Best Trees?

Gabi

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I have a bare patch of land at the back of my property I want to plant trees in so I have a shady spot to go read. What are the best low maintenance trees to grow?
 

RobertBrown

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I have a bare patch of land at the back of my property I want to plant trees in so I have a shady spot to go read. What are the best low maintenance trees to grow?

I think that native trees are always going to be the best in the long run. I plant trees that come from seeds or volunteers on my property. Look around when you drive to the store or to work and try and determine what type or species of trees grow at your elevation. A few feet in elevation can make a big difference as to whether or not a tree will flourish. If you have any natural areas that you can access such as parks preserves, or wildlife refuges, go there and look for trees that growing in soils or elevations that mimic your own property.
Luckily, where I live I have a great diversity of trees and shrubs I can plant that for the most part are non invasive or native. You can find fast growing trees that may do well in your soils. Usually you'll find that these trees are susecptable to insects, fungus, or disease because they have not developed the imune systems that the native trees have.
Not knowing where live and what kind of trees grow in your area I can't get any more specific, but you may have small trees comming out of the ground already on your property that you can relocate and these should grow fairly fast depending on your laditude.
Planting a tree or trees requires thought and planning. You don't want to plant a tree under a phone or power line, or plant a pine tree to close to your house, or buy some austrailian variety only to find that 5 years from now it will die and have to be removed. I know lots of people who look at a huge tree and say I wish I had planted it about 20 feet to the right, or not so close to my neighbors place. Some people regret planting trees for what they may drop all over the place, like a mulberry. I suggest you do your homework and go with a native tree even though it may grow slower.
 
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KDL

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Try looking at your neighbors place and see what they have planted and what is growing well, that should give you an idea what does and doesn't grow well.
 

SeniorCitizen

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I see Pecan is on the list. So, if you plant a pecan you could mail me the fruit each year.:biggrin: I love pecan and I'm about out so I'll need to crack about 50 lbs. this fall.
 
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RobertBrown

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http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0509/ANR-0509.pdf
I found this, but there are 60 odd trees, which are the hardiest of the ones in here. I want something that is going to last, is a solid tree and looks nice.

Your first post indicated that you want shade, your last post mentions a solid hardy tree. So you want a deciduous hardwood. That decision cuts the choices down considerably. Now you need to find out or tell us if you live on low flat land or are there a lot of hills because Alabama has both. Either way an oak tree is one that I would consider. Some species grow faster than others and they come in many different sizes and shapes. They also drop acorns everywhere. Live oaks are as hard a wood as you can find. Do you know how far down the water table is?
I'm not an expert on Alabama but I'm pretty sure there aren't many places that don't have oaks of some variety.
Sycamore might grow well there too. I personally would not want a Sycamore, but many people do.
They can get very large, but drop large leaves that travel well in the wind and are kind of difficult to collect. I don't think the wood is as hard as an oak tree but they grow faster then most oaks.
Laural oaks are also very popular, have small leaves and come in different vareties and differnt sizes.
Camphor tree are extremely hard, very hardy, can grow in many differnt shapes depending on how they are pruned. I have seen one with a trunk that is 5' in diameter, the drip line was maybe 200' across, probably 80 years old. I don't know if they grow at your latitude or not. Camphor trees are non native and considered invasive in some areas. They might even be laws against them in your state. They look like an oak tree, similar to live oak with small leaves
About.com has a guy who will tell you everything you want to know about trees. Your choices are many.
Here's a link to the Arbor day foundation website. It's a zone map. Check around on this site it has a lot of useful information. Take your time with this decision, do your home work so your tree wil meet your expectations.
http://www.arborday.org/treeinfo/zonelookup.cfm
Here is a link to to about.com
http://forestry.about.com/bio/Steve-Nix-1392.htm


Good luck
RB
 
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