Wild Mountain Laurel

It isn’t enough to just dig a hole and put a shrub in the ground. Especially with natives, it is always a good idea to pay attention to where they grow and thrive.

To get these shrubs to succeed in your own garden, think about where they live in the wild. They grow along ridges at the edge of wooded areas. They grow in thin soil in the mountains. They can be found along the steep banks of streams. This tells us they not just want, but need a good source of water with perfect drainage.

They will grow in sandy soil as long as water is plentiful. In clay soil, you can mimic these conditions in your own garden by mixing pine bark into the clay and planting the shrub high. This means to actually leave part of the root mass above ground, and then mound the soil around and on top of it. Mulch well with organic material and keep the shrub well watered.

Mountain Laurel

You can use leaf mold, chopped leaves that have been left to weather for a winter. Use this as top dressing in the spring. This will also mimic the natural feeding the kalmia would receive in the wild.

Don’t be too kind to these shrubs. They don’t like much fertilizer but they do like acid soil. Don’t put them near alkaline soils. If you have worked in lime in the last couple of years, choose a different spot. They really do not like lime. If you are in doubt, take a soil sample.

As important, perhaps, as drainage is good air circulation. You should locate the plants where they will receive some air movement through their branches.

You have two choices of kalmias at Wayside Gardens. One, called Olympic Fire, has spectacular red buds that open to pink flowers. It will get to be four to six feet tall and as wide. The other, called Tinkerbell, is an impish two-and-a-half feet tall by a stout three feet wide. These special shrubs should occupy a very special place in your garden.