11 trees you should never ever plant in your yard (flower, jasmine, insect)

[Randomstudent]

I don't know about black walnut. I have a friend who has one of those circular driveways with an island in the middle of it and on the island is a big old black walnut. It is great in the summer, because the shade prevents you car from getting disgustingly, unbearably hot when you get in it.

As to secreting a substance that kills other plants I suspect that is an awesome side bonus considering it is a gravel driveway and you don't want other plants growing in it

[denverian]

Originally Posted by no kudzu

of course the sweetgum should be #1. I broke my ankle and took a nasty fall tripping on one hidden in the lawn and we don't have one in our yard. a bird must have brought it over. How I hate SweetGum trees.

I HATE those trees! We had one in our backyard in the house I grew up in. Over the years, the roots became horrible and I couldn't even mow close to the trees because the roots stuck up so much. Not to mention the PITA to pick up all those sticky balls!

You see an awful lot of them growing in Southern California, I assume because they're about the only tree that will grow along the coast and turn nice colors for Fall. I lived in the City of Orange for many years and the city had planted them all over the city in the middle of sidewalks (with a cut-out for the tree) and I knew what was going to happen. Roots would soon rip up the sidewalks. Last time I was there, I noticed that they'd started ripping them out and replacing them with King Palms (that wouldn't mess up the sidewalks), so a huge waste of taxpayer money by planting them.

I like the look of the Bradford Pears and there are many in my neighborhood here in Denver. They're nice here because the green up early and stay green into November, but one neighbor already lost one to an early snow a couple years ago that caused it to crack down the middle.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by trailstothesea

We had old pecan trees when we lived in Orlando (that fell from a hurricane- no longer there) that were messy indeed. However, we got garbage bags full of pecans and had so many that passerbyers would stop and ask us if they could take some too. Fresh pecans are so delicious. It made me think that the ones I had bought from the store before that must have been at least a year old. But yes, very messy trees.

The good thing about pecan trees (and all hickories) is that the leaves mulch easily, just run over them with a mulching mower and they disappear right into the lawn.

Two native trees I would never plant are Water Oak and Laurel Oak. The trees are very similar... shallow rooted, weak wooded, and short lived. The tiny little acorns germinate everywhere they land and I've cleared hundreds of them. There's so many other better oak choices (Live oak, Shumard, Cherrybark, White, Overcup, Swamp Chestnut, etc...).

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by Audioque

I was hoping to plant couple of nice mulberry trees near the foot of the hill in my yard despite of the warning I heard about the possible colorful bird droppings on my sidewalk. I'll still take it.

Please don't plant the Asian white mulberry (Morus alba), those things are invasive enough as it is. The Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) is native.

[Dale Cooper]

Originally Posted by Audioque

I was hoping to plant couple of nice mulberry trees near the foot of the hill in my yard despite of the warning I heard about the possible colorful bird droppings on my sidewalk. I'll still take it.

Keep them. Just don't hang laundry out to dry. Especially white sheets.

Yum. I love to stand under a mulberry tree an eat those tasty berries. Delicious!

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by denverian

I HATE those trees! We had one in our backyard in the house I grew up in. Over the years, the roots became horrible and I couldn't even mow close to the trees because the roots stuck up so much. Not to mention the PITA to pick up all those sticky balls!

You see an awful lot of them growing in Southern California, I assume because they're about the only tree that will grow along the coast and turn nice colors for Fall. I lived in the City of Orange for many years and the city had planted them all over the city in the middle of sidewalks (with a cut-out for the tree) and I knew what was going to happen. Roots would soon rip up the sidewalks. Last time I was there, I noticed that they'd started ripping them out and replacing them with King Palms (that wouldn't mess up the sidewalks), so a huge waste of taxpayer money by planting them.

I like the look of the Bradford Pears and there are many in my neighborhood here in Denver. They're nice here because the green up early and stay green into November, but one neighbor already lost one to an early snow a couple years ago that caused it to crack down the middle.

I can't think of a worse place for them! I agree about the roots (as much as I love mine) but I imagine in Southern California they would be horrible. They are a Southern tree. I'm in Dallas, TX and this is about 50 miles too far west for them. What were they thinking?

