Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Will recycled tire mulch harm butterfly larvae? December 05, 2012 I discovered orange butterfly larva in the hardwood mulch under my Turk's Cap. Will it harm the larva if I switch over to recycled tire mulch? View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Dirt at tree base from Austin November 03, 2012 Hello, I recently bought a home in Austin with a live oak tree which is about eight years old. The previous owner did exactly what all the experts say NOT to do, which was to mound dirt right up agai... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Ground cover under trees from Austin November 03, 2012 I need ground cover plants that can tolerate leaf litter and grow under oak tree shade. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Suitability of Carolina Cherry Laurel for Bulverde TX October 24, 2012 The local Home Depot is selling Carolina Cherry Laurel Trees. They look beautiful. Is this a good tree for Bulverde TX..20 miles north of San Antonio? Can it survive? Will it be a high maintenance... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Feeding live oak and redbud trees from Fredericksburg TX October 23, 2012 Can you please tell me what to feed my live oak and texas redbud trees that survived the drought? We have granite soil. View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Destructive landscape crews in The Woodlands TX October 20, 2012 Hi. We need help. We recently moved to a house where landscape crews have been blowing away the leaf litter from the front yard for many years. The underbrush was also cleared long ago. The result... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Area under live oaks from Austin October 08, 2012 We have many live oaks in our mostly shaded half acre. While I have tried to plant mostly native plants, often beneath them, the plants are showered with leathery leaves, acorns and sap, while oak sp... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Splash-proof plants from Oakton VA October 01, 2012 Hi Mr Smarty Plants, Re: low, evergreen ground cover, Northern Virginia The bare soil around my freshly painted screen porch splashes up onto the white framing when it rains so I am looking for ... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Removing St. Augustine for natives in Grapevine TX September 29, 2012 We have St Augustine in our yard and we hate it. It guzzles water, we have to cut it often, and it's thick and hard to work with. Anyway, we want to replace it with a combination of some kind of g... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
Varieties of Ceanothus suitable for Illinois September 07, 2012 Ceanothus Velutinus is the smell of western Montana, my home, to me, and I have relocated to Illinois. I miss it so much that whenever I go home I bring back a jar of ceanothis leaves and keep th... View Mr. Smarty Plants' Answer | ||
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