Olafhenny
01-27-2014, 05:50 PM
Rhododendrons are problematic for me for two reasons:
• They do not like our arid climate here
• They have a very shallow root system
The latter gets them into conflict with the equally flat rooting ground covers, which I employ
throughout the yard as weed control. Accordingly they get treated by me rather step-motherly.
If they survive, - okay, if not, there are other, more suitable, plants to replace them.
This morning I noticed something, which may be of help to rhodo growers in other more humid
northerly regions. They certainly appear to be hardy enough, since they grow wild in a nearby
mountain park (Manning Park), with an hardiness of 3 or less, though huge loads of snow
in the region may help protect them.
Thus it was with some surprise, that I noticed the following:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lungwitz/12179643276/" title="Root protected rhodo by Golestan2, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/12179643276_c08f481db8_c.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="Root protected rhodo"></a>
In this photo you see three rhodos. The one to the left and the little one to the lower right have
their leaves hanging down, as they typically do here in winter, but the one in front of the B-shelter,
with the benefit of some of the leaf mulch around it,looks outright perky by comparison.
Olaf
• They do not like our arid climate here
• They have a very shallow root system
The latter gets them into conflict with the equally flat rooting ground covers, which I employ
throughout the yard as weed control. Accordingly they get treated by me rather step-motherly.
If they survive, - okay, if not, there are other, more suitable, plants to replace them.
This morning I noticed something, which may be of help to rhodo growers in other more humid
northerly regions. They certainly appear to be hardy enough, since they grow wild in a nearby
mountain park (Manning Park), with an hardiness of 3 or less, though huge loads of snow
in the region may help protect them.
Thus it was with some surprise, that I noticed the following:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lungwitz/12179643276/" title="Root protected rhodo by Golestan2, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/12179643276_c08f481db8_c.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="Root protected rhodo"></a>
In this photo you see three rhodos. The one to the left and the little one to the lower right have
their leaves hanging down, as they typically do here in winter, but the one in front of the B-shelter,
with the benefit of some of the leaf mulch around it,looks outright perky by comparison.
Olaf