|
| Ah, winter planning season.
Spot 2 opening up this year has the driest, seemingly worst soil in the yard thanks to some public utility work about fifteen years back. It gets sun, 0800 until perhaps 1700 and though in a low spot exposed to frost it is elevated on a plateau perhaps fifteen feet above the rest of the yard so it is dry. It is also 20 or 30 feet from the street so an absolute allergy to road salt is a bad idea. A Lagerstroemia (crepe myrtle) is in the spot and it is just suffering too much die back. I like the crepe's vase shape, projected fifteen to twenty foot height, dark green / red color and late summer flowers. If it wasn't such a weed I would probably go mimosa. Any ideas on a better choice before I go root a cutting from one of the crepes doing better back in a neighborhood? I think my yard is large enough the tree needs to really be zone 6 hardy. Thanks again. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| American Smoke Tree Cotinus obovatus American Yellowwood Tree Cladrastis kentukea Sunburst Honey Locust Gleditsia triacanthos inermis 'suncole' Golden Spirit Smoke Tree Cotinus coggygria 'ancot' PP13,082 Perhaps one of the variegated Ginkgo's. i.e. 'Summer Rainbow', 'Sunstream', 'Majestic Butterfly'. Arktrees |
|
| How about a Parrotia persica 'Vanessa'? Turkish Filbert? |
|
- Posted by AspenAcres 5b BC (My Page) on Wed, Dec 7, 11 at 0:55
| I like the recomendation of Sunburst Honeylocust. But personally I like Skyline Honeylocusts better. Maybe Scotch Pine or Austrian Pine? |
|
- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Wed, Dec 7, 11 at 8:46
| Thanks guys. My neighbors each have Honeylocusts. Look good. Leaves mow up easily in thr fall. Fine trees. Something subtle about the bark is even interesting. If they did not have them I might go that route. How bad is the sunscald on Cladrastis kentukea? The yellow wood? What kind of growth can I expect from the smoke tree? Filbert huh whaas.....interesting to say the least. Gives me something to think about over christmas. |
|
| I don't have person experience with Golden Spirit Smoke Tree, but our American Smoke Tree seems to grow with the conditions. When adequate moisture is available it grows, and stops when there is not. Ours did not grow much this year, but it did not rain for months. Year I planted it, it grew 2-3' with regular rain all summer. I have seen others grow more than that. It can grow fast, or slow, depending upon weather conditions and fertility. Here is a small recently planted one in a local park.
And the biggest one I know of in the area. This tree has at least doubled in size the last 4 years or so.
As for Yellowwood. Bark is pretty thin early, so would think that scald could be a problem initially. There were a number of them planted in a local parking lot, and several of those got scald, BUT I'm sure care was minimal, and the trees weren't in great shape when planted. Since then, they have not had any issues with scald (and all survived planting in the parking lot), and that includes last winters record cold with heavy snow. They seem to grow about 2'/yr, similar to a Redbud in growth rate. Arktrees |
|
| We get about 6-9" of growth per year on the Yellowwood here. Not very common for that reason. Thats a nice pic of a smoke tree! The bark of Corylus colurna is very impressive. If it had nicer fall color it would be a knockout. |
|
- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 7, 11 at 11:57
| Spot 2 .... has the driest, seemingly worst soil in the yard ===>>> i am going to say.. playing devils advocate ... that the above statement is irrelevant to your decision ... properly planted and mulched.. and 'established' ... all but the true swamp trees should not mind an otherwise dry soil .... [by now.. you should know how to deal with the worst clay .. and how can that be any worse than what you have] which means.. the sky is the limit ... on choice ... ken ps: conifer??? |
|
| Bit of clarification needed over errors in earlier posts - Filbert (Corylus maxima) is just a shrub. If you want a tree-sized hazel, you want Turkish Hazel (Corylus colurna), not Filbert. Resin |
|
| No way I'm getting into a common name debate between Turkish Filbert and Turkish Hazel with you :P Corylus colurna is what I'll stick to. |
|
| The Golden Rain Tree is very drought tolerant; as for your crepe myrtle, it is proly suffering from salt. I had two at my beach compound they suffered a lot from the salt; and I finally had to move them to behind the house to where they would be protected from the salt. |
|
| I have 2 filberts, they are slow growers, and of course small, as already mentioned. I would have to suggest a chestnut oak, still have a few acorns! They get huge and grow fast! But not fancy at all, unreliable fall color, bright yellow some years, crappy blotched yellow and brown other years. But can grow fast enough that your grand kids will probably be able to climb it. It's in the white oak family and is strong wooded. Bad thing is it seeds early and you'll have to rake unless you have squirrels. |
|
| Here's a link to an example of a mature open grown Chestnut oak http://www.web2.cnre.vt.edu/4h/bigtree/pics/Upperville post oak 042.jpg |
|
| It says post oak, but is on the Virginia big trees site as one of the Chestnut oaks of large size. Maybe post oak is a local name for chestnut oak? Oh whatever.... they're nice trees. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Trees Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.