Which tree is for me?
May 2, 2006 7:06 PM Subscribe
My wife asked me to choose between 6 kinds of small trees to plant in the 4 foot x 15 foot strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk in my (Missouri) front yard. I know nothing of the pros and cons of any of these choices. Is there an obvious best one?
Red Japanese Maple
Black Gum
Red Oak
Burning Bush / Cork Tree
Hidcote St. Johnswort
Cherokee Princess Dogwood
We previously had a Bradford Pear which, while pretty, was weak, and fell over in a wind storm. I'm looking for something not gigantic, but still definitely a tree. Money's not as much of an issue as whatever other issues make for a good tree.
Red Japanese Maple
Black Gum
Red Oak
Burning Bush / Cork Tree
Hidcote St. Johnswort
Cherokee Princess Dogwood
We previously had a Bradford Pear which, while pretty, was weak, and fell over in a wind storm. I'm looking for something not gigantic, but still definitely a tree. Money's not as much of an issue as whatever other issues make for a good tree.
I love dogwoods. While they do stay small, they tend to grow outward instead of up, which might be a problem if you are planting them in a narrow space.
posted by kimdog at 7:53 PM on May 2, 2006
posted by kimdog at 7:53 PM on May 2, 2006
Four feet is room for a pretty big tree, go for something stately that will one day arch over the street. The oak is good, a silver maple would be nice too. Or even one of those new disease resistant chestnuts?
posted by LarryC at 8:11 PM on May 2, 2006
posted by LarryC at 8:11 PM on May 2, 2006
strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk in my (Missouri) front yard
Are you sure that's yours to plant in? Sounds like a right of way sort of thing.
I'm originally from Missouri, lived in St Louis for a while - but grew up in the boonies, where we cut down trees (for firewood) rather than plant them so much. However, I would:
Look at other trees in the neighborhood - see which ones you like the look of, don't drop too much crap on the lawn, don't get too big and break the sidewalk or overshade your house, don't tend to fall or blow down on houses, etc.
Ask at the nearest Conservation Department office, city Parks and Recreation, Tree Board, etc for recommendations.
And personally, I'd shoot for something useful like fruit trees (previous Bradford pear experience notwithstanding). DO NOT plant silver maple unless you want the kleenex-looking leaves, and new little trees, all over the damn place.
posted by attercoppe at 8:23 PM on May 2, 2006
Are you sure that's yours to plant in? Sounds like a right of way sort of thing.
I'm originally from Missouri, lived in St Louis for a while - but grew up in the boonies, where we cut down trees (for firewood) rather than plant them so much. However, I would:
Look at other trees in the neighborhood - see which ones you like the look of, don't drop too much crap on the lawn, don't get too big and break the sidewalk or overshade your house, don't tend to fall or blow down on houses, etc.
Ask at the nearest Conservation Department office, city Parks and Recreation, Tree Board, etc for recommendations.
And personally, I'd shoot for something useful like fruit trees (previous Bradford pear experience notwithstanding). DO NOT plant silver maple unless you want the kleenex-looking leaves, and new little trees, all over the damn place.
posted by attercoppe at 8:23 PM on May 2, 2006
Another Missouri tree geek (worked in the greens industry for a few years). Ostara's suggestions are good, and kimdog's caveat on dogwoods is right on, as are attercoppe's on silver maples. Silvers get huge, drop seeds everywhere, and have very invasive root systems. I wouldn't want you to put yourself in a position of replacing the city's sidewalk when the roots pop it out of the ground. The growing-out-not-up goes for serviceberries and redbuds (a missouri native, and a lovely tree) as well. Remember that this is partially a function of sunlight, though. These are understory trees that reach laterally for the light in nature.
Check the local ordinances about planting in the right of way. And don't throw out the Bradford idea. The new hybrids, often called "improved bradfords," are much more resilient and longer-lived than the ones they planted all over the damn place in the 60s. My personal fave is the "Cleveland" pear, a relatively new bradford cultivar. Also, take a good look at various cherry hybrids (European birdcherry in particular has a number of very cool cultivars).
Burning bush/cork tree is a deciduous shrub in the holly family (Ilex alatus, fwiw). Subspecies 'Compactus' is the dwarf variety. They tend to get kind of wide at maturity, especially if they're planted solo.
Poke around at the Missouri Botanical Garden's Plantfinder. Tons of good cultural info there.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 9:43 PM on May 2, 2006
Check the local ordinances about planting in the right of way. And don't throw out the Bradford idea. The new hybrids, often called "improved bradfords," are much more resilient and longer-lived than the ones they planted all over the damn place in the 60s. My personal fave is the "Cleveland" pear, a relatively new bradford cultivar. Also, take a good look at various cherry hybrids (European birdcherry in particular has a number of very cool cultivars).
Burning bush/cork tree is a deciduous shrub in the holly family (Ilex alatus, fwiw). Subspecies 'Compactus' is the dwarf variety. They tend to get kind of wide at maturity, especially if they're planted solo.
Poke around at the Missouri Botanical Garden's Plantfinder. Tons of good cultural info there.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 9:43 PM on May 2, 2006
Best answer: The trees (and shrubs) you list have widely different growth habits. Japanese Maple, Red Oak, and St. Johnswort arent' at all comparable choices. I think you need to have a much better idea of what you want the full-grown specimen to look like. Do you want the branches coming out at three feet from the ground (like many Japanese Maples) or at fifteen feet from the ground (like a full-grown Red Oak)?
