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Low-Maintenance Foliage
Introduction
Whether you’re looking to add privacy, support pollinators, or just bring structure and color to your landscape, trees and shrubs are a smart, long-lasting choice. With the right prep and a little maintenance, they’ll thrive for decades and provide seasonal interest year after year. Here’s what we recommend for fertilizing, pruning, watering, and mulching your trees and shrubs, plus an A-to-Z guide to options we love.
Fertilizing
Poor plant health is often a sign of missing nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium. But fertilizer isn’t always the answer. In fact, fertilizing unnecessarily can harm your trees and shrubs. Before reaching for a bag of fertilizer, look for signs of nutrient deficiencies:
- Soil tests that indicate a lack of essential nutrients
- Slower growth or smaller leaves and fewer flowers
- Discolored leaves or increased leaf drop
- Recently transplanted trees and shrubs still establishing roots
Pruning
Proper pruning improves plant health, encourages flowering and fruiting, and keeps shrubs looking their best. Timing and tools matter:
When to Prune
- Late winter or early spring is ideal for most trees and shrubs
- Flowering shrubs like azaleas should be pruned right after blooming
Why Timing Matters
- Pruning too late can remove flower buds or increase disease risk
- Shrubs bloom for a short time—pruning at the wrong time can ruin the season
How Often to Prune
- Frequent, light pruning (every other month) is best
- Encourages thicker growth and keeps shrubs looking more natural
Tools to Use
- Always use sharp tools to avoid damaging branches
- Hand pruners are best for precision work; powered shears can damage delicate shrubs
Watering
- Mimic rainfall by soaking the soil—not the leaves
- A soaker hose is ideal for consistent, deep watering
Mulching
- Helps retain soil moisture and regulate root temperature
- Use organic mulch like wood chips—not bark—around tree bases and shrubs
Planting Tips
- Choose plants with healthy roots. The root flare (where trunk becomes roots) should be visible at the top of the root ball. Roots should be brown, flexible, and under 1/8 inch thick.
- Before planting, slice 1.5 inches off the outer sides and bottom of the root ball.
- Dig a hole 3 times wider than and just as deep as the root ball. Score the sides of the hole and make a central pedestal at the bottom.
- Refill the hole with the soil you removed—no fertilizer or amendments.
- Water deeply. Use 1 gallon of water per inch of trunk diameter daily for 4 weeks, then every other day until the plant is established (about 1 year per inch caliper).
- Mulch with 4 inches of green wood chips or 2 inches of wood mulch (not bark). Avoid piling mulch against the trunk.
- Prune only dead or broken branches at planting time.
Common Diseases & Pests
Diseases:
- Fungal Leaf Spots: Common but rarely lethal. Most trees can recover.
- Root Rot: Often found in wet soil. Causes yellowing leaves and plant decline.
- Boxwood Blight: Can be lethal. Most active between 64–77°F but survives outside this range.
Pests:
- Japanese Beetles: Damage lawns as grubs and plants as adults.
- Scale Insects: Suck plant fluids, causing leaf yellowing or wilting.
- Bagworms: Prefer evergreens, causing branch dieback or full defoliation.
- Spider Mites: Harm plants by feeding on chlorophyll. Can cause widespread damage.
Shrubs: A-Z
______ = noted to be especially easy care, * = native tree and shrub varieties
- Abelia
- Azalea (Wild, Pinxterbloom, Coastal)*
- American Beautyberry*
- American Hazelnut*
- American Strawberry Bush*
- Black Huckleberry*
- Black Raspberry*
- Blueberry (Highbush, Lowbush)*
- Boxwood
- Butterfly Bush
- Buttonbush*
- Camellia
- Carolina Rose*
- Caryopteris
- Chamaecyparis
- Chokeberry (Red)*
- Deerberry*
- Deutzia
- Diervilla
- Doghobble (Swamp)*
- Dogwood (Silky)*
- Elderberry (Common, American)*
- Eastern Baccharis
- Flowering Quince
- Forsythia
- Fothergilla
- Gardenia
- Hydrangea (Wild, Smooth)*
- Indian Hawthorn
- Juniper
- Lilac
- Loropetalum
- Mock Orange
- Mountain Laurel*
- Myrtle (Wax)*
- Nandina
- New Jersey Tea
- Ninebark
- Pieris
- Potentilla
- Possumhaw*
- Privet
- Rose (Carolina, Swamp)
- Rose Mallow (Swamp)*
- Rose of Sharon
- Smooth Alder
- Spicebush*
- Spirea
- Spruce
- Summersweet
- Sumac (Winged, Smooth, Staghorn)*
- Sweetshrub
- Sweetspire (Virginia)*
- Viburnum (Mapleleaf, Arrowwood, Withe Rod, Blackhaw)*
- Weigela
- Witch Hazel (Virginia)*
- Winterberry*
Trees: A-Z
______ = noted to be especially easy care, * = native tree and shrub varieties
- American Beech*
- American Holly*
- American Hornbeam*
- American Persimmon*
- American Sycamore*
- Arborvitae
- Black Cherry*
- Black Gum*
- Black Walnut*
- Box Elder*
- Crabapple
- Crape Myrtle
- Cryptomeria
- Dogwood (Flowering)*
- Eastern Cottonwood*
- Eastern Red Cedar*
- Eastern Redbud*
- Fringe Tree*
- Hackberry (Common)*
- Hawthorn
- Maple (Red, Japanese)
- Mulberry (Red)*
- Oak (White, Scarlet, Pin, Willow, Red, Post, Black)*
- Pawpaw*
- Pine (Shortleaf, Loblolly, Virginia)*
- River Birch*
- Sassafras*
- Serviceberry (Downy, Canadian)*
- Sourwood*
- Sweetbay Magnolia*
- Tulip Tree*
Conclusion
Whether you’re planting for pollinators, privacy, or just a beautiful backyard, there’s a tree or shrub that will fit your goals. Stop by Strange’s or explore more on our blog to find the right plants for your space.
If you have any questions that weren’t answered or need more information, feel free to stop by and see us at either the Broad St. or Mechanicsville location. You can also give us a call or drop us an email at info@stranges.com. We’re here to help you grow better!
Connect with Strange’s:
Instagram: @StrangesRVA Facebook: @Strange’s Florist
Mechanicsville: 804-321-2200 West Broad: 804-360-2800
