Saturday, July 6, 2013

Messy Mimosa

Our Mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) is blooming.  The hummingbirds are flitting in and around the tree, spending as much time chasing each other as they do drinking nectar from the open flowers.  The feeder hanging outside the kitchen window, the source of prior hummingbird battles, is now largely ignored.

Fully leafed out and blooming, the tree is beautiful.

View of the canopy of the Albizia julibrissin in bloom

Close-up of bloom

View from my home office window


I love the tree's open structure and large canopy.  I love the shade it provides to the back patio during the hot days of summer.  I like the ferny leaves that close up when the sun goes down.  I like the fluffy, bright pink flowers.

What I don't like is the litter that drops continuously from the tree.  There's really no end to it.  Only the form of the litter changes with the seasons.  From the time foliage began to appear on the tree about 6 weeks ago, the tree began dropping small yellow leaflets.




You're probably thinking that doesn't look bad.  These little stems shatter into pieces at the slightest touch.  They can't be raked up.  And sweeping them up is almost as difficult as the leaflets fly about with the slightest shift in the air.  My husband helped me clean up the porch prior to the arrival of guests on Thursday - we had to resort to using his shop vacuum.  

A small portion of the Albizia leaf debris we picked up with the shop vac


Although flowering has just begun, the blossoms are already dropping - en masse.




Still, this is the best period of my ongoing love/hate relationship with this tree.  Once the summer heat becomes persistent, the flowers dry up and blackish brown lumps fall all over the lawn and patio.  Leaf litter increases.  In the fall, seedpods develop and, almost simultaneously, begin to follow the leaves to the ground.

Mimosa in early spring, naked except for numerous seedpods, still clinging to its branches (waiting their turn to fall)


Lightweight, the seedpods blow everywhere.  The seedpod litter continues through the fall into spring until the cycle begins anew.  The spring and summer months also bring Mimosa seedlings, which appear in the strangest places - between the cracks in the patio stones, among my vegetables, in succulent pots, down at the bottom of the slope - as well as every garden bed.  

I've always hated the blowers used by lawn service companies but, after 2 years of trying to manage the litter produced by this tree, I'm planning to get one.   In this situation, a little noise pollution is an acceptable trade-off for a semblance of order that will allow me to more thoroughly enjoy the time I spend on the back patio.

Gardening, by definition, isn't a neat enterprise.  Do you live with or manage your garden messes?


16 comments:

  1. I don't have anything that makes quite as much mess as your mimosa. The constant litter would drive me nuts. Lucky for that tree you love it so much!

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    1. Given the size and prominent placement of the tree, I feel I have to tolerate it. If it was small and easily replaceable, it would be out of here, pretty flowers or not.

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  2. Never seen a Mimosa tree before... beautifully unique blooms.

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    1. The flowers are beautiful - the hummingbirds really seem to like them too. Sadly, the flowers begin to drop (everywhere) almost as soon as they appear.

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  3. I love your mimosa! Mimosa are one of my favourite trees but you are right about the mess. I made mine mad a few years ago when I pruned it too hard and paid the price with no blooms. I'm hoping this is the year it is happy again. It looks beautiful right now.

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    1. I'm glad you're able to enjoy your mimosa this year, Louis. This one's going to get a serious pruning by an arborist in the fall. Maybe that will diminish next year's mess.

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  4. Thanks for the visual after all the warnings you've mentioned in the comments on my blog. It is beautiful though! I am doubtful I'll put up with my Chocolate Mimosa once it gets big, but for now I'm loving it...

    As for litter the huge Fir tree above our patio has been dropping it's small male cones for about a month now. It's had me close to tears a couple of times after I sweep (and pick out of the container plants spikes) buckets and buckets of litter only to do it all over again the next day. The funny (ironic?) thing is as much as I curse that tree I fought to save it when a developer wanted to cut it down to build a McMansion on the lot. This is how it thanks me

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    1. Some of our plant relationships do seem abusive, don't they? I've had many plants that posed maintenance headaches for a single season but this is the first to present a never-ending mess...I hope you can effectively manage yours.

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  5. The shop vac seems to be a rather keen solution as long as the bed for debris is reasonably accessible and not prone to collateral damage. Or is it too small for the duty?

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    1. While effective in picking up the debris on the patio, the shop vac doesn't work well in cleaning up the lawn, garden beds or shrubbery. It's also noisy, heavy and requires a long extension cord. A blower will be easier to manage (if still noisy).

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  6. I live in rural NE Alabama and mimosa is taking over - very invasive. The woods to my right have several blooming close to my property line. Last year I cut some down on the line and bagged all the pods. Unfortunately, they do often spring back to life even if cut. And you are right - seedlings appear everywhere. I now feel about mimosa as I do wisteria, which also is taking over in the woods. It never ends.

    Barbara H.

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    1. I'm not surprised to hear that the mimosa is capable of taking over, Barbara - it's unbelievable how many seedlings I continue to find. I found a young wisteria on this property when we moved in as well. I pulled it out about a year ago but pieces of that still keep popping up as well.

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  7. Not a fan of the mimosa. I remember the pretty flowers from childhood though. There are a number of non-invasive options including a native mimosa.

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    1. Based on its size, I suspect this tree has been here many, many years. It wouldn't be easy to replace, especially as it's growing at the edge of the drop-off to our slope; however, if it goes into decline, I'm certainly going to look for a tidier replacement.

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  8. I never realized Albizia was such a messy tree. Mine doesn't bloom. A Sycamore tree in my front yard is what makes a huge mess year round. Right now it's in it's bark shedding phase. Before mowing I have to go out with a bucket and pick sheets of bark off the lawn. I'm not a fan of that tree but it shades the south side of my house.

    Last fall I finally broke down and purchased an electric leaf blower. My 100 foot driveway gets filled with white pine needles and dried up locust leaves and I have a few pockets of river rock that collect everything. The blower works fine but I still find myself sweeping the driveway. At some level it seems therapeutic. Either that or I'm just crazy. Probably crazy.

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    1. I'm trying to accept the mimosa's negative aspects along with the positive ones, although I admit the litter gets me down at times, Sue. I've cleaned up after trees before but that work has been seasonal - this tree drops litter of different types all year. Once we've sold my mother-in-law's home, I'm taking the electric leaf blower she used to clean up after her Jacaranda home with me. And the mimosa's going to get a good pruning this fall!

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