Beginning with Trees

I went to The Greenhouse this morning armed with some basic knowledge and research about what I was looking for.  I also brought a picture of the front of our house and some basic measurements.  I figured if I could show them where the tree was going to be planted and what I was trying to accomplish they would have a better idea of what to suggest.

I've only walked through there once before, rather quickly, but today I had a little time to stroll through.  It's much smaller than my former favorite, (my go to nursery, aka, The Growing Place), but the layout is interesting, the help seems very knowledgeable and friendly and the plants they had out were gorgeous.  This nursery will definitely stay high on my list.  I was also delighted by their prices!  The trees were the same price that I had seen at another garden center in town but they were twice as big.  WINNER!

Rob and I have decided our priorities for our yard are
A - Plant trees.
B - Extend the patio and add a fire pit.
C - Put in a sprinkler system.
D - Add shrubs and perennials.

Since we are having perfect weather for planting trees (and shrubs, but those are way down the list so I'm TRYING very hard to be patient) I wanted to get started.  I wanted to give them plenty of time to settle in and get comfy in their permanent spot so they could get a good start before the really hot weather hits.

My mission was to purchase at least one tree, possibly more.  My goal is to plant AT LEAST ten trees up here.  Probably more.  We want to create shade from the summer sun - on the south and the west facing sides of our house.  Shade for the dining patio so it's comfortable to eat out there, privacy from the street to the north and trees for fun (pretty to look at, fruits for the birds, maybe fruit for us).

For the first tree to go into our yard, I wanted a deciduous tree that would be tall enough and full enough to create shade for the large south-facing window in my room during the summer, but would lose its leaves so the room could warm up in the winter.  Because the tree was going to be planted on the lower level of the front yard it needed to be tall, but not so tall as to overwhelm the house.  I wanted something that would do well in our soil and that wouldn't need an excessive amount of water to stay healthy and grow.  I had done a lot of research online, but hadn't really narrowed down exactly what I was looking for.

I also wanted a smaller ornamental tree that flowered and had fruit for the birds.  I had decided that I'd either end up with a Crabapple or a Hawthorn (IF I could find a thornless one).

Then I was going to see what else was out there with the basic understanding of what I was looking for and our overall scheme of how we want to use our property.

Cindy found me wandering through the evergreens and asked if she could help.  She was so knowledgeable and helpful, without being condescending or making me feel rushed.  She listened to my questions and my ideas and responded appropriately.  I appreciated that she didn't just tell me what to buy and then rush off to do something else.  She remembered all the trees we talked about, showed me examples of what they had in stock, in all the various sizes and species, recommended a couple of trees that they didn't even carry (now that's impressive!) and helped me understand why I didn't want to plant a tree that had been recommended earlier.  (Gingko's are beautiful, but so slow growing that they should only be planted as a specimen tree, not as a shade tree.  As she so kindly put it, we will all be dead and our grandchildren will be our age before that tree will actually be big enough to act as a shade tree).

So, Tree #1 is .....a red maple.

Autumn Blaze Red Maple
Acer Freemanii
(picture from Monrovio)

We had a sugar maple in Aurora that struggled with verticillum wilt for many years.  We couldn't ever decide if we should cut it down or not, but we ended up just pruning out the diseased and dead branches, which is not the right or healthy way to prune a tree.  It finally seemed to outgrow that horrible disease or at least the tree was stronger than the disease was.  When  it was about ten years old I started to really love it.  Alaina claimed it was a perfect tree for climbing up into with a book.  She even sat out there during a couple of rain showers.  The canopy was thick enough that it protected her from getting wet.

I'm honestly a little surprised to have ended up with this tree.  I'm not sure if it's because I didn't have a spectacular experience with the maple in Aurora or maybe I thought I'd end up with something more dramatic, maybe a native or something not so, ummmm, common.

But.  It meets all our needs and wants.  It will handle the alkaline soil, it will be the right size (not too big, not too small), it will grow fast enough to actually create the wanted shade (but not so fast that it ends up being a messy tree), it will handle full sun like a champ, and it won't be a water hog.  And it will have gorgeous fall color. 

This tree should get about 45 feet tall and between 30 to 40 feet wide. 

Tree #2 is ..... a red flowering crabapple

Prairie Fire Crabapple
Malus sp. 'Prairiefire'
(picture from Grimm's Gardens)

I loved our crabapples in Aurora for two reasons.  They had the most beautiful flowers in the spring and it was fun watching the birds eat the fruit in winter.  I didn't like the fact that it suffered from scab, which meant the leaves would get horrible spots on them and then they would start falling off mid-summer.  We pruned judiciously hoping to improve airflow and sprayed every spring, but that only helped a little.  So, crab's had one strike against them and hawthorn's had one strike against them - THE THORNS!  Those are big and mean and unforgiving.  The Greenhouse had one Hawthorn tree species that was supposed to be thornless, but the flowers weren't as spectacular as the crabapple.  Cindy reassured me that scab wasn't as much of an issue here because of the lack of humidity, she also said there is a systemic that we can use once a year if we start to notice any problems.  I decided to go with the crabapple because of the color of the blooms.  This tree will be really stunning in a few years.  I also like that it has purplish foliage.  I love using foliage to add color to my landscape.

This tree should get between 15 and 20 feet tall and have about the same spread.

Tree #3 is....a columnar oak

Regal Prince Oak
Quercus 'Long'
(picture from Spring Grove Nursery)

Because our house is built into a slope, the southwest corner ends up being two stories tall from the ground.  I wanted to plant something there that would soften the corner, add a touch of green and ground the house a bit.

Cindy recommended putting in a Columnar Oak.  I wasn't familiar with this tree, although I'm sure I've seen plenty of them around.  She also said that Columnar Swedish Aspen would work well there too.  I happen to know that a certain big box store in the valley carries those.  I hope they stick around long enough for me to go back and get them after our patio has been installed.  If I leave the side yard unplanted they can get their equipment in and out of the backyard easily.

This tree is supposed to get about 30 feet high and 10-15 feet wide.  That's in optimal growing conditions so we shall see what it does here.