RB

Dan

Last fall my husband and I went to the Native Plant sale that was held at the SLO Botanical gardens and purchased two of the ceanothus impressus.

I do remember the woman selling them to us saying that their ceanothus had been trained into that shape. Ceanothus have evolved to accept grazing from the deer, a little selective pruning (less than an inch in diameter) should be fine.

Anyway, I've copied and pasted from their website: http://www.slobg.org/PlantArchive.asp

Ceanothus 'El Dorado': Commonly known as the mountain lilac is in the family Rhamnaceae. Originally from California, it can be seen in bed 'A' in the Preview Garden. This evergreen shrub grows to 6 feet in height and width. It has deep blue flowers in the spring and summer and its leaves are dark green with splashes of yellow. The Mountain Lilac is used for a ground cover, on banks, as a background, an accent or a screen in large spaces. It produces leaves that attract caterpillars, pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies and seeds which attract birds. It must be planted in well drained soil and is native to rocky slopes. It should be seldom watered and water should be kept away from the stems. Some supplementary water is required during the summer but should be applied after the soil has dried. It prefers full sun or partial shade in inland areas. After the blooms have faded avoid cutting off limbs more than 1 inch in diameter. Pinch back the shoot tips during the growing season. The roots will rot if exposed to too much water. The Mountain Lilac is native to the chaparral plant community.

If you ever hike up at Pt Reyes, along the skyline trail, about 7 miles into the hike, you'll walk throw a forest of trees that arch over the path. As I was walking, didn't give much thought to the tree until I decided to look at the trees. They were all Ceanothus. The bases were up to 10" in diameter and stood up to 12'; absolutely gorgeous.

In such a forest, the roots will be more on the surface, but if your planting isolated trees, they will remain deep.

I do the landscaping for a 132 unit condo complex in San Francisco. We are eliminating Brazilian Pepper trees due to their destructive root systems. Someone thought it would be good to plant them in a hot tub area. Want to guess what has happened to our pool decking & wood retaining walls?

We have now replaced the hot tub, decking and the walls to concrete. I have a space that is 12'x 5' Plan to plant a ceanothus tree, or possibly a Cercis Orbiculata (California Red Bud). They are great ornate trees for small areas, and the Bees/Humming Birds love them.

Patty S.

Patty S.

Patty S.