The Bottle tree does extremely well here. They have a nice woodsy look. The leaf shape is variable. They stay green and they get large.

Do you think it would be too large for my 20'x40' yard? Will it take 50 years or so to reach its full height? If so, maybe I won't be the owner of the house anymore. (is that bad to say?)

My neighbor has 2 mature trees right next to our wall. The Bottle tree is an extremely messy tree. We have leaves and seed pods in our yard all year. They also reseed readily. I continually pull out young seedlings. There have to be better choices!

They ARE messy. It all depends on what you're looking for. If you want a particular look you may choose a tree and be willing to put up with the problems. Personally, I would plant a Dahlberg Sissoo. Evergreen, except in very cold weather, nice medium green and not messy. They will get very large but can be kept smaller with less water. This is a pic of mine, it's about 10 years old.

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I have had 3 of them for 5 years. Keep thinking that I need to take them out before they get any bigger. I like the look but not the mess.

How disappointing. I thought I had found the perfect tree for my yard. I guess I didn't notice the litter because it is surrounded by bouganvillas. I had trouble finding a seed pod on the ground.

I guess it's back to Chitalpa, or Sisso, I will have to check that one out.

I agree, it's a very messy tree. It also drops WHOLE limbs whenever it feels like it, whether it be windy or not. It is evergreen, but it also drops leaves all year long. I wouldn't plant another one, even if it was free!

Kevin

Stay away from Bottle Trees!!! They drop leaves all summer long and create a mess for you and your neighbors. I had four such trees and finally removed the last of them.

There was a row of mature bottle trees along the street where I used to live in Phoenix. They are extremely messy as everyone says. I would never plant one. They do drop leaves and branches and the pods hurt like heck when you step on them barefoot . I seem to remember them staining the sidewalk as well.

I am interested in buying Bottle tree pods,not the seeds, for a craft porject. I would be willing to pay you for your time and of course shipping. I am in NM and you can contact me at fallingapot@hotmail.com Thanks!

I second Judy's choice: Sissoo. I really think it's the best shade tree for here. Very fast growing, not messy at all, evergreen, beautiful.
About the bottle trees, my neighbor has one. I'm not crazy about them, I particularly don't care about the weird shapes. They are messy, but I have African Sumacs that are WAY worse. They do grow very fast, so no, I don't think it would take 50 years to mature. Even a 10 year old tree would be a fairly good size.

A bottle tree is by far the messiest tree I've ever seen. My two neighbors have them in their front yard and all summer long they drop thick whole laves by the million. The wind takes them and they mess up the entire 6X6 house block radius. They drop non stop and the leaves end up everywhere. Worse is that the leaves are ugly and make a manicured lawn look horrible. They everyone's yard and though I love my neighbor I'm about ready to lynch him on his tree :)

I recently took out a 2+ story sissou because of the invasive roots. Talk about messy sissiu KY s extre MN ely mess especially if we get frost. Drops smallnyellow blooms, seed pods and if frosted the leaves, loses leaves sparatily