We finally decided to cut down our last front yard pine tree, it's been damaged since ike.. I'll spare the details..
Anyway, good riddance, it's gone, and we have ZERO trees in our front yard.. so it's time to plant.

I know nothing about trees, except i sure as hell don't want another pine, the wife doesn't want a live oak, and I really like southern magnolias.

We'd like to plant one that is already a decent size. I heard a radio spot for a 100 gallon tree for $300, I assume that's pretty big?
We want a tree that grows at a good pace, but more importantly, one with good shade, which I figure means the branches aren't all high up (like our pine was).
We are going to get two trees, so we also have to consider how they look/grow/work together.. if that's even an issue.. They will be about 15' apart.

Can someone educate me?
Also, suggestions where to buy them.
We have a houston garden center by the house, I'm not impressed with their selection, and we got two bradford pears there for the backyard 3 years ago that haven't grown an inch.

[This message has been edited by metaltim (edited 11/3/2009 9:38a).]

How about a Red Oak? Chinese Pistache? I planted a Monterey Oak in my backyard and love it. A 100 gallon tree is huge, and will need to be installed by professionals. I planted mine from a 30 gallon and it was tough. My only beef with the Magnolia is the litter. They drop those big leaves throughout the year and it can get messy.

yeh the magnolia cones are def. a pain..

yes we were plannin on whoever we buy the tree from to install it. i figured 100 gallons of dirt is nothing i'll be draggin across the yard!

i just didn't know how big of a tree that is.. 10', 20' tall?

Why don't you do yourself and the enviornment a favor and plant a native Texas tree that will thrive in your area without massive water requirements and pest problems.

Consult Howard Garrett's Book, Texas Gardening The Natural Way.

Discusses the pros and cons of every tree.

FYI, Bradford Pears are short lived junk trees.

Hurricane Ike, Pine tree, You are somwhere in East Texas with perhaps more of a sandy soil than here in the Brazos Valley. Go with a native species for that area. Contact your county agent that is part of his job. He should be able to reccomend several. Drive around the area, find a tree you like that is doing well take a photo and show the nusery or county agent. Good luck, let us know what you decide.

Logan's Run out of Hempstead. We have bought from them in the past and are very happy.

I second the Red Oak. They are relatively fast growers. Magnolias are terribly SLOW growers, even if you plant a 100 gallon tree it'll be 20 years before there is any size to it. We planted one when i was a kid and when i went away to A&M it was still just a skinny little tree.

I would say that it depended on how long that you plan to live there. You have to keep in mind that most fast growing trees don’t have a very long life span (15-20yrs.). So if you plan on passing the property down to your kids, I would plant tree for them not you. If you are planning on only living there for a short time, plant trees for you. Just my opinion!

RCW nursery @ 249 & The Beltway have a great selection of unusual native Texas trees.

i guess i didn't give a location hah.

tomball.

RCW, I see that everyday on my way to work.
We do want a quick grower, but sure don't passing on a good long living tree to whoever buys the house.
We'll be there another ~7 years.

and of course, most important for us is shade. our grass is so hard to keep green in summer with full sun all day.

I 2nd the RCW recommendation. They won't be the cheapest, but they have a wide selection of native species that you won't find at most nurseries. Their trees are also very healthy and their staff will help you find the trees that are best for your particular situation.

I also agree with the red oak recommendation. They are good reasonably fast growing tree that won't break easily in a storm. They are not evergreen though, so if that is important, you might want something else.

what's wrong with a Live Oak?

I have lots of great suggestions but cannot post them here (do not want to get in trouble for advertising)!

e-mail me summerlynn1552@aol.com

what's wrong with a Live Oak?
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nothing scientific about it, just don't like them.. they are kinda of blah.

Magnolias are more of a pain than you think. Look into a red or water oak, though I have no expertise in this area. Ike detroyed the Bradford pears in my neighborhhod. Pine trees did fairly well, so I think Bradford Pears are the more vulnerable.

yeh i'm familiar with magnolias, i grew up in lafayette, my grandma had an enormous one in the front yard.. i was often the one to pick up the mess! for money of course.
I still love the way they look though.. and the blooms are second to none in my book.

More than anything, I'd carefully inspect any tree that is advertised as $300 for a 100-gallon specimen. This thing has likely been repotted several times. Check to make sure the rootball is spread out and does not encircle itself or the trunk.

I know you have to balance results vs. your time in the house, but on a tree that size don't expect much difference the first year or two as it there may be a little transplant shock. Smaller containerized trees, the effect is less so, and you can actually notice year to year growth.

