Hi Julie:
Really enjoyed your website. I live on Norris and you might know me as Jenna's dad. Kudos on your photography and your love of trees. After building a deck and installing a pool, it's time to do some landscaping. My backyard is shared by the Port Reading Railroad, so shade is plentiful. I would like to plant a garden centerpiece tree in the back corner, but I want it to stand out from the surrounding greenery. I don't know if this is possible with the minimal sunlight. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Joe P.

Hi Joe!
I know you.

We need to shart with a few questions:

* Is the planting area FULL shade or partial shade? How many hours (if any) of full sun will the spot be getting?
* Will the area ever be in the way of the kids playing near the pool? (Chlorine can effect some trees worse than others.)
* Do you want a tree to stand out because it has leaves that aren't green in summer, or is a temporary flowering tree with green leaves acceptable?
* Doesn't sound like you're after a shade tree, so I'm guessing you're interested in an ornamental tree that would grow to less than 25 feet at maturity. Is that right?

Let's start there.
--Julie

Thanks Julie:
I would call it Full shade because any sun getting though would be thought the branches of the boarding trees.
The tree would be planted about 30 feet from the pools edge so chlorine shouldn't be a factor.
I thought it would be nice to have a ornamental tree that would not get lost in the sea of green behind it.
I'm looking to plant it in a mulch bed along with a mix of plantings.
Thanks again for any suggestions,
Joe

Hi Joe,
Still working on it. Any chance you can limb up the background trees to get more sun for your ornamental tree? It's going to be hard to find a non-green leaf tree for full shade. Like I said, still working on it though. I was thinking a Forest Pansy redbud might work, but in full shade, the red leaves will probably turn green by June. They might be red for a while, but let me keep looking... I'll get back to you.
--Julie
P.S. If anybody else reading this has any ideas, we'd love to hear them!

I like that choice!
Looks like that might work according to the tread below. And hey, if it's good enough for St. Francis, I good enough for me.
However, I will be patient and entertain other suggestions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Forest Pansey

Hi Joe,
You might also consider a Japanese red maple, in particular, the 'Fireglow' or 'Moonfire' cultivars might be best at holding the red color in shade. Each of these trees would be bright red in spring and fall, but might deepen to dark red, or turn to green in summer.

You might want to think about spring and fall color as your focal point. What are the colors of the background trees in spring? What is the color in fall?

The redbud would start out purple in spring, remain purple for a few weeks, then turn red for a few weeks, then turn green in summer. In fall it would turn yellow. If your background trees are all yellow, you might want to consider the Japanese red maple instead.

The Japanese red maple would start out red, it MIGHT stay red -- I've heard various stories about this -- throughout summer. It would be my guess that if planted in full shade, it would probably turn to green by July or so. (But so will the redbud.) In fall, it would turn a brilliant red color. If your background trees are all reds in fall, then go with the redbud!

So, I'm thinking: think about how you can contrast with that backgroud as long or as often as possible.

This is an interesting project!
Thanks for asking me to help!
--Julie