Large Scale Central

Sweet Broom

Does anyone have an opinion on a tree looking shrub called Sweet Broom? Can it be maintained as a scale tree?

Thanks
Richard

Pretty large plant for a garden RR, 6-8 feet tall 5-6 foot spread, don’t know that you could prune it enough to stay in scale.

Also pretty messy with all the spent blooms and they are subject to tent catapiller infestation.

Give one a try and let us know the results.

Rick

Rick Marty said:

Pretty large plant for a garden RR, 6-8 feet tall 5-6 foot spread, don’t know that you could prune it enough to stay in scale.

Also pretty messy with all the spent blooms and they are subject to tent catapiller infestation.

Give one a try and let us know the results.

Rick

Hey Rick,

Isn’t that called Scotch Broom? We had ONE in our backyard and it was difficult to maintain and keep the size down. They are 6-8 feet tall and 5-6 feet spread. We had it when we moved to our house in 1974 and it was small then-looked nice. The tent caterpillars finally got it about ten years later!

I think I might forget this particular one…I bought one today just because it look kind of nice but I’m worried about the overall size. Might put it in a pot somewhere else in the garden to see how it does…it was only $7.

Thanks for the info.

Richard

OK, Richard what color is the flower? Scotch Broom which is a Noxious Weed here is Washington! It can cause allergic reactions in some people. My son is one who had that problem. It spreads thru its root system and will take ov the area. It has a yellow flower.

Paul

I’ve been doing further research and there seems to be a subtle difference between Sweet Broom (which I have) and Scotch Broom. The basics are the same though…aggressive, doesn’t need much watering, etc. All in all its not what I was thinking of and the nursery I bought it from is happy to take it back. So that’s what I’m going to do today…I bought a dwarf crape myrtle a few months ago and really love it. Slow growing and and really looks nice like a scale tree. I think I’ll just get another one of those.

Richard

Richard Mynderup said:

I’ve been doing further research and there seems to be a subtle difference between Sweet Broom (which I have) and Scotch Broom. The basics are the same though…aggressive, doesn’t need much watering, etc. All in all its not what I was thinking of and the nursery I bought it from is happy to take it back. So that’s what I’m going to do today…I bought a dwarf crape myrtle a few months ago and really love it. Slow growing and and really looks nice like a scale tree. I think I’ll just get another one of those.

Richard

I think that is a good decision :slight_smile:

Rick