Chinese Elm is one of my preferred residential shade trees.

Red Oaks & Red Maple are fast growers that do well in most if not all of South Texas. Plus they have a nice red plumage in the fall.

Magnolias look nice but they are some of the slowest growers.

Chinese Pistache



i put into this past year...once established they wont need any extra water especially in east texas....they have an awesome fall color and provide great shade...not the fastest growing tree but not the slowest either...it will be interesting to see how much they grow next year after the minor shock of transplanting...they have already put on several branches and i just planted in late april or early may...cant remember...they were 20 gallon size i guess...maybe 12-15ft tall...and they are about 15-20 feet apart

Just an FYI, the Chinese Pistache is slowly becoming considered an invasive species. I know it is on the superstars list, but that will likely change in the near future. Interesting that the institution that once highly backed the Chinese Pistache (A&M) is now starting to backpedal on it.

http://www.invasive.org/weedus/subject.html?sub=14246

http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/168315.html

An interesting read quoting an A&M professor---
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2164/
"Edward L. McWilliams, Professor of Horticulture at Texas A&M University, points out that a significant lag sometimes exists between the time a tree is introduced and the time it becomes invasive. He says that the female Chinese pistache trees do not produce large quantities of seeds until they have been established for fifteen or twenty years. He cites several places near the campus where seedlings have come up, and notes that they are especially numerous under birds' roosting sites. Residents of Austin, Texas, are now cautioned to avoid the tree because of its invasiveness."

"The Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) is sometimes recommended as a non-invasive substitute for the Bradford pear. Yet documentation from TAMU indicates that even this popular tree is in the early stages of naturalization. Seedlings commonly occur in irrigated landscapes and in other favorable, damp places. In addition, it has an aggressive root system which absorbs water, nutrients, and space. Will it be our next exotic invasive tree?"

Personally, I don't recommend any plant with Japanese or Chinese as part of the name.

well my picked these out of a big list of texas trees..
Sycamore
Magnolia
Pecan
Bur Oak
Aristocrat Flowering Pear

with the top3 being favored..

anybody with any of these? (besides magnolias)
how do they do in houston weather?

I know that Magnolias and Pecans will do just fine.

blah

[This message has been edited by metaltim (edited 11/3/2009 1:13p).]

nvm

[This message has been edited by FlyFisher99 (edited 11/3/2009 1:18p).]

Count me in for a Chinese Pistachio. They are relatively quick growers, and require VERY little water.

I take it a couple of yall didn't like my comment?

BTW - planted 4 30 gallon red oaks last fall (Home Depot and Lowes had them half off - 50 bucks each - about this time of the year) and in the first year they each grew about 1 1/2 feet...much faster than I had expected. Right now they are 10-15 feet tall. Live in the dallas area.

I'm with you ursus. Too many plants that came here as prefferred ornamentals are ruining this state.

I take it a couple of yall didn't like my comment?
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no i just posted a big brain fart post. confused 70' with 70"

Pecan is the worst possible yard tree imaginable, followed closely behind by black walnuts.

Take it from a pecan grower - get a live/red oak suited for your area. Burr oaks don't make very good yard trees because of the large leaves and the sheer mass of the limbs causes major problems later in life when they fall on something important.

Cedar elms don't get a lot of play but they make decent yard trees IMO - small leaves, a bit of fall color, fairly sturdy, don't grow overly large. Around here they seem resistant to disease, don't know around Tomball. Water elms are trash trees IMO.

quote:

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We'd like to plant one that is already a decent size. I heard a radio spot for a 100 gallon tree for $300, I assume that's pretty big?

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I missed this comment before.

A tree that is 1" in diameter when planted will likely surpass any larger diameter tree that you could plant in it's place in a matter of 2-3 years, and be more healthy doing it. It's counter -intuitive, but a smaller tree will make a bigger tree FASTER than a larger container grown/transplanted tree.

[This message has been edited by SWCBonfire (edited 11/3/2009 3:12p).]

[This message has been edited by SWCBonfire (edited 11/3/2009 3:13p).]

I planted a Chinese Pistache 26 years ago and it's beautiful. I've had no problems with seedlings at all.

Whatever you do, don't plant a Sycamore. Your downwind neighbors will want to kill you in the fall.

The problem isn't seedlings in your yard, it's birds (water) carrying them off to other places.

Maybe my tree is gay, it has never produced any seeds.