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| Hello,
I am planting two pin oaks in my front lawn and wondered if you could shed some light on whether to plant them in a line (symmetrically), or asymmetrically (one further up the lawn than the other). The house is symmetrical - middle front door, with identical windows on either side, on all floors. There's even a middle, straight walk up to the front steps running through the middle of the lawn. Thanks for any help anyone can provide - |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ricksmith_garden none (My Page) on Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 14:54
| Here's a photo of the house. The existing trees in the lawn will eventually be cut down (two or three years) once these pin oaks have a chance to grow). |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 16:37
| Hey Rick, good arguments can be made for either choice. Given the symmetry of your house, it does make sense to follow that in plantings. But again, there's no real reason why it must be done so. And with symmetry, anything that happens to one side-a tree struggling while it's counterpart on the other side grows with abandon-will be a problem. Honestly, the choice is yours. You won't be "wrong" whichever you go with. Neat house BTW........+oM |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 17:02
| i like the little mustache over the gaping mouth.. and the bandage over the nose ... with those two high squinty eyes.. lol ... symmetry .. unless the walkway is going to go.. and be replaced with a non-symmetrical walkway ... ken |
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Sat, Oct 6, 12 at 20:47
| I could see either way. Really I expected to see a plan to plant twelve of something in a row and that I would vote no on. Um, you could do one pin oak and one red or scarlet or other oak just for conversation sake. One may leaf or drop leaves before the other or you can quiz your friends and neighbors to see who can tell the difference maybe. Nice lookin place btw. |
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| My answer would depend on the distance between the two trees. For a sun lover, I'd be inclined to offset them so they can mature with full canopies. I'd actually argue why you'd want to plant two of the same tree in the front yard and a pin oak for that matter. Personally I'd want to break up the symmetry with two different trees with different textures and tones. One with yellow or orange fall color and the other either red or burgundy fall color. The fall colors would explode and compliment your brown house. Yellowwood and Scarlet Oak would be two that would fit the bill. |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Sun, Oct 7, 12 at 10:41
| You could split your bets - space them equally side-to-side from the front walk, but one closer to the house - like a two spot on a die.So it would look symmetrical from the street, but as they grew, you would have staggered canopies. |
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| lisanti did a better job of explaining what I was suggesting as "offset". |
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- Posted by ricksmith_garden none (My Page) on Sun, Oct 7, 12 at 11:51
| Thanks for the advice! We'll use the offset (the two spot on a die) approach... great ideas - |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Sun, Oct 7, 12 at 21:13
| Whaas- As my mother used to say, two great minds with but a single thought. Of course, she sometimes said two minds in a single gutter, but that was when I was agreeing with someone else. |
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| I love how your roof looks like it's thatched. Is it? |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 11, 12 at 7:13
| a new thought ... i guess my plan would be more than 2 trees ... and along those lines.. i would plant the backbone .. the 2.. symmetrically ... and then go Asymmetrical with flowering shrubs and whatnot ... i would leave a wide gap for a view of the house from the street .. or wherever the camera was ... but soften the corners with understory plants ... under the large existent trees.. you might have a hard time getting new things going.. but they will not struggle as much with the smaller trees ... in the long run ... they will grow up together.. one might say ... and budget providing ... i would get rid of that monster overhanging the house ... ASAP ... i dont know if i would wait 2 or 3 years.. again.. IF the budget allows ... lots of good vertical firewood standing there ... i guess i am asking you to get out of the box you are firmly standing in .. and define a longer term goal ... good luck ken |
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