Of the 16 deciduous trees I’ve added since my garden’s humble beginnings, eight have striking bark; three were planted within the last six months. Among the first plants I added were two fabulously barked trees, paper bark maple (Acer griseum) and coral bark maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’). They were expensive purchases, but 12 years later, that investment has rewarded me many times over. Although paper bark maples grow slowly, they exhibit their characteristic peeling bark at a young age; time only increases their beauty. A low-growing evergreen backdrop, such as Viburnum davidii, provides a perfect foil to this bark beauty. One caveat: plant this tree out of reach of the casual wanderer, to reduce the temptation to peel away strips of the cinnamon-colored bark.

• Many gardeners use vinegar as an organic alternative to herbicides. Is vinegar an effective weed killer? Spraying a 100% concentration of vinegar onto a weed makes it wither and turn brown within a few days. The more diluted the concentration, the less effective the spray is. However, because vinegar is a contact poison, it only harms the plant parts above ground and the roots remain intact. A week or two later the weeds resprout. You can spray new shoots again; keeping the foliage from feeding the roots and eventually the weed will die. Young weeds with undeveloped root systems are easier to kill with one or more vinegar applications. It may be faster and easier to remove larger weeds from the garden by hand pulling than by repeated applications of the spray. Although it is feasible to kill weed roots by saturating the ground around the plants with vinegar, it takes large amounts to kill the parts below ground.