Ask Categories: Deciduous Shrubs; Invasive

Un-opened Rose of Sharon pods

I live in Toronto. My rose of sharon get 3-4 hours of afternoon sun June, July, August. Many pods do not open. 1. Do I remove them now (late November) 2.Remove them next spring? 3. Just leave them?…

Possibly a hawthorn? PLANT ID

Came across this bush, in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, with red berries. At first I thought it might be a hawthorn. The bush has thorns, and red berries/fruit. but the leaves don’t seem to match hawthorn as I find on the…

Barberry hedge removal from yard

Hello, we recently moved into a ’50s home with a barberry hedge that’s probably as old. We think it’s a Japanese barberry. We’re in a corner lot and the hedge doesn’t offer much privacy and we would like to plant…

Chokecherry vs Chokeberry vs European Buckthorn*

I am trying to identify a shrub (now about 10 ft tall) in my garden. I suspect that it may be the invasive Buckthorn but find the info online a bit confusing as all three appear similar. I have seen…

Shrub/Tree Fuchsia Flower Orange Berries*

While walking at the Spit yesterday, we spotted a shrub/tree with long slender green leaves, a fuchsia flower and two orange berries dangling from the centre of the flower. The tree like shrub was about 10′ high. The flower was…

Black Walnuts Popping Up All Over The Place *

Dear Master Gardeners, I’m a volunteer gardener at my Toronto apartment building. The problem that I’m going to tell you about is situated in a large concrete planter which hugs the side of my building; the planter is quite large;…

Weed Identification – East York*

Trying to get some help in identifying this weed. It comes up every year. It grows everywhere. When it grows in the lawn it looks like a tree sapling. Anyhow, when you touch its leaves, an unpleasant musty smell remains…