This week in your Massachusetts garden & landscape
Week of April 9, 2018
Looking for something different in your yard?
- Caraway is an herb that thrives in light, dry soil in full sun to light shade. It will do the best with continuous watering not letting the plant completely dry out. It makes a great companion plant for peas in the vegetable garden helping to keep the weed growth down. Caraway is easily cultivated from seed. Once you plant it in your garden, you are almost guaranteed to have a continuous supply of the herb. Sow the seeds directly into the garden in early spring in rows 6”-8” apart planting the seed ½” deep and spacing the seeds 12”-18” apart.
- Pawpaw trees have a mature height of 15’-25’ tall and wide and are hardy in zones 4-8. They produce fruit that grow 3”-6” long. The fruit can be either cooked or baked but most people prefer to eat them fresh from the tree and often compare their taste to that of vanilla custard.
- Bitternut Hickory trees (Carya cordiformis) need to be planted where they have plenty of room to grow. Reaching heights of 50’-80’ tall at maturity and widths of 30’-50’, the Bitternut Hickory makes a beautiful statement in any landscape. Be sure to place them away from patios and walkways, however, as their 1” hickory nuts and their husks litter the ground in late summer and fall and can make a bit of a mess. They grace the landscape with beautiful yellow foliage in the fall and are hardy in zones 4-9.
- The Northern Arrowwood (Viburnum recognitium Fern.) grow to 15’ tall. They thrive in sun to partial shade and are most often found along streams and ponds. They are an excellent choice for borders wherever dense foliage is desired. The thick hedge that they create with their stems makes it difficult to walk through. They are very hardy, transplant well, grow at a moderate rate and require very little care. Their flowers are produced from June through August followed by their fruit in late August through November. Arrowwood is a good choice for urban areas because they tolerate city pollution well. They are hardy to zone 2 and are a wonderful food source for the American robin, eastern bluebird as well as many other species of birds.
