Favorite Plants - Todd Haiman
Asking Landscape Designers for their Faves
I asked professional landscape designer, Todd Haiman, to share his favorite tree, shrub and groundcover with us. See his impressive background and websites at the end of this post. Here are Todd’s faves:
Favorite Tree - Grey Birch
 If I had to plant just one tree, this is it. Grey Birch (Betula populifolia or Betula platyphylla 'Whitespire') is a deciduous native tree indigenous to eastern North America. It has glossy, almost triangular serrated leaves that flutter in the breeze. Grey Birch is incredibly adaptable to many situations and provides food for birds with its dainty catkins and seeds. In the fall the leaves turn a buttery yellow, but winter is the season when this tree shines with its white bark and sooty grey chevrons, where branches meet the trunk. I can't imagine any tree more beautiful in the winter landscape than this native (or hybridized native).
Edith Roberts and Elsa Rehman wrote about it in "American Plants for American Gardens," 1929 -"Wherever there are grey birches, Nature is in one of her lightest moods. These grey-white trees of slender form gather together In fairy-like groves. Their slim grace is accentuated by the way they often spring up in fives and sixes from a single root. When they are young, they are grey-brown, but later on, they are phantom white with black twigs and black notches. The effect is full of that mystery that etchings and delicate pencil drawings have. The gossamer quality is ever present; in the spring when their filmy foliage is light filled, in summer when their green is soft, in autumn when it is all sunlit yellow, and even in winter when the trees take on again their keynote colors from the snow and dark earth."
Favorite Shrub - Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)Â
I plant this shrub in townhouse properties and install this on roof and terrace gardens. I also confidently plant this shrub in suburban and country gardens where there is heavy deer pressure. What is so special about this plant you may ask? It’s tough and offers multi-season interest - white flowers in spring, edible blueberries in summer and awesome orange and crimson color in fall. I recommend planting the straight species and multiple cultivars - it also hybridizes with low sweet blueberry (V. angustifolium) Be aware that this native shrub is most successful in an acidic soil similar to rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas, etc.Â
Plant highbush blueberry in a sunny site from zone 4-7, it is intolerant of shade. What blueberries you don’t eat, surely the birds will discover as it’s an important summer and early fall food for numerous species of birds.
Favorite Groundcover - Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) and Heart-leaved Meadow Parsnip (Zizia aptera) are perennials, native to eastern north America. They grow 1-2’ high in small colonies throughout moist woods and meadows, perfect for a ground cover. Golden Alexander has compound leaves rather than heart-shaped leaves of the Meadow Parsnip. Striking yellow umbels rise above the basal foliage. The thick green foliage is almost evergreen in zone 7. It blooms in April, May and June. Zizia flowers for weeks, and then sporadically flower through the summer. In late fall the foliage turns a purplish color. It emits a pleasant scent when crushed. Relatively deer-resistant.
Incredibly adaptable, Zizia prefers part sun, but will handle part shade. Zizia aurea is a host plant for the Black Swallowtail butterfly, which lays its eggs on the plant. Tough and low maintenance, I recommend planting Zizia along with blues such as Mertensia virgicum, Baptisia and other early bloomers. If planting with many other ground covers, I suggest you give the others a head start of a season to get established, as Zizia can be a bit of a garden thug.
Todd Haiman, is a principal of THLD, Todd Haiman Landscape Design Inc. in New York City. He designs and builds residential gardens, roof gardens, terrace gardens, brownstone gardens, large landscapes, vacation properties and public spaces. Â
His website is https://www.toddhaimanlandscapedesign.com
IG - https://www.instagram.com/toddhaimanlandscapedesign/
Mr. Haiman received his graduate degree with a Master of Science in Landscape Design from Columbia University. He also studied at the New York Botanical Garden within the School of Professional Horticulture and Landscape Design.  Mr. Haiman is a member of APLD (Association of Professional Landscape Designers), Royal Horticultural Society and Metro-Hort. Todd Haiman was born in Brooklyn and presently resides in NYC.
Where can we obtain Zizia?