Finishing the New Allee at the Farm
The great allée planting project continues at my Bedford, New York farm.
Last week, after planting a selection of London plane trees along the lower hayfield carriage road, my outdoor grounds crew and gardeners planted about 100 smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria - a deciduous shrub that's also commonly known as royal purple smoke bush, smoke tree, and purple smoke tree. The smoke bush is often used as a garden specimen because of its beautiful purple-pink smokey plumes. I love Cotinus and have many planted around my home. In time, the beautiful London planes and smoke bushes will fill in the area so nicely - I can’t wait.
Here are more photos - enjoy.
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- For this allee, I knew the bold green foliage of the London plane trees would look great with the dark purple colored smoke bushes. Once the London planes were planted, Ryan positioned all the potted Cotinus along the bed.
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- The London plane tree, Platanus × acerifolia, is a very large deciduous tree. It is a cross between two sycamore species: Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore, and Platanus orientalis, the Oriental plane.
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- This very large tree with maple-like leaves grows to roughly 75 to 100 feet with a spread of 60 to 75 feet.
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- Cotinus, also known as smoke bush or smoke tree, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. The stunning dark red-purple foliage turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to branch tips.
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- This day was a bit rainy, but my hardworking crew continued with the project. Chhiring starts by digging the hole where each plant is placed.
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- There are two potted smoke bushes between each London plane. These specimens were all purchased as small whips – slender, unbranched shoots or plants. I like to nurture them for a year or two in pots before placing them in the ground – this way they are planted as bigger, stronger specimens.
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- Here, Chhiring adds a good amount of compost next to each potted Cotinus. He uses our new Kubota model M7060HD12 tractor to haul buckets of compost from the backfield where it is made.
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- All the plants are lined up along the entire allee before any planting is started. Doing this ensures there are enough plants to fit the area.
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- Next, the compost is treated with some fertilizer. The crew uses dryroots, a natural granular fertilizer with nitrogen, potassium sulfate, iron, magnesium, kelp meal, vitamins, and humic acids to improve soil and plant health.
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- The team works in an efficient assembly line. Here, Phuba mixes the existing soil with the fresh compost and fertilizer. As with all our gardening projects, any extra soil is gathered and returned to the compost heap, so it can be reused again at a later time.
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- Then Carlos shapes the hole for planting.
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- Carlos removes the plant from the pot and loosens the dirt at its roots. It is a good idea to do this whenever transplanting in order to stimulate new growth and promote good aeration.
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- Carlos then places the plant at the same depth it was in its pot. Never bury a plant deeper than its crown, or where the roots and stems meet – buried crowns will suffocate the plants. Cotinus grows best in moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade, but it is quite tolerant of alkaline soils, moist, clay soils, dry, rocky soils, and drought.
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- Soil is carefully backfilled into the hole and around the plant.
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- Carlos sprinkles another handful of fertilizer around the plant ball. Fertilizer is very important – it increases transplant survival, as well as water and nutrient absorption.
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- And then pats the soil around the plant for good contact.
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- Phurba is right behind him raking around the smoke bushes as they are planted, so the area looks tidy.
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- Smoke bushes are among my favorite small trees. These can grow to a moderate size – up to 15-feet tall and 10-feet wide. I also love its upright, multi-stemmed habit.
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- The leaves are waxy purple and are one and a half to three inches long, and ovate in shape.
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- It takes a few days to plant all the trees in this allee, but it looks excellent. London planes grow in almost any soil – acidic or alkaline, loamy, sandy or clay. They accept wet or dry soil and grow best in full sun, but they also thrive in partial shade.
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- Along one edge of the hayfield, one can see the grove of weeping willow trees I planted. I have planted so many trees here at the farm – I am always amazed at how much they grow and thrive here.
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- Once everything is in the ground, each side is given a good, thorough watering. The rain was a good start, but it did not penetrate the soil deeply enough.
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- The sun eventually returned, and it looks so pretty. This allee will be a lovely addition to my garden tours.
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- Here is a view of both sides of the new allee. I am excited to see it develop and flourish. I will continue to share photos with you as they grow. What are some of your favorite tree and shrub specimens? Share them with me below.
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