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I am looking to plant a tree in my front yard, and I was wondering if someone here has some advice? I want to make sure I don't plant something that will damage the foundation when it grows.
I live in a zone 7, and I am planning on planting the tree about 15-20 feet from the house.
There's a couple of trees I love:
Magnolias - I see some neighbors have them in their front yards, so I think a magnolia would be fine. Do you think they are safe to plant at that distance?
Weeping willows: They are my favorite, but I know these are a big no no. Do you know if there are similar trees that are are more convenient (by similar, I mean a smaller tree with the weeping habit)?
Hesky,
NO WOillows!!!!!
OMG, there are far fewer trees that are as aggresive as a weeping willow
tree. They love water pipes.
Magnolias are the best trees to plant close to property.
They are ancient trees with most of their roots very close to
the surface soil.
They are also gorgeous, in my opinion, and their flowers smell
like lemon heaven!
Plant a magnolia.
Never plant a willow, unless you hae a water problem very far
from your house.
There is a weeping fir or spruce. A kind of pine tree that weeps. My dad has some. Slow growing and do not seem to cause any problems. Roots basically go down as far as I can tell.
Willows are bad near a house. Far away, they are fabulous. We planted one over the grave of our best friend and the Tigger tree has grown like you would believe. It was a $20 home depot special and in five years it is at leat 20' tall and really pretty (and very messy). One thing with willows, trim the branches and do not let them droop to the ground. They will root and you end up with a thicket mass instead of a tree.
Hard to beat magnolias. Maples do well too. Dogwood is pretty and does not get real big.
Remember magnolias grow very very slowly. You want no bigger than a 24" box. Bigger ones will take to long to start growing and will actually be behind a 24".
Also if you are in deer country put plastic tubing around the base or the deer will rub their antlers on it and kill it. Better yet just put a sturdy 4' fence a foot out from the tree. I can tell you form experience, it does not feel good to buy a tree for $500, have it planted for $150 and then have a deer kill it in less than one year.
I don't know....all the magnolias we see around Sterling look pretty pathetic - with the exception of this one our neighbor has. I don't know if they aren't taken care of or if the area isn't that great for them. Contemplating doing a Little Gem ourselves, though and see what happens.
Crape Myrtle would be a good tree for close to house. On my list of favorite trees. Oh, another tree I love....river birch with the white peeling bark. Great tree.
We have a Southern Magnolia in our front yard and you are welcome to it if you want to come and get it. One of the messiest trees around, has heaved our sidewalks and drops leaves constantly. Lovely to look at but a pain to maintain in a landscape.
If its the Southern Magnolia you are thinking about getting, I'd recommend against it!
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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Without knowing more about the site, I can't make recommendations but some you should do a search on ...
1. Serviceberry
2. Trident Maple
3. American Smoketree
4. Yellowwood
Wow, the yellowwood looks amazing. The only drawback is that it seems like it grows slowly. But the pictures I've seen of mature trees are so beautiful.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hesky
Wow, the yellowwood looks amazing. The only drawback is that it seems like it grows slowly. But the pictures I've seen of mature trees are so beautiful.
I wouldn't say they're slow growers.
Maybe in the wild they're slow growers. They're an understory tree.
In the landscape, I'd say moderate growth rate.
When we lived in Califrnia thre was a Huge very full tree accross the street. It looked very much like a head of brocolli. It was about 50- 60 feet tall with a canopy that is proabably 50-80 feet in diamter. Any guess as to what it might have been? Anyone know any beautiful trees that look like brocolli?
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens
When we lived in Califrnia thre was a Huge very full tree accross the street. It looked very much like a head of brocolli. It was about 50- 60 feet tall with a canopy that is proabably 50-80 feet in diamter. Any guess as to what it might have been? Anyone know any beautiful trees that look like brocolli?
Most trees do look like a head of broccoli so that's not enough information for an I.D.
The good news is if you can find the tree on google maps street view, someone might be able to ID it. If you do, I'd suggest starting a new thread for it.
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