Do NOT plant a Sissoo tree whatever you do!!! (popular in Phoenix area) (neighborhood, gated)

[TiredOfyycCold]

Originally Posted by MalteseJane

We have a Brazilian Pepper and I found out that it drops leaves when it does not get enough water.

That might explain our constant leaf dropping! The tree always looks good, but it doesn't even have a drip line too it - all it gets for water is off spray from the lawn sprinkler. It's roots are likely under the lawn too - but I'm guessing it is under-watered for its size.

[LBTRS]

Ok, the tree continues to be a huge problem and I can't get it out of my yard fast enough. I'll tell you that "no mess" is a huge lie with this tree. On top of the suckers all over my yard the tree has grown and dropped hundreds of thousands of seed pods, so many that they are plugging up the skimmer basket on my pool daily. I've always had seed pods but they never were unmanageable in the past, for some reason this year they are dropping and being blown into my pool and causing all kinds of problems. I have huge roots coming to the surface of my yard and these roots are the size of my bicep which is making my yard and lawn all bumpy and uneven.

I have it scheduled to be removed next week and can't wait until it is gone.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

Ok, the tree continues to be a huge problem and I can't get it out of my yard fast enough. I'll tell you that "no mess" is a huge lie with this tree. On top of the suckers all over my yard the tree has grown and dropped hundreds of thousands of seed pods, so many that they are plugging up the skimmer basket on my pool daily. I've always had seed pods but they never were unmanageable in the past, for some reason this year they are dropping and being blown into my pool and causing all kinds of problems. I have huge roots coming to the surface of my yard and these roots are the size of my bicep which is making my yard and lawn all bumpy and uneven.

I have it scheduled to be removed next week and can't wait until it is gone.

I got damage going from mine now as well. It's roots grew over to the pool and busted the water line for the autofill. There is no way of fixing that short of busting out the decking and more. It does have some serious roots and they are everywhere I dig now. Interestingly, the tree is right next to my paver patio and there is no distortion or evidence of roots lifting the pavers at all. I see these trees all over Goodyear right next to roads and sidewalks and again, never see any busted concrete. Weird tree! I am considering cutting it down, but the shade on my patio is so, so nice. I think, though, eventually it will have to come out.

[LBTRS]

Sorry to hear that Ponderosa, I was hoping you were not going to find the same problems I'm dealing with. As I said earlier, I'm finding its roots 40 feet away and they are traveling under my concrete patio. I'm hoping no permanent damage has been done. My block wall cracked all up over by the tree but the guy that repaired it said the footing settled and it wasn't the tree. I don't think I believe him as it is odd it happened right next to the tree and nowhere else in the yard.

I hope yours doesn't become as big of pain for you as mine has for me.

BTW...does yours have more seed pods this year than in the past? It dropped a bunch of leaves over the winter and now my yard/pool is covered in seed pods and when I look up in the tree there are thousands and thousands of them up there waiting to fall out. It has never had this many in the past.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

Sorry to hear that Ponderosa, I was hoping you were not going to find the same problems I'm dealing with. As I said earlier, I'm finding its roots 40 feet away and they are traveling under my concrete patio. I'm hoping no permanent damage has been done. My block wall cracked all up over by the tree but the guy that repaired it said the footing settled and it wasn't the tree. I don't think I believe him as it is odd it happened right next to the tree and nowhere else in the yard.

I hope yours doesn't become as big of pain for you as mine has for me.

BTW...does yours have more seed pods this year than in the past? It dropped a bunch of leaves over the winter and now my yard/pool is covered in seed pods and when I look up in the tree there are thousands and thousands of them up there waiting to fall out. It has never had this many in the past.

Yeah it is really thick this year. It did not lose much of of the leaves except for the very top and the new ones are coming in really thick. I guess it loved the warm winter. My pods have not begun to fall yet.

I had two ginormous eucalyptus trees that I cut down last winter. Talk about roots! They have roots about 8 inches thick all under the lawn. One tree keeps sprouting up again from the stump, but one of them has died off it appears. They gave great shade too, but the mess from them was incredible - much worse than the sissoo. It is really hard to find something that gives shade without litter, I think.

[HX_Guy]

Hope I don't jinx myself but Fan-Tex Ash is where it's at when it comes to trees!

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Hope I don't jinx myself but Fan-Tex Ash is where it's at when it comes to trees!

That thing loses all its leaves every year. I'd not want that in my backyard with a pool when the tree gets large.

Interested to hear how you end up liking it.

[HX_Guy]

True, but all trees lose their leaves...it's just a matter of how they go about it, either on a daily basis (Ficus) or all in a week or two. Having both Ficus and Fan-Tex at the old house, I definitely prefer the Fan-Tex...it had the gorgeous fall color, lost all the leaves in a week or two and then had new leaves a couple months later...no leaves falling or pods or anything the rest of the year, super clean.

[Chelito23]

The ironic thing is that the Sisso was marketed as an alternative to the Ficus because it was more robust and could endure the cold snaps and was more manageable...needed less wáter, still provided great shade...still had the nice full canopy year round...I guess it goes to show that when there is something to keep a tree in check like the Ficus, it might be prefereable over a Sisso.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

The ironic thing is that the Sisso was marketed as an alternative to the Ficus because it was more robust and could endure the cold snaps and was more manageable...needed less wáter, still provided great shade...still had the nice full canopy year round...I guess it goes to show that when there is something to keep a tree in check like the Ficus, it might be prefereable over a Sisso.

Ficus trees are not just kept in check, they inevitably die in the outlying burbs where it gets colder at night.