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catherine_garden_gw

My Vitex Tree

14 years ago

Here is a link to my 2 year ole Vitex--substitute for a crepe myrtle. Next year, I'll shape it better https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JNCM5UarMwmyMbgE915vdPUpvw5v0H4kt9GAo0eJMpE?feat=directlink

Here is a link that might be useful: Vitex tree

Comments (7)

  • 14 years ago

    Looks like the nice height to keep it from maturing seeds and making it repeat bloom by select pruning off the seedheads.

    Honestly, I've been growing vitex for nearly 25 years here and with this new house..no more vitex as ,despite its all season feeding of our pollinators, it also encourages the destructive nesting of carpenter bees in any nearby wood siding or house trim.
    Otherwise wonderful trees that can be kept shrub size or left to be limbed up into a 20' or so tree BUT, certainly not carefree as they do need at least once a year thinning and removal of watersprouts.

    Great photo!

  • 14 years ago

    Oh, don't be surprised that vitex is the preferred motel for japanese beetles..for sleep-overs and procreation.
    Get out the milky spore treatment for the broad lawn area surrounding the vitex tree.

  • 14 years ago

    Catherine,
    Great pic! It's beautiful! I'm going to guess it's a Shoal Creek like mine. I absolutely love it!
    I loved it so much that I planted another one this year, a couple of months ago, that is pink. It's a little thing now, but hopefully will grow like yours.
    That other shrub looks awesome in front of it with the contrast.

  • 14 years ago

    I had begun looking for a few vitex trees for a difficult area up at our cabin, but the warning about carpenter bees and waterspouts has nixed that idea. Carpenter bees are a serious problem for us already. Thanks, Dottie, for the warning. Plant tags don't tell you these things!

  • 14 years ago

    I love my vitex trees, although they do need a lot of pruning to stay behaved. Great attractor for bees and even hummingbirds, and they'll grow in any soil with any amount of water (or not). I haven't had much issue with japanese beetles, but we do get carpenter bees. But I don't know that you can avoid them with a serious garden anyway!...I love these trees and they're definitely worth it IMO.

  • 14 years ago

    Carpenter bees are great pollinators though not as good as bumblebees because of the size difference. CBs tend to drive away the bumblebees unless there's a huge feeding station like a mature vitex.I was just watching a small bumble dangle from the top of a tomato 'tree'(they're huge this year) on a spindly blossom and know a carpenter bee wouldn't have even gotten close to something they can't hang onto or climb into to feed.If only they weren't so destructive!
    Hoping to buy the wooded acre next door and maybe then I can find a spot for a vitex well away from my house.

  • 14 years ago

    Opinions on whether I should chop and burn a beach vitex that has been living in a pot, ripped up by it's roots from the ground it invaded and is now submerged in rainwater in my wheelbarrow..growing happily still ?

    You have to give some plants credit for tenacity.

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