Careful Choices: Trees & Shrubs

The last thing a landscape contractor wants to do is admit to a customer that the wrong ornamental was installed. This is precisely why a great deal of care has to be taken when deciding what plant material best suits a specific site. Trees and shrubs are integral parts of any landscape, offering aesthetic and environmental value, and their selection should be a careful process.

“Contractors need to have a working knowledge of plant material and know what is available in the market,” remarked Ed Castro, president of Ed Castro Landscape, Atlanta, Ga.

The axiom “the right plant for the right place” is particularly true for woody ornamentals, according to the University of Massachusetts Extension. When selecting plants for the landscape, contractors need to consider a host of factors in order to complete a successful installation.

THE RIGHT STUFF. Deciding what plant material to install at a site is not a simple task. Many external factors play a part in the selection such as plant hardiness to the site, quality of plant material, availability, customer needs and price, according to Kevin Hunt, president, Pinon Hills Landscape, Colorado Springs, Colo.

These criteria rang true for others as well. Luke Messinger, director of public relations, Dawes Arboretum, Newark, Ohio, commented, “Site consideration is number one. This includes hardiness zone, cultural offerings, soil quality and drainage.”

According the University of Massachusetts Extension, each site should be considered for slope, soil type, amount of light, space or size, hardiness zone, exposure, drainage and soil pH.

Site consideration is extremely important but not the only issue when selecting plant material. “You have to be aware of the plant’s mature height,” noted Kevin Arnold, president, TerraCare, Charleston, W.Va. “You need to look at how to deal with potential insect problems that could come up with certain plant material. Also, be aware of its fruiting habits. You don’t want fruit dropping in pedestrian walkways and parking lots.”

Ron Rubin, regional operating officer, The Care of Trees, Washington D.C., cited insect and disease issues as a crucial factor when making an ornamental decision.

“Consider the growing conditions,” Rubin recommended. “Know if the area is dry, wet, sunny or shady. Also, know the soil conditions, which could be sandy or clay. If the correct plant is put in there, then there are less problems with insects or disease. But they will be more susceptible to infections if they are planted in an area of poor growing conditions.”

SIZING THEM UP. The size of the plant material when it’s planted and its growth potential for the future are issues contractors need to give serious consideration to before planting begins. Deciding what size ornamentals to use can be based on the clients’ budget, site location, clients’ expectations or the landscape architect’s specifications, according to Hunt.

“Size is somewhat decided by the budget,” remarked Sam Burke, president, Landscape One, Hebron, Ky. “We also consider window height and the building size, and contractors also need to be looking 10 years down the road at what the plant may be blocking. It’s important to decide if a certain plant can be maintained to a window height. Every situation is a little bit different. We try to help the customer think into the future.”

Another issue was mentioned along with clients’ needs and their budgets a plant’s function. According to Castro, plant size is based on the function that the plant will serve. There may be several species that will serve a certain function and contractors could use those for alternative choices.

“It’s critical to identify the mature height of the plants during the planning process to understand the overall plant growth,” Castro added when speaking of growth potential. “Identify the plants that will work well together and not interfere with others’ growth. Some clients only think in the here and now, no matter how much you educate them about potential growth. Others may want large trees immediately so it will look good now.”

Some contractors have noticed problems with clients who want mature trees immediately. Rubin mentioned that he sees plant material overgrowing the windows of homes all too often. He stressed that if the right plant had been planted from the beginning, he wouldn’t see such problems with plant size, insects or disease.

“We see a lot of residential properties and have pictures of homes that are being re-landscaped after only a few years,” Burke commented. “It’s not easy to tell a customer this after they spent a lot of money to have it done the first time, but too many companies are going for an instant impact. Unfortunately, it may actually be the wrong landscaping and then it’s giving contractors a bad name.”

LIMITED ACCESS. Flexibility is a key word when talking about plant availability. Being open to alternate plant material seems to be crucial these days with shortages that pop up at different times of the year.

According to Messinger, availability now is strong. However, if a contractor is looking for a specific specimen, it can sometimes be difficult to locate. “It’s important to have a network of nurseries to select from. You should keep this network on hand.”

“You do run into shortages at certain times of the year,” Arnold added. “Hopefully, the designer or landscape architect is flexible enough to look at other trees and shrubs. As the contractor, you should be aware of growth habits and important factors of different varieties to convey these to the architect when considering alternates.”

Messinger agreed with Arnold that this flexibility requires communication with a designer. It is important to develop this communication so if problems do come up, then it's possible to have an alternative plan.

“Contractors have to have alternatives,” Burke explained. “You have to let the customer know that there is a possibility of alternates being used. You cannot tell them that one plant and only one is the best for a specific site. Then, if you try to sell them an alternate plant, they may not want it because you said nothing else would do.”

CLIENT RELATIONS. The customer is always right - or are they? How does a contractor handle that sticky situation when a client is dead-set on an idea that you know won’t work? Contractors interviewed here were in agreement that the keys to resolving such a situation are education and diplomacy.

“We educate the client,” Rubin said. “If they really want a certain type of plant, we have to let them know what the maintenance considerations will be in the future. They could be purchasing a high-maintenance plant and the client should know this. They may still choose to purchase it anyway, in some cases. But, at least then we can anticipate insect and disease problems.”

