How to put a tree in my driveway?

August 8, 2010 3:13 PM

Yardfilter: I want to plant a tree in my driveway. Help me give it a fighting chance. (Details inside.)

I've a 3-car-wide driveway -- way too much concrete. I'd like to break out a portion of one side (one car's width), replace it with classy brick pavers, and plant a tree. Probably something like a sycamore [yes, they have big roots, but I don't care what will happen to the driveway in 100 years], a hardy maple or perhaps a magnolia.

I live in the semi-desert interior Northwestern USA. My yard soil is mostly clay. Share your experience with me, please, for loosening, amending and preparing the compacted ground beneath the current driveway areaI intend to take out.

Also, alternative tree suggestions are welcome.

posted by slab_lizard to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Best answer: I'm not sure where exactly you are so this may not apply, but if you get a cold winter, a decent amount of snow, or anything like that, it's already a bit late in the year to be doing this as the tree likely won't survive. Ideally you should plant it around May so that it has all summer to lay down roots and make it through it's first winter.
Also, in that case, you'll have to battle the opposite problem - don't let it get too hot or too much sun, and, obviously, water it regularly.

Assuming you are planting a seedling, try not to disturb the soil under the ground too much, and pack it tightly around the plug. Even a little bit of air can kill a young tree, especially in a desert-like environment.
posted by mannequito at 3:28 PM on August 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

My #1 piece of advice, as someone who lives in the coastal Northwest, is deer guards. Not any of the chemical repellent (they don't work). The fencing kind - either plastic or wire mesh, or the tape you wind around the trunk.

And seconding mannequito - there's a reason Arbor Day is in April! You want to plant your tree as early as possible for your area, so that it has plenty of time to settle in before winter comes.
posted by ErikaB at 6:47 PM on August 8, 2010

Trees certainly can be planted in the fall--in fact, if you're still in the middle of the dog days of August where you are, you may want to wait a few more weeks. But planting a large, fast-growing shade tree in your driveway does not seem like a wise move. It's more than a problem for the owners 100 years from now. It is going to be a problem within 20 years, if not sooner.

I don't know how magnolias would fare in semi-desert interior northwest (eastern Washington or Idaho, I'm imagining?) There are many varieties, of course, but the ones I'm familiar with prefer rich, moist, loamy soil and tend to branch out wide and low to the ground and would thus also make poor neighbors for a driveway.

An alternative to consider would be something like a Chinese elm or European linden--tough, medium-sized trees with upright habits that are commonly used in urban streetscape setting such as confined planters or sidewalk plantings.
posted by drlith at 10:42 AM on August 9, 2010