Tree planting Recommendation!

[zhuzhu]

Hey All,
It seems like so many of you are home experts. Would you please take a look at the back yard of my new home below (view from master bedroom on second floor)and provide recommendations for vegetation? Right now there is an unknown flower tree and a tiny lemon tree, but what we would like to do is plan a few more trees to achieve privacy.

The issue is that we need a tree that''s going to "grow well" on the existing flower bed along the fence. Also ideally it should provide enough shade for privacy but not too much to "block" the sun for the flowers that we will be planting on the flower-bed.

Your suggestions will be highly appreciated as I know nothing about gardening (Yet!)!

 

[zhuzhu]

Any ideas?

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

As I recall you are in so CA so I am limiting my responses to trees that grow well in your area and are atleat moderately drought resistant. Also, I am only offering trees that are non invasive. For example, the tamarac tree is pretty and does well in drought, but tends to take over and hurt the other trees around it.

Japanese maples are more dramatic and don''t get as large, but Norwegian maples provide more shade and are heartier. Big leaf maples provide the most shade and grow the best in So Ca, but you may get more shade than you want from them. They all grow fairly fast and do pretty well in low water conditions.

Olive trees are slow growing but really lovely and very hard to kill. The do well in most conditions. Russian olives are the prettiest in my opinion, but European olives do the best in so CA.

Golden rain trees are drought resistant, fast growing, like sun and have really cool dangling yellow things, they are kind of hard to describe.

Crepe myrtles are fast growing, fairly drought resistant and beautiful. The have nice foliage, lovely bark and very pretty flowers that come in a number of colors.

Chinese Pistache are popular in CA because they grow fairly quickly, have a nice shape and withstand heat and drought really well.

Soapberry trees can live in poor conditions and grow moderately fast. They have nice leaves but the canopy is very dense so you may get too much shade.

 

[zhuzhu]

WOW Thanks so much for the wealth of info! I can''t imagine how many YEARS it will take me to achieve the knowledge you have on trees, so I am saving your post under my "garden knowledge" bookmark.

 

[cnspotts]

Mesquite (Thornless) , Acacia (weeping shoestring type) or Oleanders(can be trimmed at the bottom and become fuller with blossoms on top) also do well and are visually appealing.

Coral bark japanese maples are beautiful too. Light greenish yellow leaves with red trunks & branches, stays smaller.

 

[zhuzhu]

Thanks! I think I will be really happy to see flowers on the tree during some seasons and lovely rich leafy color during off-seasons. Is there any "favorite flower tree" you have ? or some web site you may recommend for me to do research on the types of flowery-trees?

 

[surfgirl]

Well if you drive around Hillcrest and downtown you''ll see a plethora of Jacaranda''s. We got one and love it but it does lose it''s leaves during the winter. If you really want privacy, I''d recommend giant clumping (non running) bamboo though. It''s about the only thing that will grow fast and give you all the privacy you need.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Make sure whatever you choose, the tree doesn''t loose it''s leaves in the winter! We have a bunch of Japanese maples in our yard (possibly 15 or so) and they all are bare for nearly half the year. They''re gorgeous in the fall or in the winter when covered in snow, but I''m thankful for our hardy Rhododendrons that remain green year round.

 

[Miranda]

What about a pepper tree? Or an Arbutus tree? I really don''t know much about many different types of trees, but, for my yard I picked Pepper trees, Magnolia trees (my favorite), Arbutus trees - commonly known as a Strawberry tree, and Plum trees. The plum trees are the only deciduous trees I have. The Magnolia will flower, but, will lose the blooms. We chose the dwarf variety because they get sooooo large. The Pepper trees are not as messy as I expected them to be. I really didn''t want an Olive tree in the front because they are so overdone in our neighborhood. If you choose one be sure you get the non fruiting variety. The olives can stain any nearby concrete. Happy planting!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Fruit trees have the best blooms but unfortunately, they don''t do well in so cal because of the heat and the dryness.

Strawberry trees have nice little flowers and grow quickly, but I believe their fall colors are not terribly interesting.

Maples have the best fall colors, they usually turn bright red.

The myrtle has lovely flowers but I don''t know about in the fall.

Magnolias need a fair amount of water, but a similiar tree is the dogwood which has great flowers.

Peper trees are very cool. Just make sure you get a California pepper tree and not a Brazilian pepper tree, the later are invasive species that cause problems but the former are fine.

I LOVE jacaranda''s, they are great in drought and have the most amazing flowers.

You may want to go to a plant store, anything that grows in hardiness zone 9 should work for you.

 

[zhuzhu]

Thanks so much. SO I went to the house today and found 2 trees and 1 vine already. Could you please help identify what they are?
I believe this is some sort of vine? it is very fragrant!

 

[zhuzhu]

This is a white flower tree growing outside our fence. Is this one of the flower tree you recommended above?

 

[zhuzhu]

This is the red flower on the biggest bush you see on the first picture. I love this simply because humming bird came by to feed on it. What is the name of this tree (or bush)?

 

[surfgirl]

The 1st photo is star jasmine...keep it! It smells heavenly in the spring and summer! You might consider putting up some stephanotis if you love that jasmine smell. I would advise against pepper trees - we have one and it''s quite old and very lovely, however, they have something in their root system that kills off anything trying to grow nearby so you cant plant underneath their circumference area. I think you should go to Miramar Nursery off 805, just before the exit to UTC mall. They''re on the right and you''ll see the nursery as you exit (it might be Govenor?). They can help you pick the right tree and they have good prices as well as delivery.