Shade Trees, Flowering Trees, And Evergreen
Trees For Landscape Specimen Growing
Pat Malcolm
Shade trees do not all necessarily shed their leaves in the
fall (deciduous), but some shade trees are evergreen, and
others can be classified as flowering trees. The fact that
shade trees can cool temperatures in the surrounding landscape
and cool off houses during the heat of the summer is well
known. Some evergreen trees also provide shade all year, a
factor that may be undesirable in some cases during hard winter
freezes, when an evergreen shade tree may block off the heat
rays from the sun that might melt snow and ice from a house
roof or prevent infra-red light from warming rooms inside the
house. Extreme southern states home owners in the United States
may prefer shade on homes and buildings year round, and such
evergreen shade trees as Live Oak tree, Quercus virginiana;
Laurel Oak tree, Quercus laurifolia; and Darlington Oak
trees,Quercus hemisphaerica, would be desirable for planting
near houses.
Pine trees are also valuable shade trees for houses and
landscape gardens. Such perennial shrubs as Camellia japonica
and azalea shrubs must have year round shade for proper
flowering. The camellia shrub and the azalea plant will survive
only on rare occasions if planted in the full sun. The dogwood
and redbud trees benefit from pine tree shade where they flower
abundantly. The cherry laurel tree, Laurocerasus caroliniana
Ait, is an evergreen shade tree that is covered with fragrant
white flower clusters in March. The cherry laurel tree is a
fast growing tree, sometimes growing 6 feet per year.
Eucalyptus trees, Eucalyptus cinerea, are evergreen shade
trees, but the 'Silver Dollar' eucalyptus tree usually is
limited to planting in the warm temperatures of zones 8-11. The
exceptional menthol fragrance of all parts of the eucalyptus
tree makes it especially desirable where smog and other air
pollution is problematic. The loblolly bay tree, Gordonia
lasianthus, is often called the loblolly bay magnolia tree, and
the flower fragrance, white color, and form look like a
miniature flower bloom of the magnolia.
The southern magnolia tree, Magnolia grandiflora, is an
outstanding shade tree known for the gigantic 1 foot wide
fragrant white flowers during the summer and the glowing green
waxy magnolia leaves that provide dense shade. Because of the
dense shade and the mats of succulent roots that rise to the
ground surface (like cypress tree roots), few shrubs or
perennials can be successfully planted and grown underneath the
Magnolia grandiflora trees. Other shade trees that could also
qualify as beautiful flowering trees are black locust, Robinia
pseudoacacia, shade trees that are covered with fragrant white
flower clusters—just following the appearance of the fern-like,
light green leaves. The black locust trees leaf color changes to
bright yellow in the fall, and the wood has been used as
waterproofed split-rail fencing for centuries. The empress
shade tree, Paulownia tomentosa, (Blue Dragon Tree, also
Princess Tree) is also a flowering tree that produces gigantic
blue-purple flower clusters triangular in shape. The empress
tree is known as an extremely fast growing shade tree that has
been promoted by former President Jimmy Carter. The wood is
valued as very strong and light weight; desirable in the Far
East for furniture manufacture and wood carving.
The golden raintree, Koelreuteria paniculata, is an important
shade tree, that in late spring is covered with large clusters
of yellow-gold drooping flowers that turn into attractive pink
seed pods in the fall. The oriental look of the golden raintree
makes it choice to grow as a specimen tree in garden landscapes.
The red Florida buckeye, Aesculus pavia, shade tree grows fast
into small shade trees that flower brilliantly red in late
spring followed by the “good luck” buckeye seed. The thornless
honeylocust, Gleditsia tricanthus inermis, shade tree has
become one of America's top choice flowering trees that also
functions as a fern-like leafy cover to mildly shade garden
areas. The thornless honeylocust tree flowers in various
colored blooms, fragrant white, pink, or lavender, depending on
the cultivar. The brilliant yellow-gold color of the fall leaf
change will stun your neighbors. The tulip poplar, Liriodendron
tulipifera, shade tree is famous because of the flowers, as well
as for the shade benefit. The tulip poplar flower is
yellow-orange, and shaped like a tulip or a small teacup. The
leaves of the tulip poplar tree turn brilliant yellow in the
fall, an important tree for fall color. The beech tree, Fagus
grandiflora, is a great shade tree that produces nuts that
wildlife stores up for winter meals. This very large growing
shade tree has a leaf color change in the fall, but after the
first freeze, the beech leaves turn tan-brown and remain on the
tree like an evergreen tree until the new beech leaves appear in
the spring. The beech tree leaf behavior is very bizarre.
