reddish-orange or scarlet. One petal is bigger than the others and has yellow and white markings....

Mulching Lawn Clippings Almost without exception, lawn clippings should always be mulched back into the lawn. The benefits of mulching lawn clippings are too numerous and valuable to ignore. From providing nutrients for the soil to saving significant amounts of time and money, mulching the lawn clippings makes sense. Similar to mulching leaves into the lawn in the fall, lawn clippings add valuable organic matter to the soil. Mulching is best accomplished with a mulching mower, which is just like any other mower but with a few modifications....