In my last blog post, I talked about how more and more people are including native plants in their gardens. Dr. Amy Wright, who is an associate professor of horticulture at Auburn University, and I have talked about this for a while now. She visited with me recently on the Backyard Wisdom radio show.
Amy is a real advocate of using native plants in the landscape whether it be flowers, shrubs or trees. As she told me, it’s just smart to choose a plant that is well adapted to where you live rather than one that is native to a different environment.
Last time, I shared with you some of Amy’s favorite native deciduous shrubs. This time it’s her list of favorite evergreen shrubs. On the show, we talked about these three.
Morella cerifera, Myrica cerifera, wax myrtle
Illicium floridanum, Florida anise
Illicium parviflorum, small anise-tree
But Amy adds that the following are great choices as well—just not enough time on Backyard Wisdom to talk about them all.
Ilex glabra, inkberry holly
Magnolia virginiana, sweetbay magnolia
Sabal minor, dwarf palmetto
Ilex vomitoria, yaupon holly
If you add any of these or the deciduous ones mentioned in the previous post to your landscape, Amy offers these general recommendations.
• For all these plants, don’t prune! They all have wonderful natural growth forms that should be preserved.
• If planting more than one, it’s always best to mass them together for greatest impact.
• When searching for shrubs, always use the scientific name so you’re sure you know what you’re getting.
• When purchasing plants, don’t forget to inspect the root systems! This will determine whether the plant lives or dies in your landscape! Look for plenty of healthy, white, firm roots. Avoid root balls with excessive circling roots, brown or mushy roots, or root balls that are very dry.