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Questions From Near You

Pflugerville, TX
Flashing barrier to Bermuda in tree bed
I'm building a 6-ft-diameter planting bed on a gentle slope on blackland clay, at the center of which I plan to install a cedar elm. I'm using the wedge-shaped stones from the home-improvement stor...
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Pflugerville, TX
Inland sea oats as backfrop for pigeon berry
I am thinking of using inland sea oats as a backdrop for pigeon berry (Rivina humilis) in a shady area along my foundation. Will this combination work, or will the sea oats outcompete the pigeon berr...
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Pflugerville, TX
Growth rate of trees
What is the growth rate of the following plants. (How wide and tall each year? They are all in 1 gallon pots right now.) 1. Agarita 2. Anacacho Orchid 3. Silk Tassel. Is there anything that can be ...
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Pflugerville, TX
Deadheading cannas and geraniums
I'm new to gardening. Your help would be appreciated. 1) I think I read that canna flowers can be deadheaded so they will continue to bloom throughout the summer. What part is actually taken off? ...
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Pflugerville, TX
Shaping of native hawthorns
I have three young hawthorns that were propagated from a nearby Blackland prairie stand. If I limb them up, will that encourage them to branch more near the top, or will it just ruin the form altoget...
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Pflugerville, TX
Pot on a pillar in a pond in Pflugerville
No question: Just a thanks to Barbara. You can't imagine how hard I laughed when I read the interpretation that I was going to plant Maximilians in a pot on a pedestal in the middle of a pond!!! S...
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pflugerville, TX
Identification of old plant called pinks
For years my mother had a pretty pink flower in her yard. It was in a little cluster of green leaf like bush. She just called them pinks. They would close in the sun and open in the morning or afte...
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Pflugerville, TX
Life expectancy for Carolina buckthorn (Frangula caroliniana)
Someone recently told me that Carolina buckthorn only lives 4-5 years and I'm wondering if that is true. I had a nice one (on Blackland) that died suddenly in its fourth or fifth year, during the dr...
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Pflugerville, TX
Maximilian sunflowers in a container in Pflugerville, TX
Can Maximilian sunflowers be grown in a container? How deep and wide would it need to be? Am considering growing them in a stock tank elevated on bricks, with drain holes.
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Pflugerville, TX
Using a stock tank as a planter for Maximilian sunflowers in Pflugerville TX
I am going to re-phrase a question I asked last week, because even though I tried to be very careful, I posed it in a way subject to misinterpretation and thus did not get an answer. So here goes: I...
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Pflugerville, TX
Allelopathc qualities in sunflowers
I have a sunflower patch in the corner of my backyard (Maximilians, common sunflower, and silverleaf sunflower)and would like to use the spent stalks (sans the seedheads) as mulch in the fall. Howeve...
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Pflugerville, TX
Coexistence of rubus trivialis and American beautyberry
I'm growing some rubus trivialis in a 1-gal. pot and plan to plant it this fall. Will this dewberry coexist with American beautyberry, or must it have its own space entirely? If it needs its own sp...
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Pflugerville, TX
Pruning oaks in August from Pflugerville TX
Can I do minor pruning on my Lacey oak and bur oak in August if it is hot and dry? I'd like to prune one limb from each. The Lacey oak limb is about 2 inches in diameter, and the bur oak limb is ab...
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Pflugerville, TX
Pruning dogwood in TX
I have a roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii) sapling that I would like to keep at shrub height (~6 ft) rather than let it form a tree. Can I encourage this by cutting the main trunk, and if so, by ...
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Pflugerville, TX
Cut wildflowers for wedding in June in Panola Co., TX
I need fresh picked Texas wildflowers for my son's wedding dinner on June 3. The wedding is in Carthage, Panola Co, Tx. I'm from Austin and am not familiar with that vicinity. What flowers should b...
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Pflugerville, TX
Pruning time for Lonicera sempervirens from Pflugerville TX
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, When does the Wildflower Center prune its Lonicera sempervirens?
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Pflugerville, TX
At what age does Possumhaw (Ilex decidua) begin to flower in Pflugerville, TX?
At what age does a female possumhaw (Ilex decidua) usually bloom and set fruit? Or is there a way to identify the female other than by the presence of berries? I grew a number from seed and want to ...
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Pflugerville, TX
More on bluebonnets
How are bluebonnets used by wildlife?
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Pflugerville, TX
Practicality of Bouteloua dactyloides as turf grass in Pflugerville
I live in Pflugerville next to Pfluger park. The soil is pretty rich there and I'm looking for a good turf grass to replace the weeds in the front yard. Someone recommended Turfallo. What do you th...
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Pflugerville, TX
Transplanting roughleaf dogwood in Pflugerville, TX
Hello. My rougleaf dogwood is suckering enthusiastically, and rather than mow off all the root suckers, I'd like to transplant a couple of them to the stream bank in the greenbelt behind my house. ...
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Pflugerville, TX
Annual plants for weed control in Pflugerville,TX?
Can you suggest an annual or summer-dormant plant to mix with Dalea frutescens? The object is to discourage the spring-emerging weeds that precede the leafing out of the Dalea, so it should finish bl...
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