Favorite landscaping trees

[Mrs. Krabappel]

My County Soil & Water Conservation District is offering seedlings in my budget :lol:. Anybody have any faves to help me make a list? TIA!

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White
Baldcypress
Black Locust
Black Walnut
Butternut
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Pin
Oak, White -- Mountain

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon
Redbud, Eastern
Sycamore
Crabapple, Southern
Waxmyrtle/Southern Bayberry
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes)

White Pine -- 30 cents each, or $25 for 100
Potted trees -- $3.50 each
Japanese Maple
Japanese Flowering Dogwood
Eastern Witch Hazel
American Sweetgum
Tulip Tree
Green Giant

 

[RobC]

Baldcypress, good for wet areas. Black Locust soild tree filtered shade. Redbud, Eastern nice spring purplish flowers, nice group planting. Sycamore, great shade tree with beautiful bark. Japanese Maple fall colors, Frasier Fir good screen, Eastern Witch Hazel great late winter flowers. American Sweetgum beautiful fall colors interesting bark too.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Thanks Rob

 

[thinkxingu]

We just picked up a couple Cleveland Select Pear trees. Check 'em out. You can buy 6' saplings for $10-$15 here, so they're probably cheaper where you are.
Couple things: it's cute to plant a seedling, but at 12" year max growth it will take a long, long time to get anything back. Also, be careful with fruit-producing tree choices--they can be a pain to pick up after and attract animals.

S

 

[dave11]

My County Soil & Water Conservation District is offering seedlings in my budget :lol:. Anybody have any faves to help me make a list? TIA!

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White
Baldcypress
Black Locust A terrible tree for a yard. Poisonous to horses, thorny, and hard to get rid of.
Black Walnut
Butternut
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Pin Not one of the better oaks. Prone to fungus.
Oak, White -- Mountain Nice tree, but slower-growing

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon
Redbud, Eastern Nice, small tree
Sycamore
Crabapple, Southern
Waxmyrtle/Southern BayberryHad several when I lived down south. Very nice large shrub or small tree. Very ornamental.
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes)

White Pine -- 30 cents each, or $25 for 100
Potted trees -- $3.50 each
Japanese Maple
Japanese Flowering Dogwood
Eastern Witch Hazel Nice small tree
American Sweetgum Bad for yards. Drop spiky gum balls all over that people slip on
Tulip Tree overrated. fast-growing but brittle. prone to wind damage
Green Giant Is this Thuja Green Giant? If so, they are a very large evergreen, but deer have killed some of mine

 

[firefighterjake]

Of course some of these tree species I am not familiar with being up here in Maine . . . but a few I am familiar with . . . I kind of like oak trees -- they tend to have a nice shape and while they grow slowly are a very pretty tree and tend to attract critters.

White ash is also a nice tree . . . but I wonder about the future with the emerald ash borer.

Black walnut . . . never seen any around here, but would love to try some of these . . . especially if they produce nuts that you can eat.

Crabapples . . . I don't know if the southern type is the same as the crab apples up here, but May/June the crabapples here flower out nicely and look really nice . . . some folks use the crabapples to make jam or jelly.

 

[woodgeek]

My County Soil & Water Conservation District is offering seedlings in my budget :lol:. Anybody have any faves to help me make a list? TIA!

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White A wonderful tree, but the winged seeds seem perfectly engineered for jamming into the slots in gutter guards and between decking boards, need to pick them out instead of just sweeping them off. Doomed by the ash borer in a few years?
Baldcypress
Black Locust
Black Walnut the nuts are popular with squirrels--and lead to lots of persistent seedlings sprouting up all over. Exudes toxins that kill other trees, and stain your hands when you are puling up aforementioned seedlings. Young trees look pretty spindly and unattractive, and are prone to yellowing from some endemic virus. That said, I am keeping mine, the mature trees are spectacular (if you can wait a couple decades, maybe four)
Butternut
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Pin as a kid in MA, these had the trait of 'holding their leaves' until spring, looking like crp all winter and requiring you to rake in the spring
Oak, White -- Mountain

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon
Redbud, Eastern I really love these native, flowering trees, and planted them in my yard.
Sycamore
Crabapple, Southern
Waxmyrtle/Southern Bayberry
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes)

White Pine -- 30 cents each, or $25 for 100
Potted trees -- $3.50 each
Japanese Maple
Japanese Flowering Dogwood
Eastern Witch Hazel
American Sweetgum
Tulip Tree
Green Giant

I also have native black cherry trees that I love, which are well proportioned, have beautiful bark, flower, and feed the wildlife bigtime with pea-sized cherries.
They don't sell native (not Norway or Japanese) maples?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I always go with native trees, and native trees that are rare . Redbud are gorgeous.

 

[semipro]

My County Soil & Water Conservation District is offering seedlings in my budget :lol:. Anybody have any faves to help me make a list? TIA!

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White
Baldcypress
Black Locust - great for firewood and is a legume. Is spiky though.
Black Walnut-I have a lot of these. First to lose leaves, last to get them back. Drops big, heavy nuts that are a nuisance. They discourage the growth of other trees nearby.
Butternut
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Pin
Oak, White -- Mountain

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon
Redbud, Eastern - We love ours. Beautiful spring flowers, nice fall color.
Sycamore Bark full of character. Big leaves.
Crabapple, Southern - usually have nice color in fall
Waxmyrtle/Southern Bayberry
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes) Nice, dense evergreen Christmas tree

White Pine -- 30 cents each, or $25 for 100 Very fast growing
Potted trees -- $3.50 each
Japanese Maple- beautiful trees but relatively slow growing. May have green or maroon foliage.
Japanese Flowering Dogwood
Eastern Witch Hazel
American Sweetgum - Pretty tree but the burrs are hard on your feet.
Tulip Tree
Green Giant

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Great feedback. Thank you!!

 

[midwestcoast]

My County Soil & Water Conservation District is offering seedlings in my budget :lol:. Anybody have any faves to help me make a list? TIA!

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White Wouldn't risk it with Ash borer on the loose
Baldcypress
Black Locust I imagine these are thornless cultivar, but still they are one of the worlds most efficient gutter cloggers
Black Walnut Messy, but free nuts it you have the space
Butternut
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Pin
Oak, White -- Mountain

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon very hearty fruit tree. Late to leaf-out. Fruits great fo eating and cooking
Redbud, Eastern
Sycamore
Crabapple, Southern Critter food? Nice if you need something that won't get too big
Waxmyrtle/Southern Bayberry
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes)

White Pine -- 30 cents each, or $25 for 100 Great for windbreaks well away from the house to the N and W. Can grow fast & tall and remain open below. Any pine needles will acidify the ground some
Potted trees -- $3.50 each
Japanese Maple
Japanese Flowering Dogwood beautiful white flowers in spring, nice fall colours. I think the fruit is edible too
Eastern Witch Hazel yellow flowers straight thru the fall and smell amazing.
American Sweetgum
Tulip Tree grows tall & fast, not very wide spread. It's a poplar
Green Giant

My $0.02 though much already covered.
From an energy efficiency perspective, some general rules would be:
Nice tall (eventually) hardwoods with wide canopies to the east, west & south (not too dense on the S) will shade the house in summer, let sun through in winter. Dense softwoods for wind breaks to the north & west set back from the house.

 

[semipro]

My County Soil & Water Conservation District is offering seedlings in my budget :lol:. Anybody have any faves to help me make a list? TIA!

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White Wouldn't risk it with Ash borer on the loose
Baldcypress
Black Locust I imagine these are thornless cultivar, but still they are one of the worlds most efficient gutter cloggers
Black Walnut Messy, but free nuts it you have the space
Butternut
Oak, Chestnut
Oak, Pin
Oak, White -- Mountain

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon very hearty fruit tree. Late to leaf-out. Fruits great fo eating and cooking
Redbud, Eastern
Sycamore
Crabapple, Southern Critter food? Nice if you need something that won't get too big
Waxmyrtle/Southern Bayberry
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes)

White Pine -- 30 cents each, or $25 for 100 Great for windbreaks well away from the house to the N and W. Can grow fast & tall and remain oven below. Any pine needles will acidify the ground some
Potted trees -- $3.50 each
Japanese Maple
Japanese Flowering Dogwood beautiful white flowers in spring, nice fall colours. I think the fruit is edible too
Eastern Witch Hazel yellow flowers straight thru the fall and smell amazing.
American Sweetgum
Tulip Tree grows tall & fast, not very wide spread. It's a poplar
Green Giant

My $0.02 though much already covered.
From an energy efficiency perspective, some general rules would be:
Nice tall (eventually) hardwoods with wide canopies to the east, west & south (not too dense on the S) will shade the house in summer, let sun through in winter. Dense softwoods for wind breaks to the north & west set back from the house.

Great point! Our house really benefits from the deciduous trees planted to the south and southwest of our house.

 

[smokinj]

I have started a lot of ash and seems to grow quick enough before you get them ran over.

 

[semipro]

I have started a lot of ash and seems to grow quick enough before you get them ran over.

Another good point. When I planted seedlings around my property I also planted survey stakes next to them to keep me from running over them. Didn't always work and it was interesting later finding stakes without any tree nearby.

 

[Jack Straw]

What is your soil like. Mine is heavy, wet clay. I plant white pine, pin oak, white spruce and weeping willow. I have 22 acres and I am planting trees on the boundaries for privacy. The white pines are probably the best for that. I have paid good money for 3' trees and the cheap seedlings seem to do better. The bigger trees seem to have a harder time of being transplanted. Find out what your soil is like and order trees that grow well in your soil.

 

[Cudos]

I can only plant spruce, the damn dear eat everything else, I've put plant skid on them and it helps some, I'm hoping I can protect my row of 30 prairie sky poplars until they get big enough to handle some nibbling from the deer. But I agree with others here that planting trees native to your area is much easier. For me, winter screams evergreens, not only for wind protection but just the shear beauty of mature evergreens. Of course I'm talking about my lake lot, residential is a little different and more forgiving when looking for variety.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Well, I guess the place to start is to ask what you are looking for in the tree. Shade, flowers, future firewood, habitat for animals, etc.?

How much land do you want to plant? Are you looking for a single tree here and there or to plant some acreage?

Are you looking to put the seedlings in shade or full sun. Some of those trees are very shade tolerant, others very intolerant.

Next would be to find out a bit about your soil, is it clay, silt, sand? For instance, Malus (crab apple) don't do as well in sand as other soils. Some of them in the list are legumes so they may improve your soil if it is nitrogen poor.

I'm familiar with most of the trees on your list, but not knowing what you are looking for it's kinda silly to scream out favorites when they will not do well on your land.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Soil is clay, but not unreasonable.
I don't (as of yet) get deer on my property.
I do like the idea of planting native trees, but about half of my property (1ac) is native trees and shrubs (rhododendron, mountain laurel), so I have a lot of great natural habitat. Except for the @#%!^&* English ivy. Oaks, huge pines, poplar to the south and the east of the house.
I would also like to plant for my bees, so I'm going to cross-reference your suggestions with the bee forage list.

I was a renter for too many years so it's pure fun to shop for trees, but I have little experience with trees in terms of landscaping. I appreciate the valuable input.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Well, I guess the place to start is to ask what you are looking for in the tree.

Ornamental, flowers.


I also already have some dogwoods and love them.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Planting in sun or shade?

Matt

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Probably the north side of the house which is mostly open yard with a few oaks on the boundary, so sunny or partial sun.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Cool, that opens up your options since many of the trees on that list are shade intolerant.

So, looking for trees that would make a bee happy:

Bare-root seedlings, 75 cents each:
Ash, White-small flowers
Baldcypress-Deciduous conifer
Black Locust-white flowers, but as mentioned before these have thorns. They are also legumes like beans. They will send runners out and sprout in other places and are considered invasive in some places.
Black Walnut- See below
Butternut-Juglans plants like above have small green flowers that really aren't showy. Bees might like them. I have no idea. I've heard these trees (butternut) are being wiped out by a canker, but have never seen it.
Oak, Chestnut-Oak flowers are not very showy. Their acorns are great for bringing in wildlife though.
Oak, Pin
Oak, White—Mountain

Bare-root Seedlings, $1 each
Persimmon-Not familiar
Redbud, Eastern-Pretty tree. Nice flowers, shade tolerant. It's also a legume.
Sycamore-Interesting tree with huge maple like leaves. It has unusual flowers in balls. I'm not sure if bees would go for them.
Crabapple, Southern-Should give you lots of spring flowers.
Waxmyrtle/Southern Bayberry-Not familiar, but I think they make candles out of them somehow.
Frasier Fir (only for North-facing slopes)-conifer

White Pine—30 cents each, or $25 for 100-5 needle pine. I don't think you'd be interested in it for your bees.
Potted trees—$3.50 each
Japanese Maple-Really cool leaves, doesn't like sun or shade so it's good for edge. I've never seen the flowers on them and my ref. book doesn't have a pic.
Japanese Flowering Dogwood-(Kousa) - flowering as in the name. IIRC think they were to flower just before or just after (I'm thinking after) Cornus florida, so these may be perfect for you.
Eastern Witch Hazel-I studied american and oriental witch hazel, one was the first to flower in the year one the last. I'm sorry I can't remember which was which. Neat flowers though.
American Sweetgum-I had these in my yard in Houston. These are the most annoying tree I've ever been around. They drop pricker balls that are murderous on your bare feet. People plant them up here where they don't go through the pricker ball cycle. They might do it down there. They have really small flowers according to the book.
Tulip Tree-Big yeller flowers. Also tallest tree in the east. Taller than cottonwood. Shade intolerant. I remember hearing that it had relatively weak wood. I've only seen one in the wild so I can't confirm that.
Green Giant -Not familiar.

If you want more specific info I can try to look through the notes I have on them. I'd pull them out now, but it's dang cold outside in the garage where I stored them.

HTH,

Matt

 

[JustWood]

Bees love pear trees.
I have some winter pear trees that blossom later than the apples and it's always loaded with bees.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

They like Basswood also. I've heard it's kind of a narcotic to them.


Matt

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Wowza!! Thanks!