Planting a new tree
May 2007. The Vitex agnus-castus in bloom was a sight to behold.
Unfortunately, its beauty as a front-yard focal point was limited to about three months in late spring–early summer. Each summer it put on a tremendous amount of growth up top, but underneath the canopy, even with diligent thinning, the tree was a thicket of dead branches, suckers, and yellowing leaves. Each winter its thickety shape and lumpy, unattractive bark were exposed to view. I still think it’s a fine tree for the back of a sunny border or anywhere it’s not playing a starring role, but as the queen of the garden, it was time for a coup d’etat.
On Sunday, the ax fell. My husband took down the vitex piece by piece, and together we cut the limbs into manageable pieces and set them by the curb for the city’s large-brush pickup, which, helpfully, occurs this week.
Here you see the remains lying at the curb. Once we got all the air out, the tree was quite small. It’s remarkable, really.
The usurper, meanwhile, had been biding her time in a pot on the side of the house for well over two months. I bought this 30-gallon ‘Muskogee’ crepe myrtle on sale at Red Barn around Labor Day, waiting until after “Central Texas Gardener“s visit and for cooler weather before planting it.
After the vitex was neatly stacked along the curb, I got to work moving plants. I dug up the mass of purple coneflowers that had been growing at the vitex’s feet, along with a few bulbs, Gulf Coast penstemons, and columbines, and stuck them into pots or tubs. Then I started digging.
I dug the hole one and a half times as wide and exactly as deep as the root ball of the new tree, which meant a hole three feet in diameter and 17 inches deep. I hacked through the vitex’s roots as needed, but there weren’t too many; the vitex is a drought-tolerant tree, and most of its roots must have gone straight down.
After I’d dug the hole, I cut the plastic pot off the tree and called my DH to help me slide it into place. We filled it in, watering as we went, and then I spent another hour culling plants from the rest of the garden to plant at its feet. Today I mulched the new garden, but here’s how it looked yesterday.
The queen is dead! Long live the queen!
That was quite a job to remove that tree but it was the right decision as it was far too big for your garden. Now we have to wait and see what the new tree will look like when it’s grown a little.
Hi, YE. The perspective in that top photo made the vitex look bigger than it really was. It shaded one-quarter of my small garden and was appropriately scaled, in my view. That said, I’d actually be happier with a different placement of my main tree, ideally more to the side of the garden, leaving the front door area open. But because the house is oriented due west and the doorway gets blisteringly hot in the summer, I need a tree that can provide some shade at the entry. That means I had to site the new tree a little closer to the door than I wanted, but practicality wins over aesthetics where Austin’s summers are concerned. —Pam
Pam… that’s quite a bit of work! I like the new crepe myrtle, it seems to fit in well. Now, will you repaint anything on your house or in the garden to match the new blooms? I seem to recall that you had just a touch of purple here and there on your house, maybe on a bench, to match the Vitex.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
You have a good memory, Carol. The ‘Muskogee’ crepe myrtle has lavender flowers, so I’ll probably leave my purple trim and see how it goes. —Pam
Aww. I love the chaste tree. So ornery and kind of mystical, but they do demand the attention and no-holds-barred pruning. Same thing’s going to happen to one my mom planted back of their house. It just moved in and took over! Sad to see ‘er go, but the scale of the crepe myrtle seems right for the spot. Beautiful garden you have 🙂
Ornery, yes. Mystical? I don’t know. Beautiful? Definitely (in the early years)! It was always worth the trouble of trimming so long as it looked good all summer. But once it got to a certain size, it just didn’t anymore. I’m a little sad to see it go too, but it was time. Anyway, thanks for commenting, Lynn. Come back anytime. —Pam
Wow! Well done! As beautiful as the vitex was, it was really getting too big for the spot. Now you’ll have more room and sun for your great collection. I’m glad your story got down and dirty…I always like to see what kind of dirt other people are gardening in. I admire your nerve. I don’t have a lot of confidence moving things around, except when I’m transplanting little seedlings.
Altogether a very inspiring posts. (And thanks for the offer of the purple coneflowers; I’m so glad that when you get busy with a project that I always manage to snag a division or two.)
It seems that you and YE are in agreement about the vitex’s scale. I thought it was about right, considering that I need shade in front of my door. At any rate, I think this crepe myrtle will grow to the same size, if not actually a bit taller. However, I’m hopeful that the form will be more graceful and the trunks more beautiful. I know that it will bloom longer, and if I’m lucky I’ll even get a bit of fall color out of it. Shade, of course, is a few years away. You can see it all for yourself when you get the coneflower divisions tomorrow.
I’m glad you enjoyed this post, particularly the “down and dirty” part. Considering your scientific bent, MSS, I’m surprised you don’t enjoy moving plants around, as it’s one big scientific experiment to see what will thrive where. Plus it’s just fun to shake things up. —Pam
Wow, look at that wonderful soil you’ve got! Hard clay here, in fact there used to be a clay tile factory nearby.
Your front yard is just gorgeous!
Thanks, Kylee. I have to admit that this soil does look pretty darn good. When I moved in, I was gardening on solid, black clay, called “gumbo” around here, and there’s still a lot of it in my garden—sticky, heavy, nasty stuff. However, as I started with a blank slate in my front garden, I amended the whole thing with several inches of Hill Country Garden Mix from Natural Gardener, a wonderful, loosening blend of “reclaimed composted topsoil, composted rice hull, decomposed granite and a special blend of composts.” I also keep the garden well mulched. While digging the hole, I was happy to note that the soil quality had improved over time, and it was quite easy to dig. —Pam
Whew, that wore me out just seeing all that work you have been doing. Well worth the effort tho. The Queen can reign in splendor.
