Tired of the Browns & Yellows of Your Winter Landscape?

Are you tired of your dead looking winter landscape? Wish you had something more than leafless trees and shrubs to look out at? Are you longing for the green foliage of spring and summer? If you want something more than Trees That Please Nursery can help!

Trees That Please Nursery propagates evergreen trees and shrubs that can add color and winter interest to your home or business landscape. All of the following photos were taken during winter on January 28, 2013 in Los Lunas, NM.

Gray Oak is a native evergreen oak that retains its gray-green foliage through winter,

as a close-up of its foliage reveals. Leaves will sometimes turn brown during the coldest winters.

New Mexico Live Oak is another native evergreen oak that is green through most winters.

Leaves remain green or may have some browning during late winter.

Turbinella Oak (native) is also evergreen (blue-green) through winter as seen in these specimens pruned into shrubs.

Leaves retain their color into the cold of January. As a smaller tree or shrub Turbinella Oak may be useful as a visual barrier for those with allergies to Juniper and Cypress.

We also stock a nice selection of Pines including the Afghan Desert Pine

The Italian Stone Pine,

and the Austrian Black Pine.

We also carry Junipers, like the Blue Rug Juniper with foliage that gains a purplish color during winter,

and Arborvitae.

Come by the nursery during the winter and take home some color for your landscape.

Photos & Narrative By:

Stephen Sain

Staff Plant Physiologist

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Weed Identification: Goatheads or Stickers

Goatheads ( Tribulus terrestris ) are native to Southern Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Goatheads are also called stickers, sticker weed, bullhead, devil’s weed, and puncturevine. Goatheads are easily recognized by their prostrate growth form, leaves with leaflets, yellow flowers, and stickers (Goatheads). If you miss’em visually then they will stab you painfully in the fingers as you work your garden, or stick to your clothing and shoes. Goatheads are the primary reason local bicyclists must get “thorn proof” tires for riding on area trails and streets. Goatheads have prostrate stems that radiate outward from one central point. Leaves are compound with smaller leaflets. Lemon yellow flowers form along the stems and fertilized flowers form fruits. Fruits consist of several attached structures called nutlets (Goatheads). Each nutlet is a single seed that becomes hard or woody when mature. Each seed has two sharp spines that easily penetrat

Weed Identification: Sand Bur

Sand Bur ( Cenchrus longispinus ) is native to North America. It has other names like sand spur, long-spined sand bur, hedgehog grass, and bur grass . Sand Bur is an annual grass usually growing with a prostrate growth form. It is similar in appearance to other grasses prior to seed formation. Individual plants may be 3’ in diameter, sometimes larger. Sand Bur is a common weed of sandy soils but also grows well elsewhere. Sand Bur will often root at stem nodes that are touching the ground. The root system of Sand Bur is shallow and fibrous making them easily pulled (when immature). Sand Bur produces a flowering spike. As seeds begin to form Sand Bur is easily recognized by its numerous sharp or burred seeds or long spines. As the burred seeds mature they are easily separated from the mother plant and their sharp spines stick to virtually anything. Sand Bur can disseminate its seeds long distances because its sharp spines will hitch a ride on skin, animal hides,

Western Soapberry Tree

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