Your kids will grow way faster than any tree, unfortunately.

If you already have kids, you would have to buy an insanely expensive gigantic box tree and have it craned in to have any chance of them climbing it. Now if you are planning on having kids in 20 years then there might be some other options. Remember, safely climbable branches are to be 6 inches in diamerer.

Do NOT get a fast growing Silky Oak! Worst tree on the earth. I suggest a Fig tree. Verte! Fast growing, lots of branches, and delicious fruit. Tastes like strawberries! hard to find, but I have one. Easy to grow from cuttings, but try finding a rooted one. Big, fast growing, and tons of branches. It's the answer you want.

Suzi

When I was a kid, we had an alder in our front yard that was planted when I was a baby, and in which, as I was growing up, I spent many hours at its top, looking over the roofs of the 1-story houses in our neighborhood and dreaming of flying. One of my favorite childhood memories.

I also spent many hours raking the leaves of the alder since it's deciduous...but that's not a bad chore for a kid to have to do.

The alder did have raised roots above the ground at its base. And as I recall, no grass grew below it...possibly because of the foot traffic at the base of the tree (a lot of the neighborhood kids climbed it, too), or because of the shade. But I wouldn't trade the fun of climbing it and the hours of wiling away the time imagining all kinds of things for grass below it and no roots.

Thank you for your replies.

I do realize that it may or may not be big enough in time for my kids to climb (they are 6, 4 and 2 yrs old right now.) But it seems like such a prime spot for a tree -- hopefully *somebody's* kids will enjoy it :-) I'm going to look into the Verte fig and Alder.

Valley Oak can grow 4 feet per year.

Let us know what you decide, anchita. I'm pulling for the alder! If I had the space for one, I'd plant one myself. Robert Fulghum, who wrote the well-known, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten", also had some funny insights and observations about climbing trees in his other much appreciated book, "It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It". In the book he reveals he still climbs trees as an adult...and gets some of his best ideas at the top of one. :)

A Pakistan Mulberry can grow a foot a month. Ours sure is. PLUS delicious fruit.

Pinterest is a fun place to search for ideas. Kids love tree houses! We actually have 3 large pines, and I'm thinking of putting a cool tree house with a ladder up there for the grand kids.

Have fun searching!
Suzi

Thank you, everyone, for your input! I decided to get a Pakistan Mulberry tree. Hopefully we'll at least get to enjoy the fruit, if not climbing.

Anchita, have you bought the tree yet? If so where did you get it?
thx
ryan

Yes, I just bought it yesterday, at Wegman's nursery in Redwood city. They had at least one more Pakistan mulberry, a few Persian mulberries and some form of a Weeping mulberry there as of yesterday afternoon.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wegman's

Thanks!

For my so Cal location I chose a London Plane. Planted LP Columbia four years ago. My 16 year old climbs it now. It has a nice "ladder" structure with regularly spaced limbs along a straight central trunk. It will be a couple more years before the limbs are thick enough to crawl out on, but a kid can go straight up like a ladder.

Sycamores. No fruit,can be messy. But natives that wont need much watering when they get to climbable size.

And sycamores smell wonderful! I planted Cal sycamore 'Roberts' in April. It was two feet tall then. Now it's about six feet.