And ants spent their lives running up and down those trees. I don't know what they do up there, but it's normal.

Follow lazygardens advice on the watering and you won't need to prune as often. Your tree will grow more slowly and have stronger branches.

Chilean Mesquite: Semi-evergreen, 30' high x 30' wide, Full sun, Hardy to 12F, Moderate water use. Mesquites in general require a large volume of soil area because they have rapid and aggressive root growth. Withoug enough soil area for roots to spread, serious problems occur, especially in windy areas. Trees will topple over. They also require adequate and deep moisture so those roots go deep, deep, deep. This way they will have a good anchor in windy times.

On the upside, mesquites are beautiful trees with interesting branch structure. They are hardy and use little water.

California Pepper: Evergreen, 25' high x 40' wide, full sun, hardy to 20F, full sun, low to moderate water use. Growth is rapid and branches hang to the ground. Use in open garden areas where competitive roots can spread freely. White summer flowers develop into clusters of red berries in winter. The challenge of this tree is also wind related when the trunks and branches become large. Quite often they are damaged by wind storms. Limb breakage causes trees to become unbalanced and exposes the trunk to decay. Prune to thin out excessive growth early in spring prior to hot weather.

HTH.
Mary

Pick a tree with a smaller mature size, such as a

For color photographs and details on each plant try the searchable database located at http://www.amwua.org/plants_index.html

For shade near a pool, try a cabana.