A, um, treeish thing.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

Give it time.... if you plant it.... they will come. You'll have nice tattered and torn leaves before you know it. Good things ALWAYS come to those who plant the right species!!!

Sage advice.

...but, I have to admit that I'm npt really looking forward to the shredded leaf look. Does that make me a bad wildlife gardener?

(Really, normally I don't mind, and I'm happy that I've attracted things...but I'm hoping that the shrub doesn't look bad at a distance...and I may move a Viburnum away from near the house and into a more natural area for just that reason...I've not decided yet, as it could be the long dry spell took its toll on that plant.)

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

Have any blue jays or chippies found it yet? You'll be laughing your rear off watching chippies go after the nuts and jays land on the branches and sometimes they bend waaaaaaay down to the ground under their weight which is funny too. Hazlenuts are shrubs and you can always tell when something's in them by watching the branches bob up and down. Another plus once you have a couple.... squirrels and chipmunks "propagate" them for us. Where once there was 2 or 3.... there's usually 10 in about 10 years.

I planted them three years ago as 3-5 year old seedlings...only one had a cluster of nuts last year...something ate them before they matured--I suspected a deer who had been browsing the foliage. I was bummed because I was hoping to get to try a few of the nuts myself...not sure that will ever happen!

You make me really look forward to seeing the action they attract! Great descriptions. Two are out in the second acre, but one is in the back yard where I can view it more easily. From your comment, I'm guessing I'll have more than just three on the property before too long! I look forward to seeing the show as all the critters come for the nuts.

[Equilibrium]

"I'm npt really looking forward to the shredded leaf look. Does that make me a bad wildlife gardener?" No.... does growing hundreds of exotic orchids in my house make me a bad wildlife gardener? How about the weigelia I've got growing by my sidewalk that I keep meaning to rip out and replace because it supports zip nadda zilch wildlife so it's just taking up prime real estate.
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For what it's worth... I planted my hazelnuts for the blue jays.... they've been having a heck of a time with West Nile Virus and I needed something to give them a helping hand. And.... the one you've got planted all by its lonesome... it probably won't get as much activity as one planted close to a few others so I don't know that that one by itself in the back yard will get tattered and torn. See... a happy medium. The ones you have planted in a grouping in the back acre out of the path of vision will be the ones more likely to end up looking less than picture perfect so you'll get to have your cake and eat it too!!!!

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

"I'm npt really looking forward to the shredded leaf look. Does that make me a bad wildlife gardener?"

I really have to start taking the time to spell check again!

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

No.... does growing hundreds of exotic orchids in my house make me a bad wildlife gardener? How about the weigelia I've got growing by my sidewalk that I keep meaning to rip out and replace because it supports zip nadda zilch wildlife so it's just taking up prime real estate.

Wow! I can't imagine hundreds of orchids...or finding room for them. You must be very dedicated. Hopefully having that many ensures that at least one is blooming nearly every day.

As to the weigelia, just don't tell jack, or he'll hound you on it. ...I'm sure you'll take it out when the time is right for you.

I'm really okay with less than perfect leaves, but am going to try to shy away from using things that get rather bad looking in the landscaping close to the house. I have a choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) that came up as a volunteer near the deck...I decided to leave it there...but this year it looks pretty bad by this time of year. I think I'll move it to the edge of the property--it can replace a Japanese honeysuckle that I've yet to take out. I'll still be able to see it from the deck...and anything that comes to visit it.

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

For what it's worth... I planted my hazelnuts for the blue jays.... they've been having a heck of a time with West Nile Virus and I needed something to give them a helping hand.

That's wonderful...you have a good heart. I didn't realize that blue jays were suffering with West Nile.

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

And.... the one you've got planted all by its lonesome... it probably won't get as much activity as one planted close to a few others so I don't know that that one by itself in the back yard will get tattered and torn. See... a happy medium. The ones you have planted in a grouping in the back acre out of the path of vision will be the ones more likely to end up looking less than picture perfect...

We'll see...I checked out the one I planted between the two acres--it is the largest one so far. The leaves on the lower branches have some holes, but don't look bad at all...the top is still sending up new growth and the leaves there look as fresh as ever.

The one that I can see from the house is on the other side of a slope, so I'll only be able to see the top of it anyway (once it gets tall enough).

I guess I should explain that our side yard is longer than the back yard. We have probably about 100 ft from the back of the house to the property line. The house sits more to one side, so I refer to the longer side yard (out a ways from the house) as "the second acre"...that is where the third hazelnut is planted...out in the hedgerow at the end of the property.