Maple trees and Oak trees offer many species for shade and leaf
change color in the fall. The maple leaf color can change to
yellow, orange, and red. The Oak tree leaf color can vary from
red, to orange, to yellow-gold, to brown. The Florida maple,
Acer barbatum, shade tree turns a brilliant yellow color in the
fall and then turns brown and remains on the tree most of the
winter. Other important shade trees are the American elm tree,
Ulmus americana, and the drake elm, Ulmus parvifolia 'Drake,'
both coloring yellow-gold in the fall. The winged elm tree has
strange scaly winged growths on stems and branches that are in
demand by florists for their ornamental value in making dried
arrangements.
The Chinese elm tree, Ulmus parvifolia, is known for its fast
growth to provide quick shade. The Chinese elm is one of the
easiest shade trees to transplant and can grow over 6 feet in
one year if cared for properly. The American Hophornbeam,
Carpinus caroliniana, is an under-planted shade tree that,
during the fall leaf change, glows brightly in yellow-gold
colors. The bald cypress tree, Taxodium distichum, is an
excellent clean shade tree widely adapted to grow well on a
variety of soil types. The bald cypress leaves do turn yellow
briefly in the fall, but the bald cypress small leaf size
requires no raking. The pond cypress shade tree, Taxodium
ascendens, is a great tree to grow around pond-houses and
wetland gardens, but should not normally be grown in well
drained locations. The pond cypress roots rise from the water,
swollen and large and are called cypress knees.
The black gum shade tree, Nyssa sylvatica, grows well in
wetlands and the shade is beneficial to many aquatic plants.
The water tupelo (tupelo gum, also sour gum) shade tree grows
aquatically in many lowland wet sites. The leaves of the black
gum and the water tupelo shade trees turn yellow-gold and
orange in the fall. The Chinese parasol tree, Firmiana simplex,
forms an umbrella (parasol) canopy with large bat-shaped leaves
that turn brilliant yellow, then orange, in the fall.
The catalpa tree (fishbait tree), Catalpa bignonioides, has
been used for centuries as a shade tree that attracts worms
(fishbait) to be used in fishing. The Chinese tallow tree,
Sapium sebiferum, is a fast growing small shade tree that
produces a kaleidescope of colors on leaves in the fall of
yellow, red, orange, blue, and purple. The Chinese tallow tree
produces seedpods in the fall that look like popcorn after the
leaves fall off, thus it is called the popcorn tree. The
corkscrew willow, Salix matsudana "Tortuosa," and the weeping
willow, Salix babylonica, grow fast into shade trees with
distinctive linear leaves that turn yellow in the fall. The
Ginkgo shade tree, Ginkgo biloba, is one of the most famous of
the shade and its brilliant yellow-gold leaves that remain on
the tree for a week or more when they fall to form a bright
yellow circle underneath the barren limbs. The ginkgo leaves
have been found fossilized in the Oriental archaeological
excavations. The green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica lanceolata,
is a fast growing shade tree useful as a landscape specimen.
The lombardy poplar tree, Populus nigra, is a fast growing
tree, upright in form that is planted as hedges and windbreaks
in the Western United States.
The river birch tree, Betula nigra, is a beautiful landscape
tree with unique flaking bark that is replaced by slick bark in
the spring. The river birch can be planted as a single trunk
specimen or as a clump. The sassafras shade tree, Sassafras
albidum, grows fragrant parts including the flower, bark, and
the roots that were used during the civil war to make sassafras
tea that produced a narcotic effect on wounded southerners. The
Sourwood tree, Oxydendrum arboreum, and the sweetgum shade
trees, Liquidambar styraciflua, both produce spectacular leaf
color in the fall, both the sourwood and the sweetgum trees
turn yellow, orange, and red in progressing stages. The
sycamore tree, Platanus occidentalis, is perhaps one of the
best trees for fast shade. Sycamore trees can grow to 2 feet in
diameter & 50 feet tall in 20 years.
Bamboo trees and bamboo plants have been used as shade trees,
privacy hedges, and borders. Bamboo plants grow rapidly and
40-50 feet (Timber Bamboo) and are useful as windbreaks as well
as shade screens for privacy that cover 180 degree focused light
rays. Annual flower beds are often planted in front of bamboo
tree screens for partial shade, and many shrubs and bushes grow
well when placed in front of bamboo tree screens, if the bamboo
plants are the clumping type.
Shade trees have been used through the ages to shade
landscapes, homes, buildings, or as shelter and food for
wildlife. Some shade trees offer extra benefits such as
beautiful flowers or evergreen foliage. Other shade trees can
bear fruit, such as mulberry trees, apple trees, pear trees,
and the evergreen loquat tree. Still other shade trees bear
valuable tasty nuts, such as pecan trees, walnut trees, and
chestnut trees. Other than the shade benefit, bright leaf color
of the fall cooling off period, makes the planting and growing
of shade trees a pleasurable and worthwhile effort.
About The Author: Visit TyTy Nursery to purchase the trees
mentioned in this article, or many others that you may be
looking for! http://www.tytyga.com
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