I'm pretty much in agreement with the points others have made so here are just a few others:
Hidcote St. Johnswort = Hypericum x hidcote. A shrub or sub-shrub only 3' tall. Nice golden flowers all summer but not a tree by anyone's definition.
Burning bush around here means Euonymus alata, not Ilex. It's absolutely foolproof and indestructible which is why the dwarf cultivar (which only grows to ~5') is ubiquitous in commercial parking lot landscaping. Your bank probably has a bunch in the parking lot. They're considered a noxious invasive alien in many locations and planting them is discouraged. I don't know their status in Missouri.
Red Oaks are rarely offered by nurseries around here in Massachusetts although they're perhaps the backbone species in the wild. Pin oaks are much more commonly available. They're increasingly commonly planted as street trees here, which gives you an idea of their toughness. They're medium sized and relatively slow growing.
The plants with the large showy flowers are rarely if ever the source of allergy problems. The showy flowers are meant to be pollinated by insects so they produce relatively few heavy grains of pollen that tend not to get around. It's the inconspicuous wind-pollinated flowers that produce astronomical quantities of light mobile pollen that give people trouble. Then the afflicted look around, see poor innocent dogwood flowers, and blame the wrong culprit. During dogwood blooming season it's more likely trees with catkins, like oaks, which don't even really look like flowers, that make people miserable. In summer and fall it's grasses (that's why it's called hay fever) and weeds like ragweed, that don't have flowers that most people'd recognize as such, that are the culprits, not the asters and goldenrods that are obviously in bloom at the time. /long time allergy sufferer and flower-lover
posted by TimeFactor at 10:16 PM on May 2, 2006
I'm pretty much in agreement with the points others have made so here are just a few others:
Hidcote St. Johnswort = Hypericum x hidcote. A shrub or sub-shrub only 3' tall. Nice golden flowers all summer but not a tree by anyone's definition.
Burning bush around here means Euonymus alata, not Ilex. It's absolutely foolproof and indestructible which is why the dwarf cultivar (which only grows to ~5') is ubiquitous in commercial parking lot landscaping. Your bank probably has a bunch in the parking lot. They're considered a noxious invasive alien in many locations and planting them is discouraged. I don't know their status in Missouri.
Red Oaks are rarely offered by nurseries around here in Massachusetts although they're perhaps the backbone species in the wild. Pin oaks are much more commonly available. They're increasingly commonly planted as street trees here, which gives you an idea of their toughness. They're medium sized and relatively slow growing.
The plants with the large showy flowers are rarely if ever the source of allergy problems. The showy flowers are meant to be pollinated by insects so they produce relatively few heavy grains of pollen that tend not to get around. It's the inconspicuous wind-pollinated flowers that produce astronomical quantities of light mobile pollen that give people trouble. Then the afflicted look around, see poor innocent dogwood flowers, and blame the wrong culprit. During dogwood blooming season it's more likely trees with catkins, like oaks, which don't even really look like flowers, that make people miserable. In summer and fall it's grasses (that's why it's called hay fever) and weeds like ragweed, that don't have flowers that most people'd recognize as such, that are the culprits, not the asters and goldenrods that are obviously in bloom at the time. /long time allergy sufferer and flower-lover
posted by TimeFactor at 10:16 PM on May 2, 2006
Yeah, I'm your area, and damn if just about ever Bradford pear they planted ten years ago got blown away. I'd recommend sycamore - they do well in our soil - or some sort of maple. Neither of these are particularly fast growers, but they'll grow a hell of a lot faster than an oak. Then again, there's a 15-year-old oak in my front yard that's really gotten huge in the four years I've been here.
posted by notsnot at 10:21 PM on May 2, 2006
posted by notsnot at 10:21 PM on May 2, 2006
Burning Bush is consider an invasive species in some areas. Check your state's invasive species list before committing. It is gorgeous though.
posted by terrapin at 5:46 AM on May 3, 2006
posted by terrapin at 5:46 AM on May 3, 2006
Relative to the flowering tree-allergy issue, also consider that fruit-bearing trees tend to attract bees, starting with the flowering in early spring, and going straight through to the end of summer, when the fruit ripens and falls off. If you have kids (or happen to be allergic yourself,) you might want to avoid the fruit-bearers.
posted by headspace at 6:41 AM on May 3, 2006
posted by headspace at 6:41 AM on May 3, 2006
There is also good advice available from University of Missouri Extension, especially their shade trees page.
posted by Snerd at 9:03 AM on May 3, 2006
posted by Snerd at 9:03 AM on May 3, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
There are several varieties of red Japanese maples. They really are lovely little trees but they tend to have fine foliage that gets easily wind-burned, so they are best in a protected location.
Black gum trees like swampy, acidic soil. They get big - 80 feet tall - so I wouldn't consider them appropriate for an area between the sidewalk and street.
Red oaks also get quite large. However, they are beautiful trees and grow somewhat faster than other oaks.
Burning bushes come in both full-sized and dwarf varieties. They have great fall color and are not picky about soil. I think that they would be a good choice.
Not familiar with Hidcote St. Johnswort.
Dogwoods - Beautiful trees that stay small. They have the large white flowers in the spring and small red berries in the fall. The berries are a good source of food for squirrels, birds and possums.
So, of your list, I would pick the dogwoods and the burning bushes.
If I could stray from your list, I would also recommend:
Serviceberry - small, beautiful flowers in the spring, tasty berries that are sweeter than blueberries.
Prairie Fire Crabapple - delicately branched tree, doesn't have the problems that a lot of other crabapple trees do. Pretty flowers in the spring and good food source for wildlife.
posted by Ostara at 7:24 PM on May 2, 2006