California Pepper Tree– Pro or Con?

[LesBaer45]

[quote=GoUSC]Here are some…

Bottle Tree
Foothill Palo Verde
Australian Willow
Bradford Flowering Pear
Brisbane Box
American Sweet Gum
Desert Willow
California Sycamore
Holly Oak
Non Fruit-Bearing Olive
African Sumac
Madrone
Orchid Tree
Gold Medallion Tree
Crape Myrtle (very popular)
Aristocrat Flowering Pear

These are all lower water trees that I have used on many of our projects (I do development) that we like. If you need the actual specific names I can provide those as well but this should be a good start for you. My personal favorite is the non-flowering olive tree but that doesn’t go with everything. Some of these trees do flower and drop their leaves but most are fairly easy to maintain. Hope this helps!

MARK[/quote]

Bradford Pear? Here in the south, they are known for breaking off or snapping over in any kind of high wind. Lots of places used to plant them as a border tree or a liner for a drive or walk. They grow rather fast, but then the first high wind and it’s snappo city.

American Sweet Gum? A nice looking tree but I thought it liked wetter areas. Plus those “balls” are a mess. I realize there are “non-fruit” varities but they are (were) tough to find.

The rest sound like reasonable choices.

I’m surprised no one mentioned a dogwood tree. There are some that can tolerate a lot of sun and they can be ‘managed’ very easily to provide shade and not overpower a house.

* I am not a trained arborist nor do I play one on TV.

[CricketOnTheHearth]

OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/

[CricketOnTheHearth]

OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/

[CricketOnTheHearth]

OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/

[CricketOnTheHearth]

OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/

[CricketOnTheHearth]

OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/

[svelte]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them.[/quote]

Bottle tree is more than likely Bottlebrush Tree.

Most of the trees listed are too big for a typical San Diego yard.

Crape Myrtle would be a good size if you get a smaller variety, but many of them are very slow growers…need to make sure and get a fast growing variety.

I still say you should consider a Fruitless Plum as it is the right size, great looking with deep purple leaves and light pink flowers, and deciduous. If you look, you’ll see them in yards all over San Diego county. They look like this:

http://grpfarms.com/cistina.html

If you haven’t got one already, you really need to get a Sunset Western Garden Book…widely considered the bible of plants in the Western United States. I wouldn’t live without mine.

You can pick one up at any nursery.

[svelte]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them.[/quote]

Bottle tree is more than likely Bottlebrush Tree.

Most of the trees listed are too big for a typical San Diego yard.

Crape Myrtle would be a good size if you get a smaller variety, but many of them are very slow growers…need to make sure and get a fast growing variety.

I still say you should consider a Fruitless Plum as it is the right size, great looking with deep purple leaves and light pink flowers, and deciduous. If you look, you’ll see them in yards all over San Diego county. They look like this:

http://grpfarms.com/cistina.html

If you haven’t got one already, you really need to get a Sunset Western Garden Book…widely considered the bible of plants in the Western United States. I wouldn’t live without mine.

You can pick one up at any nursery.

[svelte]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them.[/quote]

Bottle tree is more than likely Bottlebrush Tree.

Most of the trees listed are too big for a typical San Diego yard.

Crape Myrtle would be a good size if you get a smaller variety, but many of them are very slow growers…need to make sure and get a fast growing variety.

I still say you should consider a Fruitless Plum as it is the right size, great looking with deep purple leaves and light pink flowers, and deciduous. If you look, you’ll see them in yards all over San Diego county. They look like this:

http://grpfarms.com/cistina.html

If you haven’t got one already, you really need to get a Sunset Western Garden Book…widely considered the bible of plants in the Western United States. I wouldn’t live without mine.

You can pick one up at any nursery.

[svelte]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them.[/quote]

Bottle tree is more than likely Bottlebrush Tree.

Most of the trees listed are too big for a typical San Diego yard.

Crape Myrtle would be a good size if you get a smaller variety, but many of them are very slow growers…need to make sure and get a fast growing variety.

I still say you should consider a Fruitless Plum as it is the right size, great looking with deep purple leaves and light pink flowers, and deciduous. If you look, you’ll see them in yards all over San Diego county. They look like this:

http://grpfarms.com/cistina.html

If you haven’t got one already, you really need to get a Sunset Western Garden Book…widely considered the bible of plants in the Western United States. I wouldn’t live without mine.

You can pick one up at any nursery.

[svelte]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them.[/quote]

Bottle tree is more than likely Bottlebrush Tree.

