Tell me about what trees tat you love in your yard

[Ralphie ★]

16 minutes ago, roadsue said:

The crabapple give good shade, are colorful in fall, interesting in winter because the fruit remains even after the leaves have fallen, and attract robins in early spring. 

And the best part is you can pronounce it cra-BAP-el.   My mother used to have a couple and the squirrels would sit up there and squawk and throw crabapels at us.

 

 

[Longjohn ★]

Catalpa tree

big leaves

Red leaf maple

[Zephyr]

34 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

I was intrigued that @Zephyr said he grows great peaches.  My grandfather had a peach tree but the bugs always got them because he didn't want to spray the amount it took to prevent that,and he was not afeared of chemicals!

I have never sprayed anything on mine, I can pick off the tree and eat if I want.  I sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around the base and once fruit are on them I wrap a paper wrap once around the trunk and smear this peanut butter type stuff on it to prevent creepy crawlies from climbing up the trunk.  We sometimes get one or two a year with earwigs but they only bore in and eat the pit and not the fruit.  But I only have two trees, not a whole orchard

 

[Sharpy]

4 hours ago, Further said:

What do you do with them in the winter ?

I dig them up and trim the leaves off and store them on the back porch.They have shallow roots .The larger ones can be quite tall and heavy.

[Ralphie ★]

Wow, Zephyr, that is awesome!  Party on.

 

[Longjohn ★]

Rose of Sharon bushes get quite tall but are not really a tree. Hummingbirds love them.

[Ralphie ★]

Just now, Longjohn said:

Rose of Sharon bushes get quite tall but are not really a tree. Hummingbirds love them.

My neighbor used to have two of them at the entrance to the driveway, but had to remove them because they grew WAY too big for that.

[Longjohn ★]

3 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

My neighbor used to have two of them at the entrance to the driveway, but had to remove them because they grew WAY too big for that.

You can trim them as a hedge but you trim off a lot of flowers by doing that. I trim the ones growing in the flower bed to keep them from getting out of control. I planned on transplanting them but they got too big for that.

[Dirtyhip]

4 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

You can trim them as a hedge but you trim off a lot of flowers by doing that. I trim the ones growing in the flower bed to keep them from getting out of control. I planned on transplanting them but they got too big for that.

 

13 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Rose of Sharon bushes get quite tall but are not really a tree. Hummingbirds love them.

Thank you for this.  I saw this exact kind of bush/tree yesterday and pointed it out to hubby.  I didn't know what it was.  

I am gong to put it on the list, along with a butterfly bush.

[MickinMD ★]

1 hour ago, Philander Seabury said:

I was intrigued that @Zephyr said he grows great peaches.  My grandfather had a peach tree but the bugs always got them because he didn't want to spray the amount it took to prevent that,and he was not afeared of chemicals!

The only froots I have grown successfully were strawberries and raspberries, but both petered oot after a few years.  Everbearing Heritage raspberries were great while they lasted.

I planted a dwarf nectarine tree at my last house and it did so-so, mostly because a bigger, thriving semi-dwarf Stella Sweet Cherry tree kept it a little too shady. Otherwise I think it would have thrived.

Peach trees grow well in Maryland. Dormant Oil is sprayed on the bark around February to prevent Spring borer-insects from boring into the bark.  After the buds just begin to form but aren't open, use one of the commercial sprays that's a combination insecticide plus fungicide.  Do not spray again until the fruit is growing and the flowers are gone so you won't kill the pollinating bees.  Most residential peach/nectarine trees are not sprayed again unless there's a problem.

[MickinMD ★]

29 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

 

Thank you for this.  I saw this exact kind of bush/tree yesterday and pointed it out to hubby.  I didn't know what it was.  

I am gong to put it on the list, along with a butterfly bush.

Rose of Sharon's grow wild like crazy in my area.  If there are honey bees in your area, it's fun for kids to trap them in a Rose of Sharon flower by squeezing the open end closed.  Then the kid removes the flower from the bush, walks up to someone he/she wants to torment and, holding the stem end of the flower, lets the other end open up while pointing it at the tormented one!  The bee flies away without causing harm but it scares the shit out of anyone who sees the bee emerge from the flower.

