The mountains are ablaze with golds and reds this time of year, and your landscape should be, too. Fall colors should not be limited to the surrounding mountains. Aspens and maples for fall color in your yard aren't your only choices. A lot of hardy trees and shrubs give good fall color in almost any situation. Time and space limit the number of plants I can describe in this column, so I'll write about some of the hardiest.
In an area with lots of available water, mimicking a wooded setting in nature would be easy. All you need to do is to plant aspens, narrow leaf cottonwoods and Rocky Mountain maples along with shrubs of chokecherries and thimble berries as under plantings.
Most of us in northern New Mexico won't have adequate yearly rainfall to produce that effect. We live in a much more arid climate. Still, there are a lot of plants with colorful fall foliage that will do well without an abundance of water.
When we think of fall color, most of us think of trees. There are a lot of varieties of trees with many different fall colors.
In larger landscape-size trees, there are two really good varieties with outstanding red fall color. They are the Rocky Mountain Maple, Acer glabrum, and Autumn Purple Ash, Fraxinus americana.
If you are looking for gold and yellow fall foliage, use one of the honeylocust varieties, Gleditsia triacanthos, or Goldenchain tree, Laburnum x watereri.
If you are in an extremely arid and windy location that keeps you from planting most trees, try one of the Hawthorne varieties, Crataegus sp. Hawthornes are very drought-tolerant and will stand up to the toughest winds. Fall colors range from yellows and oranges to rosy-reds.
One category of plants usually not used to their fullest potential are small trees and large shrubs, mainly due to their lack of good color during the summer. Trees (under 10 feet) and large shrubs (5 to 10 feet) make good screens or backdrops in the landscape and give a sense of privacy. In the fall they awaken from their summer doldrums to vibrant shades of reds, oranges and yellows, brightening any dull landscape.
Amur maples, Acer tataricum ginala, are great dwarf trees, with a dense branching structure and bright crimson red fall foliage. Native dogwoods are another small tree often overlooked in the landscape. Bailey's Redtwig Dogwood, Cornus stolonifera Bailey, has great reddish fall leaves. When the leaves drop, reddish stems that are left give good color throughout the winter.
As for large shrubs for good fall foliage, you could use the native chokecherry, Prunus virginiana melanocarpa, a very hardy shrub that will survive up to an altitude of 10,000 feet. Chokecherries have good early yellow fall foliage and small colorful berries.
If you'd prefer even more striking color, use the Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina. This shrub has thick branches covered by felt-like hairs on new growth. Large bright green oblong leaflets turn various shades of red during the fall.
The three-leaf Sumac, Rhus trilobata, has dark green glossy leaves separated into three leaflets, which become fiery red in the fall.
For small or medium landscape shrubs, most of us think of burning bush, Euonymus elatlus, with its bright red fall foliage. However, there are many more shrubs with good fall color: cotoneasters — yellow, orange, bronze-red and rosy red fall foliage; barberries — orange, red and deep red color; and serviceberries — yellow and orange to red fall color. All are extremely hardy and often overlooked in more urban type landscapes.
A final note: Remember that good fall color depends not only on the weather, but also on how healthy the plant is. A healthy plant that has had a good supply of water and fertilizer throughout the year will have deeper fall color and will keep its color longer and later into the fall.
In an area with lots of available water, mimicking a wooded setting in nature would be easy. All you need to do is to plant aspens, narrow leaf cottonwoods and Rocky Mountain maples along with shrubs of chokecherries and thimble berries as under plantings.
Most of us in northern New Mexico won't have adequate yearly rainfall to produce that effect. We live in a much more arid climate. Still, there are a lot of plants with colorful fall foliage that will do well without an abundance of water.
When we think of fall color, most of us think of trees. There are a lot of varieties of trees with many different fall colors.
In larger landscape-size trees, there are two really good varieties with outstanding red fall color. They are the Rocky Mountain Maple, Acer glabrum, and Autumn Purple Ash, Fraxinus americana.
If you are looking for gold and yellow fall foliage, use one of the honeylocust varieties, Gleditsia triacanthos, or Goldenchain tree, Laburnum x watereri.
If you are in an extremely arid and windy location that keeps you from planting most trees, try one of the Hawthorne varieties, Crataegus sp. Hawthornes are very drought-tolerant and will stand up to the toughest winds. Fall colors range from yellows and oranges to rosy-reds.
One category of plants usually not used to their fullest potential are small trees and large shrubs, mainly due to their lack of good color during the summer. Trees (under 10 feet) and large shrubs (5 to 10 feet) make good screens or backdrops in the landscape and give a sense of privacy. In the fall they awaken from their summer doldrums to vibrant shades of reds, oranges and yellows, brightening any dull landscape.
Amur maples, Acer tataricum ginala, are great dwarf trees, with a dense branching structure and bright crimson red fall foliage. Native dogwoods are another small tree often overlooked in the landscape. Bailey's Redtwig Dogwood, Cornus stolonifera Bailey, has great reddish fall leaves. When the leaves drop, reddish stems that are left give good color throughout the winter.
As for large shrubs for good fall foliage, you could use the native chokecherry, Prunus virginiana melanocarpa, a very hardy shrub that will survive up to an altitude of 10,000 feet. Chokecherries have good early yellow fall foliage and small colorful berries.
If you'd prefer even more striking color, use the Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina. This shrub has thick branches covered by felt-like hairs on new growth. Large bright green oblong leaflets turn various shades of red during the fall.
The three-leaf Sumac, Rhus trilobata, has dark green glossy leaves separated into three leaflets, which become fiery red in the fall.
For small or medium landscape shrubs, most of us think of burning bush, Euonymus elatlus, with its bright red fall foliage. However, there are many more shrubs with good fall color: cotoneasters — yellow, orange, bronze-red and rosy red fall foliage; barberries — orange, red and deep red color; and serviceberries — yellow and orange to red fall color. All are extremely hardy and often overlooked in more urban type landscapes.
A final note: Remember that good fall color depends not only on the weather, but also on how healthy the plant is. A healthy plant that has had a good supply of water and fertilizer throughout the year will have deeper fall color and will keep its color longer and later into the fall.