Looking For A Tree For Backyard

[Mighty Oak]

I would like to put a hardwood tree in my backyard and do not know which one to put in, I would like it for shade and be clean, it could get 50 to feet tall.

Yesterday I back over my Sugar Maple tree that was about 3 1/2 to 4 foot tall so now I am replacing it with another tree, I like them, but for the seed pods they have in the Spring of the year. My neighbor has a Maple tree that has little ball for seed but he does not know what the name of it is, could someone help me out here?

I do not want a Ash tree for I have one and it is dieing, so I will have to cut it down also.

I live is a City and my lot is a few size lot.

How many years does it take for a Sugar Maple to get to 50 feet?

Please give some nice trees that I could plant.

 

[A10egress]

I have a cleveland pear in my front yard... It has a nice shape, not much on shade yet...


a silver maple grows like a weed..., shagbark hickory always looks nice to me.

 

[pdqdl]

There are too many questions to ask before we can suggest some good trees. Sugar maples grow rather slowly.

Try this tree selector, and see if this doesn't give you some nice options: http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/advancedsearch.cfm


Trees don't do well planted in the wrong place. Pick one of your preference that does well in your conditions.

All that being said...consider a zelkova tree. Great shade, very hardy in your area, and they are not prone to common problems that many others are. Maybe a bit slow growing, especially compared to a silver maple.

Look at Black Gum (tupelo) also. These are very interesting trees that probably aren't found in the neighbors yard. Pretty hardy in your area, but not as fast growing as you seem to desire.

Keep in mind that "fast growing" is usually equal to "more problems".

 

[buzz sawyer]

Good advice so far. One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is planting too big a tree in too small an area. After about 15 - 20 years they get someone to "prune" it by topping and hatracking.

BTW, your neighbor's maple with the little ball seed sounds like a Sycamore or Planetree. Check this thread.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=138195

HAHA - just realized - it's your thread!!!

 

[ehgauss]

Sugar maples are pretty slow growing. I favor honey locusts. The shade is light enough for grass to grow under them, the leaves are so small that they don't have to be raked - just mow over them in the spring, and they grow quite fast. Downsides to the honey locust - if your's is a female tree, you'll get a lot of seed pods in the fall, but raking them up isn't as bad as raking leaves, and the root systems tend to lay close to the surface. If you don't have deep soil, the roots will stay so high that mowing over them becomes a problem. As an example about the roots, my brother's home is on a base that was once a gravel pit. They put a development into it and put down about 4" of topsoil to grow grass. His honey locust's roots lie on the surface, and as they grow thicker they stick out of the ground. My lawn was once a hayfield, with about a foot of loam over a pretty heavy clay subsoil. The roots on my honey locusts never show on the surface. The tree with round seed balls may also be a sweet gum. The balls are about the same size as a golf ball. Sycamores also have seed balls about that size or a little bigger, but the light colored flaking bark is dead giveaway.

 

[ct greenman]

Look at a Ginko tree very hardy no bugs or disease bother it it is clean and has a cool looking unique leaf. It does not grow very fast. Also this tree is good in a city air pollution/smog will not be a problem.

One of my favorite trees.

 

[rydnruff]

Watch out with the Ginko because if you get the wrong sex it drops a ton of the nastiest squishy little seeds that smell like puke and doo doo all mixed up

 

[ct greenman]

Yes female ginko has reddish berries and yes they stinko. :agree2:

 

[A10egress]

Good advice so far. One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is planting too big a tree in too small an area. After about 15 - 20 years they get someone to "prune" it by topping and hatracking.

BTW, your neighbor's maple with the little ball seed sounds like a Sycamore or Planetree. Check this thread.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=138195

HAHA - just realized - it's your thread!!!

I agree, do your homework... i wish I had done more... I planted a silver maple in my back yard corner and it really took off and it's not really as nice as I had hoped. This fall I'll try and trim it back a little and try to regain its shape and some control over it....

 

[pdqdl]

Yes female ginko has reddish berries and yes they stinko. :agree2:

Gingko fruit are chocked full of Butyric acid; which is one of the critical smells in rancid butter, vomit, and dog poop. So yes! The fruit smell bad.

Believe it or not, the seeds in the fruit are edible, and are quite popular in the asian community. I have a customer (public walking trail) with about 20 very mature gingko trees. Every year someone comes and rakes up the putrid smelling mess; presumably to take home and eat.