Help me find shady trees against insect infectation etc.?

April 9, 2023 11:33 AM

I Googled it with the 3 keywords. I can find trees sites about strong trees against insect infectation, and sites about trees against icestorms but not shady trees against icestorms insect infectation, and other bad things? I need a house that with those kinds of trees?
posted by amfgf to Science & Nature (10 answers total)

Best answer: You probably want to use the word "resistant" instead of "against". "Against" makes it sound like you're expecting a tree to protect your house against ice storms (it's two words not one) or insect infestation (note the spelling there), which is probably not going to happen. Going by your tags, it looks like you're worried about the emerald ash borer - it's called that because it attacks ash trees, so don't get an ash tree.

What kind of tree you can have is also pretty dependent on where you're looking for a house - in the southwestern US, you're less likely to have a tree, period; much less one that's shady.
posted by LionIndex at 12:31 PM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you LionIndex, for that, correction esp.

I'm googling with ."resistant" ...."infestation", still no result, yet.
posted by amfgf at 12:50 PM on April 9, 2023

Best answer: Look around where you live for houses with old healthy trees. Then figure out what species they are and ask a local arborist what kind of care they need.

Or ask a local arborist to start with. Maybe your regional government has advice; they have an interest in reducing storm damage.
posted by clew at 1:26 PM on April 9, 2023

Best answer: It is pretty rare to find yourself buying a house in a climate that supports trees where the house doesn’t already have trees. The exception is new construction, or I suppose an occasional lot without trees that has space for planting. In either case, the mature size of the tree is going to be a huge factor in whether a tree is appropriate to plant in a particular space (not just climate but relationship to buildings, underground facilities, overhead facilities, etc. Resilience to ice and snow, and whether it drops fruit, also factor in to that conversation.

It’s not clear whether you are concerned about insects harming the tree (or its fruit) or the tree hosting insects that will invade your house. For the former, ensuring that you have an appropriate tree for your space, and keeping it healthy, are going to be key much more than Tree species A is good, Tree species B is bad. I can’t think of any examples of the latter.

Tl;dr: get help from a local expert if and when you have the situation of choosing trees to plant.
posted by janell at 1:27 PM on April 9, 2023

Best answer: I think the search string you need will be something like "disease-resistant trees for [location]" where [location] is where you live.
posted by pipeski at 1:27 PM on April 9, 2023

Best answer: What trees are going to be the most useful to you depends most of all on your location. As I understand it, you’re looking for trees that are pest resistant, aren’t likely to fail in ice storms, and that provide a good amount of shade. If you were in my area of the northeast, for example, I would recommend native oaks and hickories. But to find out what works best in your area, try using the Arbor Day Foundation’s tree wizard, or call your local university extension office.
posted by minervous at 1:29 PM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Trees native to your area will have the best resistance to native pests and will also do the most good in feeding native birds. Please plant a native tree if you possibly can.
posted by bink at 2:25 PM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I think you are possibly more concerned about ice storms than is warranted, judging by your previous questions. Yes, if you have unhealthy trees with large branches overhanging your property, they can do damage if they get weighed down by ice and fall, but most healthy trees that are native to an area will be fine. This might be partially why you're not getting a lot of results when you look for "ice storm resistant trees" - people just aren't talking about them as a special type of tree all that much.

Are you moving from an area where ice storms aren't common to an area where they're common?

Also, can I ask why you are so concerned about the trees? It's not that it doesn't matter which trees you plant, but (a) most properties for sale will already have trees on them, and (b) if you need to plant a tree, which you go for will depend so much on region, soil, sun exposure, desired size, etc, that you really can't decide in advance. You need to first have a property desirous of a tree, and then determine which tree based on facts specific to that property. It's also something for which there are many local/regional resources.

Honestly you should be worrying about the foundations of your potential future house much more...
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:06 PM on April 9, 2023 [6 favorites]

Best answer: IMO, look for trees that drop their leaves for protection during ice storms, or trees that don't really have much in the way of leaves, like conifers.

The biggest issues I've had with ice storms are the freak ones that come early while the trees still have all their leaves, and all that extra weight causes branches to snap. The same tree with no leaves survives ice storms just fine.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:49 AM on April 10, 2023

Response by poster: Thank you all.

I just gave all best answer. I'm thinking about them.

To answer the question by janell "It’s not clear whether you are concerned about insects harming the tree (or its fruit) or the tree hosting insects that will invade your house." I'm looking for trees that are multi purpose, (anti insect infestation, whether the insects come into the house or not, resistant to ice storm, and flood resistant etc.

By the way what do you find tl:dr (too long didn't read?)?

minervous, Thank you for the link, I'm looking at it.
posted by amfgf at 5:14 PM on April 13, 2023