Signup to receive email updates
Recent Posts
Links
Blog Archives
- February 2019 (2)
- January 2019 (4)
- December 2018 (2)
- November 2018 (5)
- October 2018 (8)
- September 2018 (4)
- August 2018 (4)
- July 2018 (7)
- June 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (5)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (3)
- February 2018 (6)
- January 2018 (1)
- December 2017 (7)
- November 2017 (4)
- October 2017 (3)
- September 2017 (4)
- August 2017 (8)
- July 2017 (4)
- June 2017 (6)
- May 2017 (8)
- April 2017 (5)
- March 2017 (10)
- February 2017 (2)
- January 2017 (9)
- December 2016 (2)
- November 2016 (8)
- October 2016 (8)
- September 2016 (8)
- August 2016 (6)
- July 2016 (9)
- June 2016 (6)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (7)
- March 2016 (8)
- February 2016 (3)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (4)
- November 2015 (7)
- October 2015 (8)
- September 2015 (8)
- August 2015 (6)
- July 2015 (5)
- June 2015 (7)
- May 2015 (8)
- April 2015 (6)
- March 2015 (5)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (8)
- December 2014 (5)
- November 2014 (6)
- October 2014 (7)
- September 2014 (4)
- August 2014 (7)
- July 2014 (13)
- June 2014 (8)
- May 2014 (9)
- April 2014 (6)
- March 2014 (4)
- February 2014 (8)
- January 2014 (5)
- December 2013 (8)
- November 2013 (8)
- October 2013 (9)
- September 2013 (2)
- August 2013 (6)
- June 2013 (4)
- May 2013 (5)
- March 2013 (9)
- February 2013 (6)
- January 2013 (3)
- December 2012 (9)
- November 2012 (7)
- October 2012 (10)
- September 2012 (4)
- August 2012 (9)
- July 2012 (5)
- June 2012 (1)
- May 2012 (6)
- April 2012 (7)
- March 2012 (5)
- February 2012 (1)
479 Total Posts
follow our RSS feed

Wednesday, January 24, 2018
The winter view of Trees by Rhonda Feree
Each season brings a different look to the garden, and some plants are uniquely beautiful in winter. Rhonda Ferree, horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension says that winter is a great time to see a plant's texture and form—each unique and mystical.
"Look for the differences between these trees this winter: oak, maple, and redbud," says Ferree. Oaks are the kings of the forest. They soar well above the maples and smaller redbuds. Oaks are magnificent in size and texture.The white and bur oaks are the most majestic.
A white oak will grow well over 100 feet tall in the wild. It has a medium to coarse texture in winter, but the wide-spreading branches exhibit a strong, bold appearance.
Bur oaks are a bit more coarse in texture and to some even more impressive with massive trunks and stout branches.There are many other types of oaks too.A pin oak is much different from the white and bur.
Although still medium to coarse textured in winter, a pin oak has a strongly pyramidal habit. It is a strong central leader and has pendulous lower branches. Ferree says her college classmates called this "the 55-mile-per-hour tree" because they could recognize it even at highway speeds.
Maples also come in many different shapes and sizes, from the dainty Amur maple to the sturdy sugar maple to the weak silver maple. Sugar maples grow 60 to 75 feet tall with a rounded character. They are hard, sturdy trees. Their texture is medium in winter. Notice their beautiful bark, which with age becomes deeply furrowed, with long, irregular thick plates or ridges.
Silver maples are very popular because they grow fast. Unfortunately, this is not always a good trait, since fast-growing trees are usually also weak-wooded, often breaking in wind and ice. The silver maples grow a bit more oval than rounded and are a bit coarser in the winter, often looking disheveled.
Amur maples and redbuds are similar in that they are both small, understory trees. The Amur maple is a small tree or sometimes a multi-stemmed shrub, but is usually round shaped. It has very slender, fine branches and thus a medium-fine texture.Redbud is a small tree with medium winter texture.
Although best known for its spring flowers, it also has interesting bark in winter. Look for orange inner bark peeking through the outer black or brownish bark."Tree watchers" may notice trees that have been topped. Ferree cautions against topping trees, as this may result in weak trees that are not nearly as attractive.For more information on this or other horticultural issues, contact your local Extension office by visiting www.extension.illinois.edu. You can also post questions on Rhonda's Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/ILRiverHort.