[Zephyr]

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

 

Thank you for this.  I saw this exact kind of bush/tree yesterday and pointed it out to hubby.  I didn't know what it was.  

I am gong to put it on the list, along with a butterfly bush.

We have a butterfly bush in the back yard.  They grow well with very little work.  Hummingbirds love them when they flower too

[MickinMD ★]

I second Longjohn's recommendation of the Catalpa, known in my area as the "Indian Cigar Tree," don't seem as popular as they used to be in my area, but they are pretty with big leaves, large white flowers, and the "cigar" shaped seed pods that stretch from several inches to over a foot long.  We kids tried to actually smoke the dried seedpods as cigars but it didn't work well.

They're excellent ornamental trees, but don't plant them where their roots can raise havoc!

My mother's mother planted one alongside our house on the day I was born in 1950.  Unfortunately, it was right over the sewage pipe running about 15 feet between the house to the county sewage line and, through the years it was occasionally roto-rootered until, in the 90's, the pipe collapsed due to the roots and replacement was needed.

I hired Joe, better known as "Lubs" (lbs - he had some pounds on him), a huge, strong, out-of-work friend of my brother's at $150/day to dig down to the pipe.  That cost $750 and the hard clay soil and Lubs' strength actually wore down both ends of a big pick I provided.  My brother, Tim, arranged to meet with a county inspector who kindly told my brother how to connect modern plastic pipe into the old cast iron pipe and what pieces he needed to run it to the county sewage pipe connection under the sidewalk.  Tim spent $150 on the pipe and another $150 for another day for Lubs to help finish the job and cover the new pipe.  Tim and Lubs drove the debris to the county landfill in Tim's truck.

We did the entire job done for $1050!  I was making a lot more than Tim back then, so I didn't mind paying for most of it. I don't remember how my sister got out of paying.  A coworker who had maxed-out all his credit cards except Sears hired Sears to send a contractor to do a similar job. It cost him $5000.

 

[Ralphie ★]

10 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

I second Longjohn's recommendation of the Catalpa, known in my area as the "Indian Cigar Tree," don't seem as popular as they used to be in my area, but they are pretty with big leaves, large white flowers, and the "cigar" shaped seed pods that stretch from several inches to over a foot long.  We kids tried to actually smoke the dried seedpods as cigars but it didn't work well.

I always called those string bean trees.  Yeah, I hardly ever see those anymore.  Probably pretty darn messy.

Magnolias are interesting trees, and I am always surprised to see them growing this far north,

Distribution: Magnolias once made up a large part of North Temperate forest trees before the last glacial period (Maisenhelder, 1970). Southern magnolia primarily grows in the southeastern US and the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain in USDA Hardiness Zone 6–10 (Dirr, 1998). Southern magnolia is native from Maryland south to Florida and west to Texas. Cold-hardy cultivars can be grown as far north as southern Ohio, northern New Jersey, and Long Island. It is also grown on the west coast from Washington State south to California. For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

Willow: massive pain in the ass because of all the “whips” it loses every time it gets windy. Leaves everywhere..and I mean everywhere. Pretty sure every batch of beer I’ve ever brewed had at least one willow leaf in it. But, it makes shade and the critters seem to like it - birds are always gleaning stuff out of it and when I had a garden, I think the rabbits left it alone because they preferred the willow leaves. So it stays.

Soft Maple: massive pain in the ass because of all the damned “helicopters” it makes every spring and the resultant  10,000,000 seedlings that pop up everywhere. Leaves everywhere...in the fall. Overhangs the roof and I have moss growing where it shades it. But, it makes shade, so it stays.

Walnut: massive pain in the ass. Goddamn walnuts everywhere...and I mean everywhere. Squirrels are really good at planting them exactly where I don’t want them. Sounds like I’m mowing a gravel bed, when I run them over. (The walnuts, not the squirrels). I suspect the red squirrels have stashed about four metric tons of the damned things in the rafters in the garage. But, it makes shade, so it stays.

Aspen: Pain in the ass. Every time there’s a windstorm, I keep expecting to find one on the garage. Makes fluffy, cottony “catkins” all over the lawn every spring - although this is amusing because when I mow, it looks like I ran over a mattress. There’s one in my leach field and I’ve threatened to cut it down, but I keep having visions of dropping it on the house, so it stays.