Yes, my sore muscles remind me just how much work it was. But so very satisfying, as most garden projects are. —Pam
” … exactly as deep as the root ball of the new tree.” Great. You should have bolded that. I continue to see instructions to dig or loosen the soil deeper than the rootball, which is absolutely wrong.
I put that detail in for those who may not know. Thanks for “bolding” it with your comment, Craig. While we’re at it, two other common misconceptions about planting trees are that you should amend the soil in the planting hole and that you should stake a new tree. Nowadays experts say no on both counts. —Pam
I knew from previous posts that you were replacing the vitex with a crepe myrtle and I was all set for some fall color photos. The crepe myrtles in El Paso are at their peak, but it doesn’t look like yours has even started to change. It shows just how different climates are even in the same zone.
Oh, we don’t get much in the way of fall color here, though I am a little hopeful about the crepe myrtle in that regard. But it’s early for leaves to drop in Austin. As you can see in the bottom photo, most of the trees on my street are still fully green. You’re right about climate differences even within the same hardiness zone. However, according to the new zone map, I see that even though Austin and El Paso share Zone 8, Austin is pretty close to Zone 9, while El Paso is much closer to Zone 7. —Pam
Nice narrative, and for me, a newbie to your site and others, it’s nice to see larger shots of the garden–the context. Looks like the myrtle fills in nicely, something that never seems to happen for years.
I agree about the value of wide shots, and I try to provide them from time to time. Thanks for dropping by again, Benjamin. —Pam
You did it, Pam! The title of your post made me afraid to scroll down, but thank heavens there were no heads in baskets, just a tidy looking stack of wood. The crepe myrtle already looks settled in and is no doubt happy to get out of the container.
My vitex is very small, but if it turns into a tyrant in a few years, you’ve shown me what to do.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
It was a bloodless revolution, Annie. I too think the crepe myrtle is breathing a sigh of relief to be in the ground after months of cooling her heels. I hope your vitex never turns tyrant on you. (You’re always good for word play, Annie.) I think my mistake was in expecting a vitex—by nature an unruly shrubject, not a queenly tree—to hold court in a majestic fashion. It’s much better suited to be a lady-in-waiting. —Pam
I love a good tree removal! This was so perfectly timely, and so instructional … it seems to me that most people here in L.A. plant their trees way too low, and then they build a little well around it so the crown can get waterlogged and rot, I guess. Then they wonder why the poor thing won’t grow…
Lovely choice of Crepe Myrtle! The bark is so…naked looking! I can’t wait to see it flourish in your beautiful garden…
Me too! Thanks for your comment, Germi. —Pam
Beautiful! And I applaud you’re being bold–I know some people freak out when you take out something big. The crepe myrtle will be beautiful, though!
~Angela 🙂
Thank, Angela. Bold is the only way to be when something’s not working. Don’t you agree? —Pam
Congratulations on the front yard revolution! I’m amazed–absolutely amazed–at how “at home” you’ve already made that crepe myrtle look. If you showed me the “after” picture and asked me to tell you what was new, I’d be looking for some sort of garden art addition or something. The crepe myrtle appears to have been settled in already for a few years, between the size and the plantings you arranged at its feet. 🙂
Several of my friends and relatives who visited this week didn’t even notice the change. Either they are remarkably unobservant, or it really does look as if the crepe myrtle has been there for a while. 🙂 —Pam
I thought it was the right size and was worried that the new tree will not be big enough. I hated to see the vitex go as I am partial to it, but you are right that it is better for a supporting role and not the star of the show.
I think the new tree will do the trick, but only time will tell. The nice thing is that the Texas mountain laurel behind the bench now has room to spread out a bit before the crepe myrtle gets big. —Pam
Wow, what a difference from the first photo to the last. It will be really fun to see as the tree gets taller. How tall do Muskogee get?
‘Muskogee’ grows to 15-25′, according to one grower’s website. —Pam
Did you have any problems removing the roots? I love the chaste tree and have two of them but one is in a bad spot and I started to move it last winter but soon realized that the roots were a nightmare. It grows next to a Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick (too close, that’s why the chaste tree needs to go) so maybe I’m coming across the roots of that shrub. I’m not sure and don’t know how I’m going to remove it!
The roots were not a problem, but then again I didn’t remove the stump. I ran into only one big root while digging the hole for the new tree next to the vitex’s stump, but I was able to hatchet it out. I expect the vitex will sucker up from the stump, so I may have to paint it with stump killer at some point. Good luck with your removal. —Pam
I need to think about this one. I am trying to save a chaste tree – a nice big one that is at the front of my current place, and one that if the demolition and builder folks are careful of, will remain – my advantage is that my house is one stilts, so it changes the dynamics (compared to an on-the-ground house) – but I do need to prune it up and I love the way yours looked in the first image (I know, I know – it’s a love-hate thing for everyone with this tree). I just need to prepare for, I’m afraid, mine getting cut down too!
I understand the dilemma only too well, Pam. When I look at the photo of the vitex in bloom, I have a twinge or two of regret. But when I remember how it looked when we took it down—a jumble of sticks, a lot of berries, and a few brown leaves—I know I made the right choice for my small garden. I hope you can save yours though. I’ll need to get a vitex fix somewhere, now that mine is gone. —Pam