
Bushes and Trees
Welcome to the Bushes and Trees Gallery. This is where you’ll find photos of everything in my garden that I consider to be a foundation plant. Bushes and trees – foundation plants – serve as a garden’s “anchors,” and provide it with not only texture and dimension, but also a vertical visual component that draws attention from ground level to eye level and beyond, upward toward the sky. I always think of a given foundation plant, especially a tall one, as a tether between the terrestrial and the heavenly. Sound like a bunch of melodramatic crap? Trust me. It’s not. Bushes and trees give an ornamental garden a major visual boost. (And while we’re on the subject of visual boosts… rhododendron, azalea, and pieris are three key types of bush in my garden. These bushes can be funny. If you’ve got them growing in your own garden, and they don’t get all the stuff they like to eat, they can turn yellow on you. If you’re looking to keep them green and healthy, or to get them back to green and healthy if they’re already looking on the yellow side, click here to read my article of [May, 2022] about fixing rhodies, azaleas, and pieris that are going yellow around the gills, and keeping them good and green.) As always, all of the pics you’ll find here are of my garden and its plants. And, as with all of the other image galleries in The Renaissance Garden Guy Photo Gallery, I’ll be adding pics right here on an ongoing basis. Feel free to check in often to see what’s new. In the meantime, have a look at these shots of my bushes and trees. I hope you’ll like ’em. Cheers, and Happy Gardening!

True Organic Citrus & Avocado Food. This product is the only organic granular product I use that is not part of the Espoma family of organic granular products. How does it compare to Espoma Organic Citrus-tone? Very well indeed. I can’t say that one works better than the other, but what I can tell you is that I prefer to use one on a particular fruiting tree, and the other on a different fruiting tree, although I’m convinced that they would work well interchangeably. For my dwarf fig tree, True Organic Citrus & Avocado Food is what I typically use (although Citrus-tone would work well, too). True Organic Citrus & Avocado Food has got an N-P-K ratio of 4-5-4, with 7% calcium and 1% sulfur for maintaining plant tissue structure and acidifying soil, respectively. It’s got an incredibly fertile organic composition comprised of a number of natural ingredients. Since figs appreciate a fairly balanced ratio of N-P-K, True Organic Citrus & Avocado Food fits my fig’s bill perfectly. To learn more, or to order this excellent product right here, directly from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.
Espoma Organic Citrus-tone. This excellent organic food is what my dwarf Myer lemon tree eats. This product is so neck-and-neck with True Organic Citrus & Avocado Food in so many ways, it’s impossible for me to recommend one over the other for general, overall use. I love them and use them both. I will say, however, that I believe that Espoma Organic Citrus-tone might be more appropriate for my little lemon tree. It’s got an N-P-K ratio of 5-2-6, which satisfies the lemon’s need for a slightly higher proportion of nitrogen with respect to phosphorous and potassium. It also contains calcium and sulfur, which are great for helping promote healthy tissue structure and acidifying soil, respectively. Since lemon trees prefer slightly acidic soil, and I love using Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier to knock down the pH levels in my dirt, I’m comfortable with the level of proprietary compatibility between the two Espoma products when applied to my lemon tree’s soil. Citrus-tone also features Bio-Tone in its formulation, which is Espoma’s amazing proprietary blend of beneficial microbe colonies. To learn more about this excellent product, or to order it right here, directly from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.
API Pond Algaefix. API Pond Algaefix is the product I use to control and eliminate unwanted algae growth in my gardens’ water features. This product very effectively controls and/or eliminates green or green water algae (Chlorella), string or hair algae (Cladophora), and blanketweed (Oedogonium) in my two ornamental ponds. The product comes with very exacting manufacturer’s directions, which in turn must be followed exactly. When used according to these manufacturer’s directions, API Pond Algaefix is harmless to fish and aquatic amphibians and reptiles. My large frog and toad populations have never been harmed by this product. It keeps my ponds extremely clear and free of unsightly and unwanted algae growth, and is simple to administer. I highly recommend this product. I’ll stress again, however, that all manufacturer’s directions must be followed exactly. To learn more about this excellent product, or to order it here, directly from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.



Espoma Organic Flower-tone. This fabulous offering from Espoma’s family of organic plant foods is an absolutely perfect product for intensely flowering plants that like a slightly higher percentage of potassium and phosphorous in their food with respect to its nitrogen content, like my tropical mandevilla vines, and my extremely hardy flowering quince bush. Espoma Organic Flower-tone fits the bill perfectly with its N-P-K ratio of 3-4-5 and the sizeable colonies of beneficial microbes included in its Bio-Tone component. It does work wonders on my mandevillas and my flowering quince, but you can use this amazing stuff successfully on all sorts of flowering plants, bushes, and trees. To learn more about Espoma Organic Flower-tone, or to order it right here, directly from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.

Espoma Organic Tree-tone. This is an excellent organic food for so many ornamental and fruit and nut-producing trees and shrubs. It’s got an N-P-K ratio of 6-3-2, and it features Bio-Tone, which is Espoma’s proprietary population of beneficial microbe colonies. I apply this product to my contorted filbert and sweet pepperbush, and my ‘Juliet dwarf cheery tree, and they’ve thrived beautifully as a result. To learn more about this excellent organic product, or to order it right here, directly from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.
Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier. Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier is the perfect product for lowering the pH and increasing the acidity of your garden’s soil. It’s a fabulous organic product which I use to lower soil pH for plants like my blue hydrangeas and my rhododendrons, azalea, and pieris. It’s very effective and allows acid-loving plants like these to properly access and utilize nutrients from fertilizing products. Order it here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
Espoma Organic Holly-tone is an unparalleled food for acid-loving plants and evergreens. It’s an organic formulation with an N-P-K of 4-3-4, a multitude of beneficial microbes, and a respectable amount of sulfur (5%, in elemental sulfur form) on tap for performing its own bit of soil acidifying. As a stand-alone product, I can’t think of a better fertilizer for rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris, hollies, and other acid-loving evergreen bushes. Click the #advertisement link to learn more, or to order it here, directly from Amazon.
Ohrstrom’s Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed Plus Iron. Ohrstrom’s Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed Plus Iron is a remarkable source of iron for acid loving plants. When used in conjunction with Espoma Soil Acidifier and Espoma Holly-tone, it literally works miracles. It’s got an N-P-K of 0-0-1 and it contains 2% iron. It’s sourced from Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed harvested from the waters along Norway’s coastline. The beneficial effects of this product are noticeable almost immediately after its application. Click the #advertisement link to learn more and to order it here, from Amazon.

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