Multiple Soft maples. See above.

Catalpa: Mostly harmless. Fortunately the plethora of blossoms it makes every spring don’t stink like the one my mother had did. Leaves stay on the tree in the fall....until I have cleaned up all the other trees...then fall all at once and they’re gigantic and like leather, once they get wet. But, it provides shade, so it stays.

Dead soft maple. Makes no mess - obviously and a couple of years ago, we had a Pileated Woodpecker nest in it, so it stays. (Sadly, all indications are they won’t reuse the nest site.) But, I can’t be arsed to take it down, so it stays. It’ll come down on its own any day now.

Hawthorn and Elderberry: birds like them, they stay.

I saved the best for last - 

Sugar Maple: Yes, it makes a metric shit-ton of leaves but I don’t care. Two words: maple syrup.

All in all, I like them enough that I have learned to live with them. IDGAS about having a putting green for a lawn, so I just mulch the leaves (and more than a few walnuts) with the mower and call it good.

[Ralphie ★]

13 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

Pretty sure every batch of beer I’ve ever brewed had at least one willow leaf in it.

For me that is Douglas Fir needles in salads.

[Dirtyhip]

5 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

And the best part is you can pronounce it cra-BAP-el.   My mother used to have a couple and the squirrels would sit up there and squawk and throw crabapels at us.

 

 

They threw them at you?  HAHA.

[Dirtyhip]

15 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

Willow: massive pain in the ass because of all the “whips” it loses every time it gets windy. Leaves everywhere..and I mean everywhere. Pretty sure every batch of beer I’ve ever brewed had at least one willow leaf in it. But, it makes shade and the critters seem to like it - birds are always gleaning stuff out of it and when I had a garden, I think the rabbits left it alone because they preferred the willow leaves. So it stays.

Soft Maple: massive pain in the ass because of all the damned “helicopters” it makes every spring and the resultant  10,000,000 seedlings that pop up everywhere. Leaves everywhere...in the fall. Overhangs the roof and I have moss growing where it shades it. But, it makes shade, so it stays.

Walnut: massive pain in the ass. Goddamn walnuts everywhere...and I mean everywhere. Squirrels are really good at planting them exactly where I don’t want them. Sounds like I’m mowing a gravel bed, when I run them over. (The walnuts, not the squirrels). I suspect the red squirrels have stashed about four metric tons of the damned things in the rafters in the garage. But, it makes shade, so it stays.

Aspen: Pain in the ass. Every time there’s a windstorm, I keep expecting to find one on the garage. Makes fluffy, cottony “catkins” all over the lawn every spring - although this is amusing because when I mow, it looks like I ran over a mattress. There’s one in my leach field and I’ve threatened to cut it down, but I keep having visions of dropping it on the house, so it stays.

Multiple Soft maples. See above.

Catalpa: Mostly harmless. Fortunately the plethora of blossoms it makes every spring don’t stink like the one my mother had did. Leaves stay on the tree in the fall....until I have cleaned up all the other trees...then fall all at once and they’re gigantic and like leather, once they get wet. But, it provides shade, so it stays.

Dead soft maple. Makes no mess - obviously and a couple of years ago, we had a Pileated Woodpecker nest in it, so it stays. (Sadly, all indications are they won’t reuse the nest site.) But, I can’t be arsed to take it down, so it stays. It’ll come down on its own any day now.

Hawthorn and Elderberry: birds like them, they stay.

I saved the best for last - 

Sugar Maple: Yes, it makes a metric shit-ton of leaves but I don’t care. Two words: maple syrup.

All in all, I like them enough that I have learned to live with them. IDGAS about having a putting green for a lawn, so I just mulch the leaves (and more than a few walnuts) with the mower and call it good.

Sugar maple?  I wonder if they would grow here.  I wonder how many years until you can tap them.

Ah, I forgot that you can make whips with willow branches. Neato.

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

6 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

For me that is Douglas Fir needles in salads.

How can you tell?

[Ralphie ★]

Just now, Dirtyhip said:

Sugar maple?  I wonder if they would grow here.  I wonder how many years until you can tap them.

