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Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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Posted by sdogwood 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 7, 05 at 22:36
Hurricane Rita blew our old pine trees away. (our house was not touched!) They were not favorites but did give shade to the back yard. The trees were located in the south west corner of the yard. What shade tree would you plant in their place?
thanks in advance.
sdogwood
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| Would you consider Eucalyptus? ficifolia, or globulus 'Compacta', or nicholii, perhaps? The leaf litter is a bit more obvious than that from pines and the shade can be more dappled, less dense. As a plus - flowers much appreciated by bees. |
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| I don't know how quickly you want shade, but my house was new 8 years ago in a subdivision that used to be a cane field, so no trees. We have two very fast growing crepe myrtles that we planted five years ago that survived 30+ inches of rain in Tropical Storm Allison and one of them was even uprooted! (Not from the wind but because the ground got so soggy - we had at least a foot of standing water on our lot for 2 days). They were unscathed in Katrina (it was a category 1 or 2 where I live), 60 miles Southeast of New Orleans. They are fifteen feet tall and wide. We also have pecan trees that are 7 or 8 years old and they are about 12 feet tall with a canopy of 8 feet in diameter. |
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| We have 9 pines along the rear of our city lot. Getting ready to cut down 6 ... two are dead or dying from lightning strikes and the others need to come down to make room for construction of a garden shed. After seeing the destruction from Katrina of the pine forests in eastern Louisiana and through Mississippi, I won't be sorry to see them go. Pines are meant for forests, not city lots! Some of the trees I'm planning for replacements include Dawn Redwood (similar to Bald Cypress but without the knees), Chalk Maple, Winged Elm, and Swamp Red Maple. |
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| I'm very fond of my Chinese fringe tree (Chionanthus retusus). It grew pretty fast the first ten or so years we had it, but then has maintained about the same size since, a little taller than our one-story house, and shaped like a live-oak, rather wide. Nice bark and branching pattern, lustrous dark green leaves, purple berries the birds love, and in the spring it looks like a very fragrant white cloud sat down in the yard. Almost no damage at all even from Lili, which has been our most-damaging storm (so far, I guess I should say.) I grow things under it, so the shade isn't too heavy. Really lovely tree! |
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| Nancy, is that the same as the Grancy Graybeard? |
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| It's the Chinese cousin, Han. I'm also very fond of that one, but I planted one several years before I planted the Chinese one, and the Chinese one--from a one gallon pot!--bloomed first. Within five years, I think, people driving by were stopping to ask about it. Our native plant 'guru' has said he thinks it's better suited to this area than the 'native' one, which is, he says, actually native farther north. I know my mother remembered it from her early childhood in Virginia. |
RE: Rita was brutal to my pine trees
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| I've been fighting the urge to buy more trees ... Grancy Graybeard was one of 'em. It's so easy to get carried away with a blank canvas. What's small today, won't be 10 years from now. I transplanted a Silver Bell (Halesia dipetera magniflora) yesterday. Couldn't resist a Nuttall Oak (Quercus nuttalli) on a recent nursery visit, so that's added to the mix of Dawn Redwoods (now up to 3) and the Chalk Maple. I think I'll keep the Winged Elm in a pot for the time being. Anyone know where I can find info on spacing for Bald Cypress or Dawn Redwoods? |
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