The yellow, orange and red fall coloring of the Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) is breathtaking.
Green and purple Japanese maples make for an interesting contrast in this project by Marders.
The blue-green leaves of American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) turn yellow-orange in the autumn.
The flowers of the bigleaf magnolia are the largest flower of any indigenous North American tree.
A variety of deciduous trees add color to this landscape by Charlie Marder. The evergreens add structure and color, even in the wintertime.
With beech, ash and pine trees under threat on the East End, it’s time to look at some native species and introduce diversity to your property. If you have a mix of trees, the chance of losing all of them is slight compared to a monoculture. Autumn is a great time to plant most specimens, so head to your local nursery and pick out a new one—or two or three!
HC&G digs deep with Charlie Marder, founder of the Bridgehampton nursery that bears his name, Marders, for timeless tips on growing spectacular trees.
HC&G: What’s your favorite flowering tree?
CHARLIE MARDER: I really like Magnolia macrophylla. It has the biggest bloom of any tree in the Northeast and only flowers for three days. A mature tree maybe has 12-15 blooms at different times. Sometime, with the use of a step ladder, immerse your nose and get the buttery, musty smell that attracts specialized pollinators.
Which trees should not be planted in autumn?
C.M.: London plane trees are definitely not to be transplanted in the autumn. However, they can be planted if they are dug in the summer or spring.
What’s the best replacement for beech trees now that beech leaf disease has taken hold on the East End?
C.M.: I like using Carpinus caroliniana, American hophornbeam, and Perrotia persica, Persian ironwood. They both come in interesting low branch forms as well as stemmed up shade tree forms. Perrotia flowers in the winter—January and February— and have a great fall color. American hophornbeam has a wonderful trunk structure, very ribbed as it matures.
Which local landscape do you appreciate the most?
C.M.: It’s very difficult to call out a favorite. I really became mesmerized and overly fascinated walking through the back side of the first dune of Gardiner’s Bay, where oaks and American Holly have been miniaturized into natural prostrate and bonsai forms. On the other hand, I enjoy transitional first growth, agricultural land which is ripe with native Viburnums, Eastern Red Cedars and Pitch Pines that are nervously eyeing up the hardwoods—oaks, sassafras, and hickory—that will eventually overtake them. I like the tension and the competition.
Bookshelf
Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs by Michael A. Dirr. The grandaddy of horticultural resource books lets you compare and contrast between 3,700 species and cultivars. And you can always quote Dirr’s opinion of a tree or plant with confidence.
The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees by Douglas W. Tallamy. Oaks are called a keystone species because they support a remarkable variety of wildlife in our ecosystem. Divided into months, Tallamy let’s you know what’s going on inside and out with oaks.
The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono. An allegorical tale first published in 1953 that tells the story of, you guessed it, a man who planted trees—in fact, hundreds of thousands of them. The shepherd in question comes across a denuded valley in the Alps, and by the time he is done there is an incredibly fecund forest supporting a much larger community.