Wow, 50 trees sound like alot for a 1/2 acre, I'm sure you're going for screening now, but eventually they'll be too large for your yard, I think. (I have a half acre myself, w/ a few mature trees & it's hard to squeeze in all the plants I want). I work at a local garden center, we have alot of unusual varieties, & quite a few people on the staff w/ a great deal of horticultural knowledge.

This is also the busiest time of the year, if you call ahead of time, we can try to set up a time for you to talk with someone about your garden, & our landscape crew is great. I work at Holly, Woods, & Vines, & have no stake in the business, other than that I work there, & I think it's a great garden center...

That was my reaction too. 50 on a half an acre. I am shade city here on the same amount of land and would have to eliminate the house to get 50 trees in. What are you planning to plant? That may make a difference in sourcing. If you're doing a privacy screen, you might be better off buying smaller trees on-line if you are targeting faster growing varieties. (Not Leyland Cypress? There are better choices.)

Thanks, Thistle5 and Cynthia. The landscape design calls for approximately 2 Serviceberries, 3 Redbuds, 10 Kousa Dogwoods, 4 Crapemyrtles, 1 Cherry tree, 1 Japanese Maple, 2 Hinoki Cypress, 3 'Duraheat' Red River Birch, 7 Witch Hazel, 12 Ilex Opaca Greenleaf Holly, and 5 White Pines.

Sorry for the delay in responding. We are moving March 31 to the new house and are in the middle of packing.

Thanks for any additional help you can provide!

This actually sounds like a very nice list of trees, but I'd want more Japanese maples, because they're so beautiful, & I would question the number of kousa dogwoods, they're nice, but are you working w/ a totally empty lot? Crape myrtles can be lovely, but they are ubiquitous in this area.

It sounds like you have almost a blank slate for plants, so I would try to really make it fit your needs, you might want to contact a landscape designer-you should end up with a garden that would be a pleasure. This climate is suitable for alot of plants, although it's different from California, I'm sure you'll soon appreciate the changing of seasons. Hope your move is uneventful & smooth...

Thanks, thistle5. We hired a landscape designer already and now are just implementing his plan. He is the one who specified all the trees. I don't know why he picked what he did, but we wanted color and ease of maintenance. Also, our lot is a mature lot (we tore down and rebuilt) with old oak and maple trees in the front yard and a huge cyrptomeria (sp?), and a half dozen old trees in the shady backyard, including a 100 year old holly. Perhaps these are understory trees? Anyway, I will definitely contact Holly, Woods, and Vines. Thanks for your recommendation.

Hopefully your designer knows what he/she is doing. That seems like a lot of deciduous trees, so hopefully your have enough winter time screening. Crape myrtles really like full sun in order to flower well...I am not sure how much sun cherry trees need but I usually seem them growing in full sun. River Birches grow to be pretty decent sized trees and White Pines will eventually grow to be monsters...though a lot of pines struggle with the summer heat which makes them susceptible to borers...I don't know if white pines have this problem or not. Also keep in mind that pines tend to drop their lower branches as they mature making them less than ideal as screening trees.

In general these are reasonably common trees and shrubs and there are quite a few nurseries in Northern Virginia. It will depend a little on exact cultivar and the desired size. Merrifield Garden Center carries a huge selection and generally sells larger plants, but they have matching higher prices. I purchase a lot of plants from Meadows Farms.

Good luck and welcome to the Commonwealth!!

- Brent

I agree, there are alot of great nurseries in this area & you should try to go out & visit them-this is the best time, when all the new stock is arriving. Maybe you could ask your designer if you could phase in the plantings, after you put in some of these trees, you might realize that you'd like to add more or maybe you can save some choice spots for trees that you discover that you really like & didn't consider right away.

I know it's hard to do, but if you observe your property over the first year, see where the mature trees cast shade, where you'd like more screening, it will save time moving things around later on (ask me how I know :)...

Wow.
What a list of trees on 1/2 acre. I have 6.5 and landscape about 3, and I'd have a hard time placing all of those.

Many, many of those are full sun trees. The crape myrtle won't bloom without 7 hours of full sun. Witch Hazel, Redbud and a few others will be fine. Dog woods are boarderline, but the flowering fruit trees need full sun.

I predict disappointment.

I would rethin this plan. You're going to spend a TON of money on trees that won't develop as hoped.

I would decide if you want a shade lot or sun lot. With your current trees, you could probably plant a few full sun trees, offering yourself nice shade gardens underneath. If you want full shade, and no sun, go with the larger, rull sun trees, too! Later you can add some understory trees, but even those need some sun.

I have to question this landscaper. It sounds like s/he said, "Color? Trees? I'll give 'em trees."

Please slow down. For your own sanity, the health of your investment and for your wallet.

Christine
Who wants everything instantly, but gives away tons and tons of plants and trees.

Oh - and why don't you change your ID to Californian in NoVA? You're pretty darned far from DC, even if you might be commuting! :)

Well, McLean is right across the river from DC, it's pretty close. I didn't want to be the first to say it, but I'd also question your landscaper's plan. I don't want you to think I'm shilling for my garden center, it's just that I have a great deal of respect for our owners & managers, who have lived & gardened here for years & REALLY know their plants. If you stopped by & brought some photos or a layout, you could get a second opinion. There's no charge for this, but weekdays are better, of course, weekends are crazy this time of the year.

