The perfect Tree?

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BotanyBob Thousand Oaks, CA Jun 12, 2001

I am looking for shade trees that drop the fewest leaves. I live in So Cal and have several areas of the yard I'd like to have a dappled shade but without all the leaf litter (cloggs up the drains and gets stuck in the cacti... very hard to clear leaves out of cacti and some of the spinier succulents- ouch!). So far I've failed with Eucalyptus (thought since it was an evergreen it wouldn't litter a lot.. boy, was I wrong). And now the controversy with a potentially 'toxic' leaf litter (toxic to the other plants, that is).

Now I'm playing with the idea of a large Ficus species (F religiosa or macrocarpa - at least large leaves are easier to deal with). We have an ash in the front which is a humongous leaf mess in the winter and am planning on planting a tree, sort-of in its place (and cut down the ash as the other tree gets larger). I know these make big roots, but they're surface roots. Ash tree roots are the worst!

Any suggestions?

Post #6377
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Dicentra Philadelphia, PA(Zone 6b) Jun 13, 2001

What about a honey locust? Dappled shade, easy trees and the fine leaves just blow away.
Trish

Post #82698
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marshseed Santa Barbara, CA Jun 15, 2001

All trees lose their leaves; evergreen trees drop sporadically, often just before or along with a flush of new growth. If you want to avoid leaf litter and still have some shade, try a grove of palm trees. You also might try a Magnolia tree which will shed large leaves and leaf-size flower petals a couple of times a year. Ficus, unless heavily and often pruned, get to be huge and will develop massive surface root systems.

Marsh in Santa Barbara

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