Ah, I forgot that you can make whips with willow branches. Neato.

Crabapel slinging was a fun pastime in my youth.  The slings were probably made from crabapel branches since hey were right there next to the crabapels.

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

5 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

I saw this exact kind of bush/tree yesterday and pointed it out to hubby.  I didn't know what it was.  

If I’m not mistaken, my son just told me you can make tea from those....

I’ll be damned. They’re hibiscus.

[Dirtyhip]

16 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

If I’m not mistaken, my son just told me you can make tea from those....

I’ll be damned. They’re hibiscus.

DUDE!  

Thank you.  I forgot about Hibiscus tea.  

Oh, I have to plant it now.

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

21 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Thank you.

I just found that out today. On my bike ride, I saw my son out in the yard so I stopped to talk. We were looking at his garden plants and there was some of that growing next to the garage. He told me what it was. I told him I thought it was hollyhock, but he said no.

Today I learned.

[Longjohn ★]

24 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Oh, I have to plant it now.

I wonder if it’s legal to ship those and if they would survive? I have hundreds of them you could have. They seed off and reproduce like crazy. 

[Dirtyhip]

5 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

I wonder if it’s legal to ship those and if they would survive? I have hundreds of them you could have. They seed off and reproduce like crazy. 

That is so sweet, LJ.  We want to start with bigger bushes and trees.  We have to cheat time.

[Further]

Mixed feelings 

[Dirtyhip]

I really appreciate everyone's honesty about their trees.  I want to make good choices, while trying to plant as many indigenous things as I can.

So, Cedar, a few well placed pines, aspens...

We have some juniper.  I don't love those, but they are a tree that is natural to a desert.  I think they tap the water of the land, so we wil only keep the ones that are already there.

[sheep_herder ★]

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

I really appreciate everyone's honesty about their trees.  I want to make good choices, while trying to plant as many indigenous things as I can.

So, Cedar, a few well placed pines, aspens...

We have some juniper.  I don't love those, but they are a tree that is natural to a desert.  I think they tap the water of the land, so we wil only keep the ones that are already there.

Make sure, you are not talking about the same species when talking cedars vs. junipers. True cedars grow in a much more moist area than you have. Have fun with your projects.

[Dirtyhip]

18 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

Make sure, you are not talking about the same species when talking cedars vs. junipers. True cedars grow in a much more moist area than you have. Have fun with your projects.

These are the cedar that I think I need:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calocedrus

 

[sheep_herder ★]

16 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

These are the cedar that I think I need:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calocedrus

 

OK, but just make sure that it is adapted to your drier conditions. You are there, so you see what is growing and thriving at your elevation and precipitation zone. I am just not use to them growing in the northern Great Basin, except at higher elevations with more effective precipitation. Also, your extension agent and extension forester are your friends when making these types of decisions.

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, sheep_herder said:

OK, but just make sure that it is adapted to your drier conditions. You are there, so you see what is growing and thriving at your elevation and precipitation zone. I am just not use to them growing in the northern Great Basin, except at higher elevations with more effective precipitation.

They are all over here.  They grow really well.

[sheep_herder ★]

Just now, Dirtyhip said:

They are all over here.  They grow really well.

Great!!!

[Dirtyhip]

6 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

Great!!!

We had one on our lot at our old house.  It was about 100 feet tall.  Gorgeous. 

[sheep_herder ★]

I had not checked your precipitation before, but you get more rain and snow than any place I've lived, except Texas, so I see why the cedar should thrive. Burns averaged 11 inches annually, and Miles City averages 13.3 inches precipitation (rain and snow combined).

[Dirtyhip]

2 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

I had not checked your precipitation before, but you get more rain and snow than any place I've lived, except Texas, so I see why the cedar should thrive. Burns averaged 11 inches annually, and Miles City averages 13.3 inches precipitation (rain and snow combined).

Usually, it is very arid.  We are Oregon's city of sunshine.  300 days of it.

Sometimes, we get these crazy downpours.  Last week we got 1.5 inches in 40 minutes.  It happens a couple times of year like that.  The sky just opens up on us.  

[Dirtyhip]

We love these.  They smell great.  They get huge, but are stable and beautiful trees.