Burke echoed Rubin by explaining that he tells customers what he thinks about their needs and wants and then backs that up with published information. “Then, I’ll ask them if they still want the plant. It’s up to them. We do our best to educate them.”

“An educated client is a better client for us,” Castro explained. “This way they won’t want to change things toward the end of the project. Then we can be proactive instead of reactive. But, ultimately, it’s their money, so we work with them as much as possible.”

The second key in customer relations is diplomacy. “It’s important to be diplomatic,” Hunt noted. “You have to respect their interests. You don’t want to be critical of their tastes, but try to offer similar choices. For example, offer a similar color or shade.”

“We go into a meeting with a client and we listen to what they want,” Arnold added. “We try to locate that on the property where it will be successful. If it’s not a useable plant, we will diplomatically explain why something else will work better and steer the client away from a certain plant. It is important to understand communication so you are not offending them.”

Castro said, “Share information with them and they will be a better client.”

The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.

Outstanding Ornamentals

A few factors are critical to look for when choosing plant material: few insect or disease problems, reduced maintenance requirements, increased drought tolerance, winter hardiness and year- round interest. According to the University of Massachusetts Extension’s Planting and Maintaining Sustainable Landscapes, the following woody ornamentals share these certain charac-teristics that make them deserving of increased use. Included in the listing is the specific tree, its average height and its hardiness zone, which shows the re-gion that a plant can survive in based on the minimum temperatures in each zone (see USDA Plant Zone Hardiness map above). TREES Tree Height Zone Concolor Fir 30-50 feet 3 Trident Maple 20-25 feet 5 Hedge Maple 35 feet 5 Amur Maple 20 feet 2 Paperbark Maple 25 feet 5 Red Maple 40-60 feet 3 Three-flower Maple 20-30 feet 5 Heritage River Birch 40-70 feet 4 American Hornbeam/Ironwood 30 feet 2 Blue Atlas Cedar 20 feet 6 Cedar of Lebanon 120 feet 5 Katsura tree 40-60 feet 4 Nootka Falsecypress 30-45 feet 4 Sawara Falecypress 50-70 feet 4 American Yellow-wood 50 feet 3 Kousa Dogwood 30 feet 5 Cornelian Cherry 20-25 feet 4 Japanese Cornel 15-20 feet 5 American Smoke Tree 20-35 feet 5 Washington Hawthorne 25-30 feet 3 Winter King Hawthorne 5 feet 4 Ginkgo 50 feet 3 Carolina Silverbell 30-40 feet 5 Longstalk Holly 25 feet 5 Golden Rain Tree 30-40 feet 5 Amur Maackia 20-30 feet 3 Loebnoer Magnolia hybrids 25 feet 5 Sweetbay Magnolia 20 feet 5 Wyman Crabapple 20 feet 5 Tupelo/Black Gum 30-50 feet 4 Sourwood/Sorrel Tree 40 feet 5 Amur Corktree 30-45 feet 3 Swiss Stone Pine 35-40 feet 3 Japanese White Pine 25-50 feet 5 Japanese Umbrella Pine 30-60 feet 4 Japanese Pagoda Tree 50-75 feet 5 Korean Mt. Ash 40 feet 3 Japanese Stewartia 30 feet 5 Japanese Snowbell 20-30 feet 5 Japanese Tree Lilac 30 feet 4 Chinese Lacebark Elm 40-50 feet 4       SHRUBS Tree Height Zone Bottlebrush Buckeye 8-12 feet 4 Wintergreen Barberry 6-8 feet 5 Purple Beautyberry 3-4 feet 5 Carolina Allspice 6-9 feet 5 Japanese Plum Yew 5-10 feet 6 Hinoki Cypress 9-6 feet 4 White Fringetree 12-20 feet 4 Summersweet 5-8 feet 3 Smoke Bush 10-15 feet 5 Enkianthus 12-15 feet 4 Winged Euonymus 15 feet 4 Burning Bush 15 feet 4 Pearlbush 9-15 feet 4 Large Fothergilla 6-10 feet 4 Vernal Witch Hazel 6-10 feet 4 Chinese Witch Hazel 10-15 feet 5 Hybrid Witch Hazel 15-20 feet 5 Common Witch Hazel 15-20 feet 3 Seven-Son Flower 20 feet 4 Panicel Hydrangea 10-15 feet 3 Oakleaf Hydrangea 4-6 feet 5 Japanese Holly Height varies 5-6 Inkberry 6-8 feet 5 Merserve Holly 8-15 feet 5 Winterberry 6-10 feet 3 Virginia Sweetspire 3-4 feet 5 Beautybush 6-10 feet 4 Spicebush 6-12 feet 4 Russian Carpet Juniper 12 inches 3 Bayberry 5-12 feet 3 Mountain Pieris 2-6 feet 4 Swamp Azalea 1-8 feet 3 PJM Hybrids 3-6 feet 4 Gro-low Sumac 2 feet 3 Cut Leaf Stephanandra 2-3 feet 5 Sapphireberry 10-35 feet 5 Meyer Lilac 4-8 feet 4 Miss Kim Korean Lilac 4-8 feet 3 Doublefile Viburnum 8-10 feet 5 Lantanaphyllum Virburnum 8-15 feet 5 Sargent Viburnum 12-15 feet 4 Siebold Viburnum 15-20 feet 5 American Cranberrybush 8-12 feet 3 Old Fashioned Weigela 6-9 feet 5