My Growing Allee of London Planes and Smoke Bushes
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have many allées of trees - they look so beautiful and dramatic along the carriage roads, between the horse paddocks, and beside the antique fencing. One of my newer allées is planted along the lower hayfield road toward my woodlands - and it's developing excellently.
In landscaping, an allée, or an avenue, is traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side. In most cases, the trees planted are the same species or cultivar, so as to give a uniform appearance along the full length of the allée. To create this particular allée through the field, we started with a selection of London plane trees in the fall of 2019. We also planted about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria. And this year, we added crepe myrtle, Lagerstroemia - deciduous, small to medium sized shrubs known for their colorful and long-lasting summertime flowers.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- At first, this area through the hayfield was just an open and very plain space, where I grew hay for my horses. I thought it was a perfect stretch of landscape for a long allee. Designing any garden takes plenty of planning, time and patience. Here, the area chosen was mowed and measured. The twine indicates the edge of the planting bed.
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- The large field is bordered on one side by a grove of weeping willow trees, Salix – graceful, refined, and easily recognized by its open crown of ground-sweeping branches. Willows grow especially well near water, and reach 30 to 40 feet tall.
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- I wanted the allee to extend the entire portion of the road that cuts through the lower hayfield. This would require a large number of stately trees. My outdoor grounds crew removed the sod from the area. All my carriage roads are 12-feet wide. I wanted to be sure the new allee lined the edge of the road, but also had enough room for the trees to grow.
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- I chose to plant two rows of London plane trees – 46-trees in all. When selecting a location, always consider the tree’s growth pattern, space needs, and appearance. London planes are easy to transplant. They can also develop massive trunks with spreading crowns, so they need lots of space.
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- The London plane tree, Platanus × acerifolia, is a deciduous tree. It is a cross between two sycamore species: Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore, and Platanus orientalis, the Oriental plane. This very large tree with maple-like leaves grows to roughly 75 to 100 feet with a spread of 60 to 75 feet. 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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- In between the trees, I chose to plant Cotinus, also known as smoke bush or smoke tree – 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. 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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- Smoke bushes have stunning dark red-purple foliage that turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to the branch tips.
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- Hard to see here, but the small smoke bush seedlings are all planted – this photo was taken in October 2019.
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- One year later in September of 2020, both the Cotinus and the London planes are established and growing beautifully.
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- But this year, the growth is very noticeable – colors of the specimens look amazing together.
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- To add more texture to this developing allee, I decided to plant hundreds of crepe myrtle along both sides. Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crape myrtle, is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia, and other parts of Oceania, cultivated in warmer climates around the world. Crepe myrtle has dark green leaves, with a red fringe upon opening. In the fall the leaves turn red, yellow, or orange. The leaf shape is oval and pinnate.
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- Brian and Phurba planted the crepe myrtle evenly between each of the trees along the allee. The crepe myrtle came to us in plugs. Plugs in horticulture are small-sized seedlings grown in seed trays filled with potting soil.
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- This is a dibber. A dibber or dibble or dibbler is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so that seeds, seedlings or small bulbs can be planted. Dibbers come in a variety of designs including the straight dibber, this T-handled dibber, trowel dibber, and L-shaped dibber.
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- Because the plugs are small, Brian uses a dibber instead of a trowel to make the holes.
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- The four to six inch deep holes are perfect for the crepe myrtle seedlings.
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- Brian plants the seedling, backfills with soil, and tamps down lightly for good contact. He 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.
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- These crepe myrtles will grow nicely in this area and fill in the voids perfectly.
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- Here is one of the growing smoke bushes. 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. I grow many smoke bushes at the farm – I will share more photos of these gorgeous shrubs in my next blog.
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- The leaves of these smoke bushes are waxy purple and are one and a half to three inches long, and ovate in shape.
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- And some of them are showing off their stunning plumes right now. The flower plumes are purple-pink, tipped with creamy yellow at their peak.
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- Under optimal conditions, smoke bushes can add about 13 to 24 inches to its height each year. I am so pleased with how well they are growing here at the farm.
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- And here is a wide photo of the allee now – it will look more beautiful year after year. I am excited to see it continue to develop and flourish.
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