Home » Plants & Animals » California Gardening » Thanksgiving: 'Turkeys' in the Garden

Thanksgiving: 'Turkeys' in the Garden

© Keith Muraoka

It's Thanksgiving again. Time for my annual column on turkeys! No, we're not talking about the gobbling kind here, but plants that I perceive to be turkeys.

In the past, such garden mainstays as Monterey pine (pitch canker disease) and eucalyptus trees (brittle branches that break off) have made my list. Of course, we can't forget about liquidambar trees, planted courtesy of many cities within parking strips. Liquidambars may feature beautiful fall foliage, but also sports messy seed pods and surface roots that break and raise sidewalks.

Other personal turkeys include junipers and agapanthus. To be truthful, both junipers and agapanthus may have their place in some gardens. I mean, if you have a rental house and you're not sure whether your tenant is going to care for the garden, I would recommend them. Otherwise, they are just so common locally that I'm very tired of both.

Junipers can range from a wide host of varieties -- those that cling on the ground are known as garden junipers. Taller types may be pfitzer or juniper tams. Agapanthus are those plants with slender, sword-like leaves that bloom taller spikes of usually blue clustered flowers all summer long. Their common name is lily of the nile, and also come in a white flowered variety. One of the problems is that many home gardeners seemingly never cut off the old flowers. They shrivel and die on their stalks and stand above the foliage seemingly for months.

Other gardening turkeys include photinias, oleanders, marguerite daisies, euroyps and felicias. The first two are common large shrubs, often seedn planted in the medians of freeways. If you ask me, anything that large and unforgiving that will grow with little care in the middle of a freeway, doesn't belong within the manicured confines of a home garden. Again, I guess they do have certain uses, particularly if you're trying to screen something from view. However, they grow so large and unwieldly that they're tough to keep under control. Plant only in areas with lots of space!

The latter three -- marguerites, euroyps and felicias -- are all types of daisies. The The problem with them is that they should be used as a temporary measure, soemthing like a year or so. However, most people, myself included, have a hard time digging something out of the garden that is still alive. After a year or so, these daisy-like shrubs tend to get very woody and sparse-like along the branches. Instead of putting up with ugliness, why not dig them out instead?

The copyright of the article Thanksgiving: 'Turkeys' in the Garden in California Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Thanksgiving: 'Turkeys' in the Garden in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.