When I think about the things I love about fall, football season and cooler weather, images of leaves changing color always come to mind as well. Here in Gainesville we don’t get to experience the same dramatic color changes that some of our friends further north enjoy. The flip side of that is that we also don’t have to deal with the colder winters either! Still, it’s nice to see some changes at the turning of the season and while we won’t be as showy as some other areas, there are several Gainesville landscape additions that I would highly recommend for our area that will bring you some fall color.
Red Maple
One of my favorites for Gainesville landscapes and often one of the first trees to color up in autumn. The red maple puts on one of the most brilliant displays of any tree, but trees vary greatly in fall color and intensity. Red maple has an oval shape and is a fast grower with strong wood. They can get up to 75 feet in height but in our area they tend to be much shorter. These trees also look great in the warm months and the newly emerging leaves and red flowers signal that spring has come.
Shumard Oak
Shumard oak forms a large, stately tree with a narrow, rather open, rounded canopy, somewhat reminiscent of red oak. The crown spreads with age becoming round at maturity. The 4- to 8-inch-long deciduous leaves are deeply-lobed and have bristles on the tips of some lobes. A lovely dark green during most of the year, Shumard oak puts on a vivid display of brilliant red to red-orange fall and winter foliage, providing a dramatic landscape statement. During the winter the bare tree provides interesting branching patterns.
Crape Myrtle
Very popular in Gainesville and known mostly for it’s beautiful summer flowers, The Crape Myrtle is also brings some color variety when fall comes as well. An easy winner for our climate being both heat and drought tolerant you’ll get year-round landscape interest. One of the forgotten benefits of crape myrtles is their fall display. The flowers will be gone but the cool weather brings out their colorful foliage. You will be pleased to see brilliant red, yellow and orange in your landscape until the frost causes the leaves to drop.
Sweetspire (Itea)
Sweetspire is an open, airy shrub up to 8 ft tall with slender, arching branches. You’ll have a great show of flowers in the spring and then in the fall they darken to red and purple and may persist throughout most of winter in our climate. The white flowers are individually small, but come out from the tips of branches in long clusters that are very showy. The clusters of slightly fragrant flowers may last for several weeks in the spring and early summer.
Fothergilla
This is another one that will bring you white flowers in the spring and strikingly beautiful color in the fall. Growing up to 4- to 6-feet-tall this shrub covers itself with soft, white flowers each spring before leaves emerge. It almost looks like snow when in full bloom. Then in the fall we get to enjoy bright red, orange, or yellow fall before leaves fall to the ground.
Oak Leaf Hydrangea
A tried and true performer in Gainesville yards is the Oakleaf hydrangea. It has large leaves similar in shape to oak leaves. They are borne on stiff, upright, hairy stems which occasionally branch. A fuller shrub can be created by pinching the new growth or cutting back old growth. The plant grows in sun or shade and prefers a rich, moist soil. Oakleaf hydrangea has a great red fall color and a spectacular display of flowers when it’s in bloom. The flowers, produced in mid-summer in panicles, are at first white, then fade to pink and then tan. If you wish to prune this hydrangea to create a dense shrub, do so after it flowers so you can enjoy the spectacular flower display!
And remember, fall is a great time to get new landscaping in the ground. If you are interested in a free consultation to see how The Master's Lawn Care can help improve your yard, call us today at 352-378-5296. Whether you are looking to spruce up your existing landscaping with a few new plants and mulch installation or completely overhaul your yard with all new plants and sod installation, The Master's Lawn Care can help you along the way!
>> With special thanks to Frank Severino III for his contributions to the article!