[denverian]

Originally Posted by TXNGL

I can't think of a worse place for them! I agree about the roots (as much as I love mine) but I imagine in Southern California they would be horrible. They are a Southern tree. I'm in Dallas, TX and this is about 50 miles too far west for them. What were they thinking?

I don't know, but they're quite common in the L.A. area for some reason. Again, my only thought as to why people plant them is because they turn nice Fall colors in late October and most hold that color until mid-late January. But I think they look odd among all the tropical trees that stay green all winter.

I grew up in Kansas City (where we had one in our yard) and they grow well there, but I've never seen one in Denver, where I live now.

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by no kudzu

So many of these trees enjoyed periods of popularity in suburbia, including Bradford pears, leyland Cypress and Ash. One common characteristics is that they are fast growing. This produces weak growth as well as invasive roots.
Memorize this list but know this is not a complete list. Why Mimosa is not on there baffles me.

What other trees would you include?

Bad Trees | Tree Choices for the Yard | Planting Trees Tips

Sorry - i couldn't get the link to work, so I may be repeating.

I had a lovely little Ficus tree in my office for years. Loved it's shiny green leaves and the way the trunk looked. I lived in Hawaii at the time. I decided one day that my poor little Ficus needed to live outside. BIG MISTAKE! I should have known better. I didn't do my homework and didn't know ficus is in the Banyan family. I planted it in the yard above our house. We had a retaining wall and a great expanse of yard about 6 feet above our back patio. Well, that little Ficus in 2 years quintupled in size. Hawaii is a fertile place for growing things... even things you don't want - common houseplants become monsters! (My Diffenbachia grew over the top of the house! My Schleffera was a TREE by the time I moved.) The Ficus took out the retaining wall and shaded our entire back yard by year 5. This infuriated my neighbor, who grew show orchids for competitions. One day I came home from work and my tree was gone. He had gone over and cut it down and blasted out the roots. Can't say I blamed him or that I was upset. I bought him a bottle of sake and apologized.

The second mistake was made by the homeowners before us. And we bought the house because of this plant. Not sure if it counts as a tree or bush: Mock Orange. It was a heavenly smell when we looked at the house. It was a 12 foot hedge surrounding 1/2 the property. Ah - great (we thought...) Privacy, wonderful smell, delightfully green, not too hard to trim (yet...)

We found ourselves having to do termite treatments every year instead of every 5 years. After the third year of this I asked the exterminator what we could do to reduce the number of fumigations and treatments. Without missing a beat he said, "Rip that dang hedge out. It's like catnip to Formosan Termites! You are calling every termite for 20 miles to your house to eat!!!" Formosan termites have colonies in the MILLIONS as opposed to standard weaker termites that may have hundreds or a few thousand. These buggahs are HUGE. Termites are a big problem in Hawaii. One of my friends bought a brand new house in a new subdivision. It was concrete slab directly on the ground. The first morning in their new home, she came down the stairs and noticed the carpet looked "sponge-y." She started to walk on it and realized it was moving. She called the builder's rep and they pulled back the carpet ... there were thousands, if not millions, of formosan termites swarming on top the concrete. This entire area had been overrun with wild mock orange before they put the subdivision in. I can't find anything online to corroborate this. But I know when we dug out all the mock orange hedges, our problem was definitely reduced.

I guess this is like buying a new or used car. I always go to my garage and talk to the mechanics - "which type of car is in here the most? Which one has the most expensive parts and repair bills?" So Now I ask exterminators, housing repair contractors and landscapers what the best and worst plants are for my area. It at least give me something else to think about.

[fredmertz100]

Regarding mulberry trees; the Pakistan mulberry has very large delicious fruit that does not stain. Also if anyone has ever planted a Ginko tree that turned out to be a female, you would probably add it to the list of worst trees. The fruit drops and smells like concentrated dog poop.

[alsidw]

I just bought a house in South Florida and I think the bush beside the front door is a mock orange. Small leaves, small white blooms that are fragrant and red berries. Am I correct? will this draw termites?