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shear_stupidity

What kind of tree?

shear_stupidity
11 years ago

What kind of tree could I grow in the house? I have very high ceilings (24') in my living room, which faces South-West and has lots of windows. What could I grow that wouldn't drop leaves and would grow quickly to at least 15' tall?

Comments (11)

  • abnorm
    11 years ago

    Do you have any skylights/windows in this area ?

    Ficus Benjamina....

    Here's a recent discussion on the gardenweb

    Here is a link that might be useful: Al Tapla on Ficus

  • shuffles_gw
    11 years ago

    Norfolk Island Pine?

  • shear_stupidity
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Shuffles, that's actually a very good suggestion. I have one on my screened porch and have had great success propagating them! And we all know they grow tall and fast!

  • natives_and_veggies
    11 years ago

    Please just don't ever plant that Norfolk Island Pine outside. They fall down. And they get leggy and ugly outside. You can basically date a neighborhood down here by the Norfolk Island Pines. The 60s and 70s neighborhoods have them threatening homes and power lines. The later neighborhoods were built by developers who prohibited them. The earlier neighborhoods were built by homeowners and developers who knew better than to plant them. Keep them in pots. When they get too big for their pots, chip 'em. (And yes, I spent thousands to get rid of one threatening my house, and later, saw one in our neighbor's yard destroy my husband's car during a mild thunderstorm. They're awful trees in the ground in Florida.)

  • stuartwanda
    11 years ago

    Ficus will drop leaves but a good inside plant. I've seen some kinda Palms inside houses. How about a bamboo palm? I don't think they get real tall though.

  • kayjones
    11 years ago

    I would highly recommend Ficus lyrata (syn. Ficus pandurata), commonly known as the fiddle-leaf fig - this tree does SO WELL in an indoor setting and makes a grand statement!

  • shear_stupidity
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Natives, I know what you mean. On my street there is one Norfolk Island Pine tree. It's huge, and it's leaning. Thank God it's two blocks down from me.

    Stuart, Bamboo Palm looks too much like a tall bush of palm fronds, and I think it won't get tall enough.

    Kay, I just looked up the Fiddle-Leaf Fig. I love it! We have a winner!

  • tomncath
    11 years ago

    Looks like I'm late to the party, I agree with a ficus but the choice depends on what type of look you want. I you want the appearance of a tall shrub Lyrata is the right choice, but it does not crown like Benjamina and given the height of the room you stated if it is a tree like atrium appearance you want then I agree with Doug, Benjamina is the way to go.

    Tom

    This post was edited by tomncath on Tue, Feb 5, 13 at 19:16

  • shear_stupidity
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I'll take a look.

  • annafl
    11 years ago

    Oooohhhh.... I posted on here quite a few days back but I don't see it. My recommendations were fishtail fern, pleomele reflexa dracaena, and ficus lyrata. Of the three, the fishtail seems the easiest and was most successful. With all three, it's important not to overwater or overfertilize. I've had a fishtail in my living room for 7 years with success. It has been severely neglected at times (I chronically forget to water, or vacations it has gotten extremely dehydrated), and the plant lives on. It will wilt badly, but bounces back reasonably. Enough that I still have it. With regular good care it would be beautiful.

    I had a pleomele reflexa dracaena (non-variegated) for over 10 years in an extremely low-light situation indoors with very good results. It is now planted outdoors as it can get quite rootbound in that length of time! I would call this plant very graceful. Doesn't stay upright, kinda develops a spread-out, fountain look in low light, which I love. Grows very slowly indoors but is the most unusual and eye-catching of the three.

    I've never had a fiddle-leaf fig indoors, but my impression is that it would require more light in order not to suffer from leaf loss. It might get leggy if this happens.

    My vote would be for fishtail palm for it's ease and cool look indoors. I know you'd take better care of it than I do and it tolerates abuse very well.

    Shear, I saw on your other post that you were considering growing the European Fan Palm indoors. I would advise against it. Even in a pretty shaded spot outdoors it was not happy for me. Got very long/leggy and scale. This palm needs more light to be happy. Good luck!

    Anna

  • shear_stupidity
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I have five... count them, five... pleomele reflexa dracaena (variegated, aka: "Song of India") outside in my yard.
    I'll have to do more research on all these before I commit.

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