Originally I had it planted fairly close to the road, on a slope under the telephone wires. I figured its mature height would never interfere with the power lines, and being on a slope would give a variation of height compared to the one near by. The only problem was that the road crew shredded it last year, so I moved it to the hedgerow. Being cut down to a third of its original growth means it needs time to recover.

Anyway, maybe more information than you care to know...but I just kept on typing. I guess I'm saying that they are all lone shrubs right now, but I thought due to suckering that they created their own thicket. So as they get bigger they may be more attractive to whatever shreds their leaves.

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

you'll get to have your cake and eat it too!!!!

I've never been able to do that before!

[dapjwy]

Here are some pictures of one of my hazelnut trees (shrubs ...short, young plants). The older leaves seem to have had something chewing on them. They still look fine to me, but not nearly as nice as the young ones.

I think it was the term "shredded" that had me a bit concerned.

[Rebek56]

Equil, I once lived in a house with a weigela hedge (literally--eight feet high and extending for thirty feet along the property line) and found that it attracted lots of hummingbirds and bloomed before anything native of a similar size (that I knew of at that time, anyway). Since it was visible from the screened porch and provided lots of entertainment for most of May, we left it.

[Equilibrium]

"I can't imagine hundreds of orchids...or finding room for them. You must be very dedicated." I grow mostly tropical slippers.... they're really not that hard once you get the hang of them and they don't take up a lot of space.... well.... some of the phrags can get pretty big... depends on which one. I'm not an indoor plant person.... I'm not into creating extra work for myself. I started doing the hoyas and the slippers because my husband said plants added some life to the house.... as if we don't have enough life in and around this house already. Anywhooo.... there usually is something always blooming in here.
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Your leaves ARE shredded!!! Looking good!!!
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rebek> I've never found so much as one seedling from the weigelia I've got anywhere... doesn't mean they're not out there but.... I can rationalize leaving it for a while longer until I've got more time to figure out what to replace it with. I have noticed some hummingbirds humming around it but not this year. Matter of fact.... now that you mentioned hummers.... I don't think I've seen any hummers this year around me. I think I've had too much chicken on my brain this year. I really need to start paying more attention.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

"I can't imagine hundreds of orchids...or finding room for them. You must be very dedicated." I grow mostly tropical slippers.... they're really not that hard once you get the hang of them and they don't take up a lot of space.... well.... some of the phrags can get pretty big... depends on which one. I'm not an indoor plant person.... I'm not into creating extra work for myself. I started doing the hoyas and the slippers because my husband said plants added some life to the house.... as if we don't have enough life in and around this house already. Anywhooo.... there usually is something always blooming in here.

As a young teenager, I always thought houseplants were beautiful--at least in the pictures I saw in books...as I got older I was less interested in houseplants. We have a few, and I have to agree with your husband that it is nice to have some green life in the house...I just dont want to overdo it!

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

Your leaves ARE shredded!!! Looking good!!!
.

If that is what you call "shredded" I can surely handle that! They still look good to me! (I had to go back and find out what you were talking about...I thought it was about the mulch I got from the road crew! Now *those* leaves were shredded.

[Rebek56]

Equil, I don't remember ever seeing a weigela seedling, either, and the plants didn't sucker as I recall. (Of course, we only lived there for eight years.) Now I wonder how they reproduce....

[Equilibrium]

dapjwy> I had houseplants in college.... I think I got my fill back then. We were gone for 3 weeks this spring and I lost like 50 orchids... the folk watching our house "forgot" to water all the orchids in our bathroom. I hate to say this but... I was sorta happy about that boo boo... less for me to water. I like a few like you do... he likes a jungle.
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I think shredded was a bad word. I think maybe I shoulda used the words tattered and holey (sp?). I don't think anyone wants to see "shredded" or defoliated from bug activity... well... I like to see milkweeds that way but I'm odd man out.
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Rebek> Most of what we're buying are cultivars. Those usually don't come true to type from seed so I'm thinking they're probably propagating them asexually. Probably from cuttings but who knows.... I've never tried propagating 1 of these. I think... not positive... I've got 'White Knight'.... it's probably been about 10 years since it was planted. I know they were really pushing the 'Wine and Roses' cultivar for a while there because I saw whole rows of them at nurseries and after that.... I saw them planted in yards. Mine isn't suckering either.... this is a good thing considering where I planted it but.... probably a bad thing on the flip side of the coin because I'm not all that motivated to waste it and replace it.

[Equilibrium]

What's that new avatar I've been "graced" with... tomatoes in a blender sprinkled with a LOT of pepper tossed in>>>>?