Shade trees, flowering trees, and evergreens for growing landscape specimens

Shade trees do not necessarily lose their leaves in the fall (deciduous), but some shade trees are evergreen and others can be classified as flowering trees. It is well known that shade trees can cool temperatures in the surrounding landscape and cool homes during the heat of summer. Some evergreens also provide year-round shade, a factor that may be undesirable in some cases during the bitter winter frosts, when an evergreen can block the sun’s heat rays that can melt snow and ice. from the roof of a house or avoid the infrastructure. -red light for heating rooms inside the house. Homeowners in the far southern states of the United States may prefer shade on homes and buildings year-round, and evergreen shade trees such as live oak, Quercus virginiana; Laurel Oak, Quercus laurifolia; and Darlington oaks, Quercus hemisphaerica, would be desirable for planting near houses.

Pine trees are also valuable shade trees for houses and landscaped gardens. Evergreen shrubs like Camellia japonica and azalea shrubs need shade year-round for proper blooming. Camellia bush and azalea plant will only rarely survive if planted in full sun. Dogwoods and redbuds benefit from the shade of pine trees, where they flourish profusely. Cherry laurel, Laurocerasus caroliniana Ait, is an evergreen shade tree that is covered with fragrant clusters of white flowers in March. Cherry laurel 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 is generally 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 are problematic. The loblolly bay tree, Gordonia lasianthus, is often called the loblolly bay magnolia tree, and the flower fragrance, white color, and shape resemble a miniature magnolia flower.

The southern magnolia tree, Magnolia grandiflora, is an exceptional shade tree known for the gigantic 1-foot-wide fragrant white flowers during the summer and glossy green waxy magnolia leaves that provide dense shade. Due to the dense shade and mats of succulent roots that rise to the soil surface (such as cypress roots), few shrubs or perennials can be successfully planted and grown under Magnolia grandiflora trees. Other shade trees that might also qualify as beautiful flowering trees are black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, shade trees that are covered with fragrant clusters of white flowers, just after the appearance of the light green, leaf-like leaves. of a fern The leaf color of black locust trees changes to bright yellow in the fall, and the wood has been used as waterproofed split rail fencing for centuries. The empress’s shade tree, Paulownia tomentosa, (Blue Dragon Tree, also Princess Tree) is also a flowering tree that produces gigantic clusters of triangular-shaped blue-purple flowers. The Empress Tree is known as an extremely fast growing shade tree that has been pioneered by former President Jimmy Carter. The wood is valued as very strong and light; desirable in the Far East for furniture making and woodcarving.

Maples and oaks offer many species of shade and leaves that change color in the fall. The color of the maple leaf can change to yellow, orange and red. Oak leaf color can range from red, orange, golden yellow, and brown. The Florida maple shade tree, Acer barbatum, turns bright yellow in the fall and then turns brown and remains on the tree most of the winter. Other important shade trees are American elm, Ulmus americana, and drake elm, Ulmus parvifolia ‘Drake’, both golden yellow in fall. Winged elm has strange scaly winged growths on stems and branches that are sought after by florists for their ornamental value in dry arrangements.

The Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, is known for its rapid growth to quickly provide shade. Chinese elm is one of the easiest shade trees to transplant and can grow over 6 feet in a year if cared for properly. The katydid hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana, is an underplanted shade tree that, during fall leaf change, glows golden-yellow colors. Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, is an excellent clean shade tree widely adapted to grow well in a variety of soil types. Bald cypress leaves turn yellow briefly in the fall, but the small size of the bald cypress leaf does not require raking. Pond cypress, Taxodium ascendens, is a great tree to grow around ponds and wetland gardens, but should not normally be grown in well-drained locations. The roots of the pond cypress emerge from the water, swollen and large and are called cypress knees.

The black gum shade tree, Nyssa sylvatica, grows well in wetlands, and shade is beneficial to many aquatic plants. The water tupelo shade tree (tupelo gum, also sour gum) grows aquatic in many moist lowland sites. The leaves of the black gum and water tupelo shade trees turn golden yellow and orange in the fall. The Chinese umbrella tree, Firmiana simplex, forms an umbrella (parasol) canopy with large, bat-shaped leaves that turn bright 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) for use in fishing. The Chinese tallow tree, Sapium sebiferum, is a small, fast-growing shade tree that produces a kaleidoscope of fall leaf colors of yellow, red, orange, blue, and purple. The tall Chinese tree produces seed pods in the fall that look like popcorn after the leaves fall off, thus it is called the popcorn tree. Corkscrew willow, Salix matsudana “Tortuosa,” and weeping willow, Salix babylonica, grow quickly and become shade trees with distinctive linear leaves that turn yellow in the fall. The Ginkgo shade tree, Ginkgo biloba, is one of the most famous shade trees and its glossy golden yellow leaves remain on the tree for a week or more when they drop to form a bright yellow circle below the barren branches. Fossilized ginkgo leaves have been found in oriental archaeological excavations. Green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica lanceolata, is a fast-growing shade tree useful as a landscape specimen. The Lombardy cottonwood, Populus nigra, is a fast-growing, upright tree that is planted as hedges and windbreaks in the western United States.

River birch, Betula nigra, is a beautiful landscape tree with unique flaky bark that is replaced by slippery bark in the spring. River birch can be planted as a single-trunk specimen or as a group. The sassafras shade tree, Sassafras albidum, produces aromatic parts including the flower, bark, and 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 sweetgum shade trees, Liquidambar styraciflua, produce spectacular leaf color in the fall, both bittersweet and sweetgum turning yellow, orange and red in progressive stages. The sycamore tree, Platanus occidentalis, is perhaps one of the best trees for quick shade. Sycamore trees can grow up to 2 feet in diameter and 50 feet tall in 20 years.

Bamboo trees and bamboo plants have been used as shade trees, privacy hedges, and borders. Bamboo plants grow fast and 40-50 feet (bamboo lumber) and are useful as windbreaks and privacy shade screens that cover 180 degree focused rays of light. Annual flower beds are often planted in front of bamboo tree screens for partial shade, and many shrubs and shrubs do well when placed in front of bamboo tree screens, if the bamboo plants are of the clumping type. .

Shade trees have been used throughout the centuries to provide shade for landscapes, houses, buildings, or as shelter and food for wildlife. Some shade trees offer additional benefits, such as beautiful flowers or evergreen foliage. Other shade trees may bear fruit, such as mulberry, apple, pear, and evergreen loquat. Still other shade trees produce valuable and tasty nuts, such as pecan trees, walnuts, and chestnut trees. In addition to the benefit of shade, the brilliant color of the leaves from the cool fall period makes planting and growing shade trees an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavor.