Seeking Ornamental Tree Recommendation

[Area Man]

I'm in zone 7B. Clay soil (yuck, I know). I have a small full-sun area that is 10' wide and 23' long. I want to plant an ornamental (flowering) tree/shrub or two in this area this fall.

The problem is choosing what to plant!

Obviously the 10' restriction is a big problem. I originally decided on planting a pair of Sargent Crabapple trees, until I found out how slow growing they are. I'm not interested in waiting 15 years for a tree to grow to my own height.

Royal Empress? (Kidding)

I welcome suggestions.

 

[ChrisWNY]

Flowering Dogwood (cornus florida) comes to mind - they're slow-growers and don't spread much more than 10', and they reach about 20' or so in height at maturity. I see a lot of Dogwoods in the Maryland/Washington DC/Virginia areas, and they can be found growing naturally all the way into northern Florida. If you do decide on a dogwood, you may need to amend your clay soil a bit (with peat moss), or add a fairly good layer of topsoil (a mound 7-10' in diameter would work well, with perhaps a 4"+ rise above grade) so that the tree can sit up above grade where it will benefit from the improved drainage. Dogwoods seem to grow best in partial shade, particularly on the Eastern sides of houses where they receive some afternoon shade. I have a white flowering dogwood planted on the Eastern side of my own house, it's been blown down twice by high winds (mainly due to poor staking), and it's still living and growing, if you can believe that. I'm in zone 6, on the northern fringe of where Dogwoods can survive.

Here's a photo of a white flowering dogwood, you may have quite a few in your area already...

 

[Area Man]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I would prefer to avoid Dogwoods. The thing with Dogwoods is that in my area, you see them every 10 feet. My neighbor has a bunch of them in her backyard. The park area across the street and all the common areas in my neighborhood have dozens of them. Every strip mall has a forest of them. The city even plants them in the middle of some divided highways.

They are nice, though. I may end up putting a couple in, for lack of a better alternative.

 

[Area Man]

Yeah... Google. Knew about that. Google is a forest and I'm lost in it searching for a single tree. It's been tough finding a flowering tree that:

1. Does well in clay soil.

2. Has a medium or fast growth rate.

3. Has a max spread of no more than 12'.

I'm leaning toward Red Cloud Dogwood (Cornus florida) or Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata). Thanks, Chris, for the advice. (Hey you wouldn't happen to be visiting NC this November, would you? )

 

[ChrisWNY]

Dogwoods are nice being a native US tree, NC is ideal for them. Magnolias make a nice tree as well. Since you mentioned shrubs, purple leaf sandcherry is a great garden shrub as it's drought tolerant and will grow in nearly every soil type, search Google to find out more info about them, they can be grown in zones 2-8. Mimosa trees are a big problem in NC, avoid them like the plague - my brother lives just outside of Raleigh and has to spend a significant amount of time cutting the neighbor's mimosa branches which grow voraciously over the fence into his yard, plus small mimosa's are constantly sprouting in his lawn, he's mentioned investing in a flame thrower a few times. My advice to him was to wait until the neighbor went out-of-town, then take a chainsaw to them.

 

[Area Man]

Ah, why choose? I think I'm going to put a Dogwood in my front yard, and a Star Magnolia in the spot I originally had in mind.

Arborday.org (and some other sources I found, like people at Cornell University) advises against adding amendment to the soil. Supposedly, doing so encourages the roots to stay put rather than spread.

And some other sources I found advise adding amendments. This is what I hate; never knowing what to believe, what to do...

Some say to create a "water ring", a raised mound that will help with drainage and direct water away from the trunk, encouraging root spread.

Others say to create a "bowl" around the trunk, so water will collect and have time to soak in. I doubt I will follow this advice. I was of the mind that leaving water next to the trunk was a bad thing (root rot, fungi). And with clay, do you really need to help keep the water in place?

From the looks of it, some of the landscapers around here do both--they create a water ring with a bowl on top. Kind of odd? Unless you are supposed to level off the ridges of the bowl after a couple months...

I'm thinking I'll create the water ring. Just need to find soil for the task. Easier said than done. Every time I've purchased "topsoil" products, they've been more like mulch than soil. I have a field out back with lots of soil, but I've put Ortho Ground Clear there... Probably not a good idea to use that.

I know, I sound like an idiot... But if you can believe it, I've never planted a tree in my life. I don't like going off half-cocked. Now I know how people who come to me for computer advice feel.

Anyway, just yabbin'...

 

[ChrisWNY]

After planting 50+ trees on my property (some seedlings, many containerized, and some balled & burlapped), only losing a handful for reasons out of my control (deer, wind storms, and poor genetics),and dealing with poorly-draining heavy clay soil, I've gotten tree planting down to a science...

(1) Rototill the area where the tree will be planted, till 4-6" into the soil in an area 3-5' in diameter, where your mulch will be placed. Rototilling will take care of grasses/weeds that will compete with the tree, and alleviate any soil compaction that has occurred over the years. This may seem ridiculous for a small seedling, but keep in mind that your small seedling will one day grow to be a large, mature tree. The larger the area of mulch, the better.
(2) Add *some* topsoil (if you have some to spare in another area of your property, use it, it's free) to the area so that you can plant the tree ABOVE grade on a subtle mound. This is important especially for clay soils. Clay soil is literally impermeable to water, a few inches of topsoil provides a lot of benefit at a minimal cost.
(3) Observe where the root flare is located, don't bury it in soil, make sure it is at grade or a little above. For containerized or b&b trees, score the sides of the root ball and tease the roots so they are pointing outward, this will help prevent root circling later on.
(4) Dig a wide, shallow hole within the tilled area, drop the tree in, cover with the native topsoil combined with the additional soil you have brought in, backfill.
(5) Mulch liberally, covering the tilled area entirely. Mulch should be 3-4" deep 4-6" away from the trunk.

New trees need water to establish roots. If it doesn't rain at least once or twice per week, supply water on a regular basis. Watering basins are important if your soil is sandy and drains real quick, since your soil is clay, probably not necessary to dig a water basin. My preference is to plant in the early Spring before a tree breaks dormancy, Fall plantings don't give trees enough time for root anchoring before Winter sets in, I have seen/experienced far more failure in the Fall vs. the Spring. Others will argue the opposite.

 

[pdqdl]

Try looking at this excellent plant selection guide for a good plant:

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Search.asp

Lots of different selections to thin out the choices according to your preferences. You will get so many more ideas than just dogwoods and magnolias. There are plants that will come up that you have never even heard of, with links to good information about that variety of plant.

Do your research, and pick something different that looks like it will fit your purposes.

Allow me to suggest (you may want to do some of the soil improvements listed above):
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=H290
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=D387
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=C904
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=A345
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=A928
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=R580
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=C120
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=M980

I recently found this tree, and I really like it too. Mo. Botanical Garden didn't list it, either. http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=147952

 

[Area Man]

Try looking at this excellent plant selection guide for a good plant:

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Search.asp

Lots of different selections to thin out the choices according to your preferences. You will get so many more ideas than just dogwoods and magnolias. There are plants that will come up that you have never even heard of, with links to good information about that variety of plant.

Do your research, and pick something different that looks like it will fit your purposes.

No matches found for your request.

.

 

[pdqdl]

Um...Try not being so picky.

I got LOTS of options by choosing the size of plant, then picking zone 7. Play with it some more!

 

[S Mc]

AM - When you say you have a 10' by 23' area in which to plant, is it in the open or between structures? You said it is full sun, so I am thinking in the open. If so, what are the restrictions: driveway, sidewalk, fence?

My mind originally went where TreeCo's evidently did with limited above ground spacing as well as limited rooting area, hence the espalier suggestions, which were a cool thought. But a 10' by 23' area in a city would be considered a large boulevard and the selection list would include full size trees. If this is the case, then I would be looking at what hardscape the roots might impact and use that for an additional selection limitation on the species, perhaps making sure the tree had a fibrous or deep rooting system.

Your desire for a flowering tree is going to send you towards a smaller selection more often than not as well, so that should be ok. This is probably where your selection became too limited on pdqdl's link? I tried it and came up with a few selections using 10' wide max, flowering species, zone 7, full sun. (BTW, nice link, pdqdl!)

There is clay soil....and then there is clay soil. Do look around your area to see what is doing well, this will help give you a good indication. Then perhaps if you see something you like that is slightly outside the norm, look into it. I agree that just planting the same old thing gets old. There are many wonderful trees out there that people just are unaware of.

I wouldn't rototiller. It destroys the structure of the soil and will contribute to a hard pan layer at the level to which you rototiller. The thought on planting high on a clay base is so the roots are not sitting in a perched water table, and you may have to do that. One of the reasons you will find seemingly contradictory information on the web is that so many circumstances with trees depend on so many factors. It is impossible to list all the exceptions in one place. That and some of the information out there is just plain bad.

Sylvia