Most of the trees listed are too big for a typical San Diego yard.

Crape Myrtle would be a good size if you get a smaller variety, but many of them are very slow growers…need to make sure and get a fast growing variety.

I still say you should consider a Fruitless Plum as it is the right size, great looking with deep purple leaves and light pink flowers, and deciduous. If you look, you’ll see them in yards all over San Diego county. They look like this:

http://grpfarms.com/cistina.html

If you haven’t got one already, you really need to get a Sunset Western Garden Book…widely considered the bible of plants in the Western United States. I wouldn’t live without mine.

You can pick one up at any nursery.

[CA renter]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/%5B/quote%5D

Thanks for sharing the results of your research! 🙂

Have you decided on a tree, yet?

[CA renter]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/%5B/quote%5D

Thanks for sharing the results of your research! 🙂

Have you decided on a tree, yet?

[CA renter]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/%5B/quote%5D

Thanks for sharing the results of your research! 🙂

Have you decided on a tree, yet?

[CA renter]

[quote=CricketOnTheHearth]OK, I went out on the Web and did a little research on the trees listed above, plus I am familiar with a few of them. FYI a meter (“X m”) is a yard plus 3 inches. Here is what I found (or didn’t):

Bottle Tree — couldn’t find anything about this one.

Foothill Palo Verde – thin-stemmed, mostly leafless desert large bush. Ornamental and pretty but no shade from this one.

Australian Willow (extremely slow grower)

Bradford Flowering Pear -50-60 ft tall, crabapple-like fruit, short-lived (25 yr), can be brittle

Brisbane Box – a kind of eucalypt, up to 50 ft tall, flowers + little hard seed-capsules

American Sweet Gum – drops the stang little “gum balls”. I almost sprained my ankle on one of these “balls” by stepping on it on a lawn. They act just like giant ball bearings underfoot. Don’t even think about stepping on one barefoot (SPINY).

Desert Willow – 1.5 to 8 meters, light & lacy desert bush/mini-tree. Pics I found online looked similar to a lighter, airier pepper tree.

California Sycamore – prone to a fungus which makes the first batch of leaves fall off. They regrow but it’s kind of sad-looking. Sycamores back in Michigan get this too. I call it “the Sycamore Curse”.

Holly Oak – (Mediterranean) – tree 20-27 m tall, can be clipped into a hedge

Non Fruit-Bearing Olive (“don’t really provide much shade”- JustLurking.)

African Sumac — couldn’t find anything online

Madrone – native to north of here, doesn’t grow quite this far south in the wild. Interesting red-vs-grey peeling bark. 10-25 meters tall.

Orchid Tree – 10-12 m tall, scented flowers, seed pods

Gold Medallion Tree – 20-25 feet tall, fast-growing, spikes of yellow flowers

Crape Myrtle (very popular) – I like the tall vase-shaped variety we have at work (~30 feet). They look great with the leaves off or on– as long as you don’t let some idiot “gardener” ‘top’ them!!

Aristocrat Flowering Pear— didn’t find info on this one specifically

Coast Live Oak
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html
“very drought tolerant, looks nice all year, and grows fairly quickly for an oak.” (above link)

Tipu or Tipu Tipuana — http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=31304
very fast grower, 25 feet in just a few years, 40-50 feet mature. Good shade. Messy, drop lots of flowers and pods. Invasive roots? Shallow anyway. Lacy, fernish leaves.

“Rick Wilson says :
We have two Tipuana Tipu trees in our La Mesa, California back yard. They’re about 45-50 years old, and they are enormous (at least 80 feet tall and wide). Every June, they blanket our backyard with what seems like millions of tiny orange yellow flowers. When the wind blows, it looks like it’s snowing cheese popcorn! We constantly have baby trees starting underneath these two big trees.
One of the most interesting things about these trees is that, when you trim a limb off of a Tipuana tree, they emit blood-red sap. It literally looks as if you’ve cut off a human limb.
Subsequently, my fiance won’t let me trim these trees very often, because she says it looks like they’re bleeding!”

In AZ: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/azgard/msg0710235014830.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about mesquite? They are small trees/large bushes with lacy, airy foliage, and the seed pods are edible (I’ve munched on one once– quite tasty).

http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/may/mesquite.html ,
http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html ,
http://mojavedesert.net/trees/mesquite/%5B/quote%5D

Thanks for sharing the results of your research! 🙂

Have you decided on a tree, yet?

[Author]

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