The Most Common Landscape Trees
 (Read 100+ times)
By Glory Lennon
|
|
|
If there is only money enough, time enough or skill enough to do one thing to greatly improve the value, appearance and appeal of your home it is to plant a nice, welcoming, pretty and functional tree. That is, of course, assuming your home isn’t an apartment on the umpteenth floor of a high rise. Trees provide shade to cool the home in warm weather, provide wind protection which keeps the home warmer during cold weather saving you money for heating and wildlife adore them. Birds love to build nests and cute little chipmunk look so funny scrambling along branches.
And didn’t you ever hear the one which goes “I don’t think I shall ever see anything as lovely as a tree”? Well, that person really knew his stuff. I gaze endlessly out my windows just looking at the lovely colors changing in fall and the wonderful new spring green that’s so welcome after a long winter. Just the gentle swaying of leaves in the breeze is relaxing, sometimes hypnotizing and always refreshing.
But which tree to plant? There are only thousands to choose from so which one is right for you?
Here is a list of common, and not so common landscape trees which can beautify any home.
Crab Apples put on a wonderful springtime show with every branch being covered with white, pink or even red blossoms and the little “apples” they produce look very pretty covered in snow until the birds come to nibble. Most varieties grow no bigger than thirty feet high with an equal spread.
The Yoshino Cherry tree is the famous Washington Cherry blossom tree which thousands of people from all over the world swarm into the capital to see in bloom every Spring. It is quite a beautiful sight that every American should experience. These are extremely hardy and disease resistant and have a wide canopy but grows no higher than thirty feet or so.
The Flowering Cherry, Prunus Thundercloud, is a spectacular tree with burgundy leaves and when in flower does indeed look like a pale-pink cloud. This grows 20-30 feet high and wide. A true beauty.
The Bradford Pear and its lesser known cousin the Cleveland are two of the earliest spring bloomers getting covered in tiny white flowers and when the wind blows it’s the nicest “snow” shower I’ve ever been in. Some claim that these are entirely over-planted but I’ve got one of each and I don’t believe I’ve caused irreparable damage to the environment. They grow to a height of 30-40 feet with a fifteen foot spread.
Catalpa, some refer to this as the “String-bean tree” because of its seed pods. These have the most amazing flowers. They look like orchids if you can get close enough to see them and the fragrance will knock you out. they grow exceedingly tall, some 60-80 feet at maturity. I love this tree for its heart-shaped leaves but I hate that it is very late to break dormancy. It has a tendency to grow spindly but if pruned at a young age it can form a wide branching stance making it a perfect shade tree.
Russian Olive, Elaeagnus Angustifolia, is 20 feet tall at maturity with a slightly wider spread. The immense fragrance from this large shrub/ small tree will knock you out. It has tiny pale yellow flowers, grayish-green leaves, inch long thorns and produces little berries that the birds seem to like. This tolerate extreme cool, drought, poor soil and blistering summers. Perfect!
Ornamental Weeping Peach is the star of my spring garden. It has bright pink, double flowers all along its many weeping branches and the sight of it is breath-taking. It has reached its top height of fifteen feet within five years and it produces tiny inedible fruit that our local ground hog likes to snack on when I’m not looking and even when I am.
Flowering Dogwood, Cornus Florida, brings back memories of when my friends and I used to pick off the clusters of bright red seeds and throw them at each other. Every kid should get that chance so every parent should plant one for that purpose. It grows 20-30 feet tall with some reaching 40 and has wide horizontal branching which gives you an awesome winter silhouette. In spring the 2-4 inch, four-petaled flower bracts come in creamy white, bright pink and soft red varieties. But for me the best part are the berries in the autumn. The birds like them too.
Jananese Red Maple, Acer Palmatum, “Burgundy Lace” being the one with the most finely cut leaves is wonderful. It grows slowly and only to 20 feet with horizontal branching and a slightly weeping form which can be accentuated with proper pruning.
Sugar Maple, Acer Saccharum, grows to 60 feet tall and is famous for its fall colors ranging from brilliant yellow, bright orange to flaming scarlet.
Clump Paper-white Birch makes a striking specimen tree in the landscape with it’s delicately peeling bark and tiny, drooping, cone-shaped seeds. It can grow to thirty feet but is generally a short lived tree lasting only to 30 or 40 years old before it starts dropping limbs and eventually completely keeling over. It, like all other birches, requires ample moisture.
Weeping Willow, Salix Babylonica, grows 30-50 feet high with an even wider spread. It is weak-wooded, likes moisture and has long, slender leaves 3-6 inches long. An absolute beauty but require a lot of room.
Anyone of these is very likely to give you many years of worry-free pleasure. Do yourself, your neighborhood and the world a favor and plant one, two maybe even three of these. You won’t regret it. I promise.
|
Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 For more garden talk, funny short stories and romantic novel excerpts visit http://www.helium.com/users/32782
Didn't really find what you were looking for?
|
|
|
| |
|
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](images/rss.gif "Subscribe to our XML Feed for RSS")
