Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Isn’t it interesting that gardeners like twisted and contorted plants for accent and interest in their gardens. One native plant that fits that bill very nicely is mountain laurel. Not only do the trunks and branches grow all catty whumpus but the bark is somewhat shredded, too. This habit of growth makes it impossible to walk through laurel thickets – people caught in them in the mountains call them laurel hells – but is also makes the branches prized for rustic furniture building. Several companies even specialize in offering mountain laurel branches for really decorative and unusual railings on stairs and porches. This native plant can be a beautiful specimen – evergreen leaves, -gorgeous clusters of flowers in most places in South Carolina and is available from certain native plant nurseries. It does require well---drained acidic soils and some filtered shade in the lower parts of the state.
Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.