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Coastal CA. not much rain here, but some areas in town have high groundwater. some mature trees, like pines, have died or toppled over. any suggestions?
I forgot about bald cypress, aka swamp cypress. Latin name is Taxodium distichum. I bought one in a 2 inch pot 18 years ago, it is now over 8 feet tall and in an intact wine barrel. it has been immersed in water the whole time. It is a deciduous tree, the foliage turns bright yellow orange in the fall and comes in a beautiful light green in the spring. From a little thing smaller than a pencil, it now has a trunk nearly a foot across at the base. At one time I had it in a pond where I used to live, but dug it up when I had to move away. In the ground it will grow fairly fast.
Bald Cypress is very good for damp and even standing water areas. These will also live on drier soil. I have one and they are nice trees. Hardy as well. I think these grow in a large zone range... like zones 5-10 I think.
As far as pine trees go - the Pond pine is a good choice. They thrive in very moist/wet soils. I have one, but its not on any wetlands. Keep in mind, these are a zone 6 and higher tree. They do not like temperatures below 0°, but if you are in coastal CA, it would be fine. These are most common in the southeastern United States, where they are native.
Here is an image of a Pond pine.
Also Oaks like someone else mentioned. Weeping willows, Willow Oaks (down to zone 6), Black Willows and maybe even Southern Live Oaks, but I do not think they will grow in standing waters and the others and these are zone 6b and higher.
Last edited by Tennesseestorm; 10-20-2008 at 09:44 PM..
Coastal CA. not much rain here, but some areas in town have high groundwater. some mature trees, like pines, have died or toppled over. any suggestions?
River Birch, Bald Cypress, American Sweet Gum, Black Gum, Water Oak, and Maple are just some of the trees that do good in wet conditions.
Weeping willows. Their roots spread out and can be fairly strong in shallow wet conditions. The trees are messy. Branches break off easily. This is good since the branches break in winds rather than pulling the tree over. I have also seen willows just pulled back up after being blown over.
I forgot about bald cypress, aka swamp cypress. Latin name is Taxodium distichum. I bought one in a 2 inch pot 18 years ago, it is now over 8 feet tall and in an intact wine barrel. it has been immersed in water the whole time. It is a deciduous tree, the foliage turns bright yellow orange in the fall and comes in a beautiful light green in the spring. From a little thing smaller than a pencil, it now has a trunk nearly a foot across at the base. At one time I had it in a pond where I used to live, but dug it up when I had to move away. In the ground it will grow fairly fast.
Just a little bit of trivia for you all, the "bald cypress" is actually a relative of the Sequoia and Redwood and is not a cypress at all. It does drop its needle-like leaves in the winter and blossoms in the spring. The BC trees down here in north Louisiana are already shades of red and rust.
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