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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,336
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

Loved the beautiful Sugar Maple trees back in central NY. Great shade trees in summer, awesome colors in fall. We had one large one on our front lawn that I grew from a sapling. Down here I like the stately Royal Palms that line streets down here. Fort Myers is called the City of Palms for good reason. And yes---they do hold up in hurricanes.

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Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

Think of trees that will not raise sidewalks or damage curbs.

 

Some very nice street trees are Little Leaf Linden 

male clone labeled Ginko Biloba

Amalanchier or Serviceberry

Zelkova

thornless honey locust

 

Ornamental Kwanzan cherry is a good street tree.

 

Ornamental pear is not recommended due to (1) overplanting, (2) narrow branch crotches that cause the tree branches & trunks to split in high wind storms, now they have a rust on the leaves due to junipers acting as a vector for the spread of that fungus here.

 

Try Ivory Silk lilac tree as a street tree.

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
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Posts: 11,415
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

[ Edited ]

@JustJazzmom wrote:

Think of trees that will not raise sidewalks or damage curbs.

 

Some very nice street trees are Little Leaf Linden 

male clone labeled Ginko Biloba

Amalanchier or Serviceberry

Zelkova

thornless honey locust

 

Ornamental Kwanzan cherry is a good street tree.

 

Ornamental pear is not recommended due to (1) overplanting, (2) narrow branch crotches that cause the tree branches & trunks to split in high wind storms, now they have a rust on the leaves due to junipers acting as a vector for the spread of that fungus here.

 

Try Ivory Silk lilac tree as a street tree.



Thanks for the list, @JustJazzmom

 

My community is bound and determined to cut down the fruiting olives we've had for over 40 years.  The past couple of years they have not been attended to (I am beginning to think on purpose) so some people are clamoring to cut them down.

I've found a transplanting service that will remove them wholly, partial roots and all (olives can withstand such treatment, as you likely know).  The only drawback is if they are too close to any utility lines.

 

I do not like the idea of removing a lot of canopy all at once, thus the research into transplanting. 

 

We will need some replacements so of course we are concerned with litter (especially fruit) but would you believe some people even complain about flower drop!!

 

 Although saplings surely do not offer equivalent benefits as a mature tree does.  It'll take many years before their benefits are equalized. 

 

I'd also like some attractiveness to birds and pollinators in general so ginkgo is not a good option.  Ginkgo doesn't support any local wild creatures.

 

I have some of your other options on my current list I've been researching.  My local nursery says the modern ornamental pears are not as brittle or problematic as the older ones, although even the new ones would not be a first choice.  We already have one street lined with 40-year old ornamental pears of those earlier varieties.  

 

I am very tempted to recommend the little leaf linden as one of our options  in honor of all the environmental destruction happening currently in Sheffield, England.  Have you read about it?

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

[ Edited ]

The big problem with all pear trees is their narrow branch crotches. Newer hybrids might be wider but they have been over planted & when this happens it is creating a monoculture which can fall victim to insects or disease or both. This is what’s happening now with ornamental pears — wind blown fungus travels far & wide. 

 

Also take into mind that a larger tree is not going to grow as rapidly as an immature tree. It’s been found that within several years of planting, immature trees have caught up & surpassed mature trees planted at the same time.

 

Google wire friendly trees for more options if utility wires are where you want to plant.

 

I haven’t read about the Sheffield, England situation with lindens. Remember that a linden across the ocean might not be the same genetically than ones grown here.

 

A rat study in NYC was done re: genetic diversity & it was found that the downtown rats were different genetically than the uptown rats. If this diversity can occur on an island a mile long, it can definitely happen to trees which have less complex genes than mammals separated by oceans & on one side of a land mass vs. another.

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
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Posts: 11,415
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

My comment about being close to utility lines has only to do with removal by the machine equipment.  It has nothing to do with replanting.  We are not planting under utility lines as we do not have overhead power lines in our neighborhood.  The lines for cable tv, telephone, electricity, etc. are underground.  

 

Yes, I am aware of growth rate as well as being aware of the different types of trees here vs. England.  I am well aware of diversity.  I thought I made all that clear.  I have an extensive background in horticulture.

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

I type not for those with lots of gardening experience but for those with limited experience as well. Woman Happy

 

 

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,415
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

This is the same answer you gave me quite some time ago when I was attempting a conversation with you.    

 

Perhaps I can get you to understand that if you are actually responding to an individual, you might want to acknowledge a particular individual has data or experience.  (Especially since I actually did spell out quite a lot of specifics that you may not have noticed.) 

 

We are not generic on here.  I am an individual as is every one of us posting here.  We are not the Borg.

 

If you are giving generic information, then you might want to preface your words with that explanation.  

 

 

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Your favorite street trees?

So let me say this, if you are with a lot of experience in horticulture, you can ignore what I have to say. 

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
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Registered: ‎03-22-2015

Re: Your favorite street trees?

@DiAnne----Did you live in the LongBeach/Lakewood  area? There were many Jacaranda that were beautiful to look at, but SUPER messy.---------tedEbear

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Re: Your favorite street trees?


@tedEbear wrote:

@DiAnne----Did you live in the LongBeach/Lakewood  area? There were many Jacaranda that were beautiful to look at, but SUPER messy.---------tedEbear


@tedEbear

 

No.  Orange County and you are right they were really messy when the bloomed!