Buying a Tree - Need Advice

I'm having a Silver Maple taken out and want something to put in it's place. I'd like some ideas. Here is my wish list for a tree:

Grows relatively fast
Keeps a compact shape
Pretty Flowers
Not too much pollen
No nuts
No feeder or surface roots - well behaved root wise in that it won't mug my sewer system
Grows around 30 - 50 feet
Leaves change color in Fall
Drops leaves in Winter (and leaves are good for mulching)

The picture is what's coming out.

I realize that I probably can't have everything on my wish list, but the bolded wishes are a must.

So give me some ideas for a tree good for my zone and if you have a picture of a mature one, please post it.

Thanks!

X

Because I've no familiarity with southern gardening I can't offer any replacement choices. But I can recommend that you use the information provided by your local State Cooperative Extension. They will have enormous resources available for home gardens and landscapes that is target specific to your climate and soil. It's what they do and they love doing it. All the information they provide is the most up to date, most thoroughly researched and most comprehensive you can find. A tree choice from what they provide would be a 100+ year legacy planting. At the very least, if you come across a tree that you would like to have, check with Extension about its suitability for your needs.


http://hgic.clemson.edu/


County Name: Dorchester
Employee Name: Croft,Jonathan Kenneth
Title: Extension Agent - Assistant
EMail: CROFT@CLEMSON.EDU
Cnty Address1: 201 Johnston Street
Cnty Address2:
City: St. George
State: SC
Zip: 29477
Phone: (843)563-0135
Fax: 843-563-0171

Ask the coop about Kousa Dogwood for your area. Here is a description from the Arbor Day Foundation:

Attributes:
An outstanding landscape tree that provides beauty all year round. Can be planted near buildings or walls or near utility lines. More cold hardy and disease resistant than its cousin, the flowering Dogwood.

Description:
This handsome small tree adds year-round beauty. White flowers in May and June give a milky way effect; purple and scarlet fall leaves add intense color. Beautiful tree form, with horizontal branching. Partial shade to full sun. Grows to 15' - 25', 25' spread. (zones 5-8)

Wildlife Value:
Kousa Dogwood seeds are eaten by squirrels and birds.

Google it to see some pics. One criteria it doesn't meet is that it is not fast growing, but I think we would all agree that fast growing trees are mostly problem trees. It also gets a fruit in fall, but my neighbor has two of these gorgeous trees and I never noticed that the fruit was messy at all. There are some links below for you to check out.

I wish I had planted one when I took my silver maple out, but I went with the cornus florida because someone gave me one. I might still get a Kousa though, and put it in a different spot (the last large spot I have left on my property). The flowers are stunning on the scaffolded layers of branches, and the fall color is extraordinary. And in between spring and fall, the foliage is the richest glossy dark green with nicely textured and veined leaves. It is just a great tree all around.

It will be vase shaped when young, so you could also plant some other shrubs nearby so it doesn't look so lonely while it is putting on height. You know, make a nice planting out of the big scar you are going to have on your front yard.

I briefly described my new front yard planting in the other thread about the removal decision, in case you are wondering what I did with my new space sans the SM.

Good luck, and great decision about the SM aka yard thug.

http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?id=11
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=133

I have Cornus Kousa 'Milky Way'. You're right. They are a spectacular tree if given the right conditions. It does take some time to achieve a sizable presence in the landscape.

I was considering a Dogwood, the Cornus Kousa is beautiful! but I would like something that grows a bit fuller and faster. I have a Franklinia alatamaha in my back yard that has only grown about a foot a year, but is doing exceptionally well. I'd really love to get another one since they are so rare and the flowers so beautiful. But alas, you can only find teeny babies only a few feet high. If there was some way to move the one in the back yard (its about 6 feet now) to the front and be assured it would tolerate the move, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Someone this afternoon recommended the Bradford Pear, Pyrus calleryana which does really well in this area .. There are two across the street from me. The comments in plant files have kind of scared me off that one, they say it's fragile and drops a lot of immature fruit.

I did email the guy at clemson this afternoon .. hopefully I'll hear from him tomorrow. Thanks for the links.

X

Forgot to add:

Shoots squirrels

To my wish list.

X :-)

I was also thinking a Littleleaf Linden, if you want a large tree. The little leaf is better than the basic American Basswood. My nextdoor neighbors have one in their large back yard and it is a lovely tree. I don't know if it has any drawbacks though, but it looks similar to a Bradford Pear without being, well, a Bradford Pear.

Here's a link to get you started: http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?id=119

I have heard nothing good about the BP, by the way, except that they are nice looking and fast growing.

Take good care of that Franklinia. Wish I had one of those too.

What I'm going to miss is the shade this maple provided in the summer .. I imagine my electric bill will be going up this summer with it gone. But then again, being gone it will lengthen my list of things I can grow in the front yard.

X

Oh My Heavens!!! The Bradford Pear is as bad as the Silver Maple. They don't last twenty years, if that. They split right down the middle from poor branching and weak wood. Extremely prone to storm damage. Please, Please, Please not a Bradford Pear. Look here under "Problems"

http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic1006.htm

Snapple, I looked it up in plant files and you are right .. there were too many negatives for me to keep it on my list. I'll just enjoy the neighbors while they last.

X

How about a flowering cherry, perhaps a Yoshino. When I lived in NM I was able to get good sized ones that were not ungodly expensive. The flowering is gorgeous but pretty ephemeral. Not much color change in the fall though. In SC do you have enough weather change to provoke a strong color change?

A purple plum would be another nice specimen tree. No fall color change but beautiful flowering and an interesting color shift from green.

Another possibility for a smallish tree would be a Hawthorn. Again, in NM I has Crus-Galli, Laevigata and Ambigua. All did well. Washingtons make a nice specimen and are widely available. Of these I would say the Russian (ambigua) did best in my hands and was the most rapid grower. Only downside is they can have formidable thorns. These all have a nice spring show, nice summer form and do have a some color change in the fall but certainly nothing to match the maple you are losing.

If you want a large fast grower with great fall color you could go for a scarlet oak but the acorns can be messy.

Roger

This message was edited Apr 30, 2008 12:37 PM

"Fast" and "compact" usually don't go hand-in-hand.

If you don't want any "feeder" roots, you best get some concrete and create a "fake" tree. All trees have "feeder" roots, so the tree can take up water and nutrients to be able to grow (part of the "fast" element you want in your tree). (:o)

There are no "perfect" trees; you just need to weigh what you can and cannot live with and go from there.
Good luck,
tl³

Try here.

http://www.state.sc.us/forest/refsel.htm

If you like Bradford pear get the Cleveland select doesn't have the same problems the Bradfords do.

I think the sunburst honey locust grows fast and is hardy. Its leaves change colors and you don't have to rack them because they fall into the grass and and a lot of N to the soild because it is a legume. I don't think it is too compact though. It has a more open canapy.

The problem with a pear from what I have been reading is that they are only good for about 20 years then start to fall apart.

I'll check out the honey locust .. the main thing is whether or not it has invasive roots.

X

Be sure to get the Sunburst Vareity, the others have thorns and are invasive. The university of mo uses the sunburst all over the place and they look pretty good.

I'm having a Norway Maple taken out, the arborist recommended a katsura or Eastern Redbud to take it's place. both easier to clean up after and allow some rain to reach the ground underneath. ☺

Those are tough criteria, X. Fast growing to 30-50 feet limits you quite a bit already.

A Crabapple might fit that category. They tend to get more broad than tall and the roots are not invasive. There are many nice disease resistant cultivars to choose from.

Do they get that tall??

One variety that I know of for sure called 'Dolgo" gets 40' high by 30' wide. There are others whose names escape me that get about 25 x 25. My favorite is Prairefire. But that one is under 20' I think. With Dolgo though there is the "fruit thing". They're gonna drop fruit.

Crape myrtle? You get a lot of color even when it's small. And you know how well they grow in the South. Pretty bark in winter. Many colors to choose from and lots of them have splendid fall color too.

I had crape myrtle when I lived in Virgina, 2 huge trees .. I hated those trees with a vengeance. When I bought the house I live in now, I dug up the 4 that came with the house and gave them away. In my experience, they are messy, attract roaches and other nasty bugs when the flowers start falling off, the rotting flowers stink to high heaven and stain your clothing and carpet if you get them on your shoes.

No thanks to crape myrtle.

I'm still in the process of removing the mound of soil and mulch that was left. I'm not in a hurry because there is so much mulch mixed in with the soil and every time it rains more mulch gets uncovered. I take off about 3 wheel barrows full of dirt and mulch every few days .. I figure it will take another month to get the whole thing flat again.

Every time I'm out and about I look at trees in people's yards .. the main thing I'm looking for is prominent surface roots.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

It's good that you're taking your time. A carefully researched, well chosen and properly planted tree is a legacy planting. No great hurry. Generations after you won't have a tree mess to take care of like you did. And, future generations may not know your name but they will nevertheless thank whoever "planted that beautiful (fill in the blank) tree".

Good heavens! I've never heard anyone so down on crepe myrtles.
Anyway I have some other trees that are pretty and I am near your zone (In fact they are moving my zone to 8a I hear as global warming occurs). I like my Cornus Kousa "Stellar Pink" though it is still small. Fall color is great:

Cornus kousa "summer stars" has lush foliage and prolific white flowers (this was last year's, first time it bloomed; it is blooming now and more flowers)

It blooms in mid May, much later than C. florida.

Then in September you get these pretty fruits!

How about a native Fringe Tree? I love mine but the fringe only lasts a couple of weeks.

Smoke Tree "Royal Purple"...Now there is nothing negative I can say about it. Pretty from spring till it drops its leaves, and especially so when the smoky blooms appear.

Its cousin the native American smoke bush is nice enough in the spring but it really shines in the fall:

Those are some beautiful trees! Thanks for posting the pictures. I was leaning toward dogwood but kept reading in the comments that they do best with light shade .. the area I'm going to plant gets blazing no relief hot sun all day.

I like the fringe tree too, but it's a real slow grower. It would be nice to find something that will grow 2 - 3 feet a year. I miss my shade!

X

That is a fast growth rate. Limits the choices quite a bit.

Have you had a look at this list?

http://www.state.sc.us/forest/refsel.htm

Wow thanks!!! that site helped a lot!

I'm looking real hard at the Yoshino Cherry .. anyone know if the fruits are a mess or do the birds eat them all?

Thanks again snapple!

X

Yoshinos are well behaved. Very few fruit that tend to stay on the tree. Not a messy tree at all. The blossoms will cover the ground when they fall but are soon gone. If you are looking for a large tree, a London Plane might be worth considering. Fast growing, interesting bark and lovely shade.

Roger

This message was edited May 17, 2008 11:51 AM

I have three Yoshino cherry trees in my garden. It's an ornamental cherry, and I have never seen any fruit of any kind. Perhaps it's our zone. Good luck with whatever you choose.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1033/

How about a sweet gum? fast grower and in your height range. Very nice fall color.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1778/

People say these are invasive but no more than pines or maples. If it's in an area you mow you'll have no problems. Very nice looking fast growing tree.

Pin oak is a fast growing oak that puts on a good fall show but it has nuts so that's probably out.

Bald cypress wouldn't be a bad choice either.

The only think with sweet gum is those pesky spike balls. I do like a good pin oak.