A little off topic, Christine, I know you have a great collection of Japanese maples-do you get many of them locally or are you addicted to online shopping? (I am!)-I'd love to know your sources... Thistle/Linda

I'd have to agree with Cynthia, Christine, Brent, et al. My densely shaded woodland (by that, I mean it's so shaded that I have a heard time growing anything under the tree canopy) doesn't have that many trees in that size area. You may want to run this plan by someone else, to give it a sanity check. Sounds like an awful lot of trees for an area that size, especially given that you have existing mature trees.

When I saw your tag line, I just had to respond. We moved to central Va 2 years ago from Southern California, so welcome to the neighborhood.

Anyway, one of the things that is great about this area is the wonderful variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers. In spite of the clay soil, it is a great place to garden.

Do you know if you will be in the area more than 5 years? If so, then it may be worth it to slow down on the planting - plant some now and some next year - just to see what you like and to avoid having to remove trees from a crowded area in the future.

On the other hand, you spent good money on a landscape designer who I assume spent time listening to your needs. Usually, designers/architects have ties with local suppliers and installers - did he/she recommend anyone? Also you may want to consider a place that has some kind of a guarantee - ie they purchase and install plants and will replace anything that dies within 1-2 years, especially since trees are so expensive. Look at the ads in the Washington Post to get an idea of who offers these services, plus ask neighbors for their recommendations. I'm in Charlottesville, which is 2 hrs away, so unfortunately, I don't know places near you.

Hello,

Welcome to N. Va.

I will say I agree with what alot of people have said about
your trees. That is alot. I would think that over.

As for Garden centers, their are four big ones. (Merrifield,
Campbell and ferrara, bettys azalea, meadows farms)

These are great places to purchase perennials and the not so run of the mill annuals, but as for landscaping services, they are outrageously overpriced. I would check with smaller companies such as griggs landscaping in Manassas. They do just as good a job.

Thank you all for responding! Sorry, I was out of pocket since we moved March 31 and I only remembered to check this thread today. I do wish I had read this earlier! Oh well, I made it to Holly, Woods and Vines last weekend, and since they had a sale on dogwoods, I bought 11 of them! (The landscape designer specified 11, not 10!) I suppose I can find some place for them. If they don't all make it, you all are witness to this novice gardener's first BIG expensive mistake.
I appreciate the advice here, and I plan to stop now and phase in the tree planting scheme over several more years, once I know what I am doing. Since I have no experience gardening (but would like to learn), I just trusted our landscape designer's judgment! I suspect, however, that he may be erring on a quick short term effect rather than spacing to account for growth. I will be in this house for then next 25 years at least I suspect, so I have some time!

BTW: When they say you have to amend the clay soil in our area with organic matter, what do you use as soil amendment? Is it something we can buy cheaply at Home Depot!?

Leaf compost (leaf gro), or anything heavily organic.
LynnT gets free compost somewhere in Arlington and brings it home by the bucketfull.

I would suggest you try taking some of those trees back. Try exchanging them if they give you a fuss. You'll have a lot of other things to enjoy in your yard you can pick up. Such as leaf compost.

If you bought them at a nursery, explain. They'll agree with us. If you bought them at Home Depot, just make a stink. They take anything back if you don't want money.

If you can't unload them? Go over to the tree forum and work a swap.

I still wouldn't plant 11 dogwoods at the same time. This guy saw you coming. I hope you didn't pay for this so-called "plan."

Coming to the swap?
C.

Thanks, C. Funny, the nursery folks didn't mind selling me the dogwoods either! I'll see if I can exchange them. Unfortunately, I won't be going to any plant swaps. I think yours is pretty far from me. I live right across the river from D.C. in Mclean, VA. I also have an 8, 6, and 4 year old at home that take up most of my free time.

Too bad.
It's not as far as you think. If you're "right across the river" you're on the beltway and would actually be closer than I, where I live almost a straight shot across MD, but there's no highway.
People do bring their kids and dogs. As long as they're leashed no one cares.

Anyway, if you've not checked out the VA board, they have swaps, too.

Just a few questions; kind of afterthoughts.
Didn't your designer want you to buy throug him?
Did he tell you what to look for in a healthy tree and what type of structure is desirable in each type?
Did he tell you how to plant them for best viability?
Where is he these days or has he disappeared?

Yes, our designer presented us with a proposal for all the plant installation through him, but at least on the Kousa Dogwoods, he was more than twice as expensive for their purchase and installation than the landscape company. On the crapemyrtles, he is about the same price as the local nursery. I haven't comparison shopped any of the other plantings yet. I haven't asked him about what to look for in a healthy tree or how to plant them, since I wasn't buying from him. I didn't want to tread into that uncomfortable territory of soliciting advice for free. I tried to read up and educate myself about tree form, structure, how to plant from various educational online sources. As for viability, that's why I am paying the nursery to plant them for me. I intend to try to plant the smaller plants and shrubs myself, but I am nervous tackling trees as my first experience.

We want to plant a fruit orchard and need more info like where, when and how? We have quite a bit of land in PA. (270 acres)that we're building our home on this spring. The land includes fields and valleys that get full sun. Where is better? We live in zn 6 so what names come to mind in apples, pears, peaches, plums and apricots? I love to can fruits and make jelly/jams and bake. The land includes critters of all PA. kinds but many deer. Any help out there is much appreciated. Even books recommendations and online info is welcomed. Thanks in advance. Kim

Kim,
Check out the Fruit & Orchards forum, Jellyman & Scottfsmith, who both post frequently, live in this area, & are quite experienced in planting & growing fruit. I have just recently added a few fruit trees to my small suburban yard-I have figs from Paradise Nursery in VA Beach (unfortunately, this wonderful nursery is closing up shop this year) & apricots & pluots from Adams County Nursery in PA-I've been happy with all my trees from these suppliers...Thistle