Ronny's Garden World

You will be hard pressed to find anyone who isn’t familiar with the southern magnolia. Those large glossy green leaves and creamy white flowers are a symbol or southern charm.  The leaves and seed pods also adorn many a mantle during the Christmas season.  The tree is just plain hard to resist.  Caring for a southern Magnolia is easy.  Plant in Full Sun to Partial Shade in a wind protected area.  You can also use Wilt-Pruf (anti-transpirant) to help prevent wind burn in the winter.   They like well drained soil rich in nutrients.  Fertilize twice a year, the week around St. Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving with Holly-Tone.

Cultivars Worth Noting
‘Little Gem’ - Prized for small lawns. Can grow 15 to 20 ft in zones 6-7. Great specimen plant with smaller, very fragrant flowers and leaves that are rust colored on the underside.
‘D.D. Blanchard’ - 30 to 60 feet tall, large flowers and large dark green leaves with rusty almost orange undersides.
‘Brackens Brown Beauty’ - 30 to 40 feet tall, dense compact growth habit of ovate 8″ long leaves and an almost hairy underside of brown . Large fragrant flowers. The industry standard.
‘Teddy Bear’- 20 to 40ft. New variety with 6-8″ flowers and full sized leaves heavily brown felted on the underside.

Toby Reynolds, Ronny’s Garden World

There is a native plant available for every situation.  The problem is where to find the plants you are reading about.  Well here are some selections that are easy to find and can be utilized in diverse habitats.
Damp Shade:  Ostrich Ferns, Royal Ferns, Cinnamon Ferns, Inkberry, Sweetbay Magnolia, Clethra ‘Ruby Spice’, Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’ , Fringe Tree.
Sunny Areas:  Sycamore, Black Gum, Sweet Gum, Red Maples (’Red Sunset’ or ‘October Glory’) Frankliana, Sourwood.
Compact Natives That Adapt To Any Situation: Red Sprite, Winterberry, Little Henry Itea, Cristmas Fern, Hummingbird Clethra, Compacta Inkberry.
Toby Reynolds,
Ronny’s Garden World

By John Staley, Ronny’s Garden World.

Living Privacy Fences provide wildlife habitat, noise barrier, windbreak, as well as adding a sense of seclusion. So In-Line or staggered? Let’s use a Green Giant Arborvitae as our example. For an in-line privacy fence you would plant the trees 8 feet on center. This means that when the trees are planted in the ground there should be 8 feet from the center of one trunk to the center of the next. For a more natural look, some choose a staggered form. Using the same Green Giant Arborvitae, this would be achieved by planting two staggered rows (rows being 8 feet apart) 16 feet on center. So both rows will have trees 16 feet on center but you will see the second row’s trees in between the first rows. Keep in mind this form takes up twice the ground space.

Anyone can have a living privacy fence, even if you have limited space. Just ask your nurseryman for a substitute that has a more compact growth habit like Emerald Green Arborvitae which can be planted 3 to 3.5 feet apart on center.

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