Need help with picking a tree to buy.

[kuntrygirl]

WOW! So many smart "tree" people or is the correct term arborists. You guys know your tree stuff. Thank you very much. I sure appreciate you all sharing all of this knowledge. I have a lot ot studying and deciding to do.

 

[Mattemma]

Maybe your Ag place has an online listing.My soil and water does for the trees it sells.I saw some of yours listed on my page.It is from last year:

http://www.mahoningswcd.org/TreeSale.htm

The trees sure are small,but they grow fast if you tend to them. I am into edible landscape but I have bought some evergreens due to price.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Don't get the pines; they don't tend to live very long. We got a shumard oak from the Ag people- 31 years ago when we built our house it's HUGE now - so plant it for plenty of room to grow. I love the shade it gives but I hate the darn acorns when they fall - and grass won't grow underneath it either-- oaks are very acid to your soil -- and, it has those darn buck moth caterpillars hatch out every spring & they give a nasty poisonous sting, so for about a week you have to contend with that.

We went to where an old plantation home used to be - my cousins farm the land now, & dug up young live oaks that were sprouting around the base of the original trees, they line our driveway now. We transplanted a sycamore into the back yard -- big, beautiful, & I like the huge leaves that fall off of it-- I mulch them & put them in my garden spot. The sycamore does drop a lot of small branches though.

We planted several pine trees but only 2 are left. They drop a lot of needles & pine cones but they're in a part of the yard that that doesn't bother us much.

Still love all of our pecan trees the best -- and our bradford pear, which turns the beautiful fall colors, and my willow - it's not the kind of willow that has the fluffy stuff, it's a decorative weeping willow of some sort I got at Lowe's. Also love my crepe myrtles by the turnaround -- they grow fast & so pretty! I got 3 of the crepe myrtles for $5 from Fads 'n Frames several years ago -- it was the end of the season & they were going to throw them out -- they were covered in mildew - I took them home & sprayed them every day for 2 weeks with a mixture of Dawn dish detergent & water -- cleared the mildew right up & we planted them & they took off like wildfire. We have banana trees (got those free 2 years ago from an old house up the road they were tearing down - I stopped & asked could we have them & they said sure-- I've seen bananas on these trees - the root systems were huge! - so I hope they will produce for us) & citrus (lemons & satsuma) in the back yard where they are protected from the north wind. (bought those at Holloway's nursery in Forest Hill - they have a great selection of citrus).

You need to make a trip to Forest Hill & visit some of the nurseries there & talk to them about what you want--they are very helpful & will talk trees and plants all day long, and also take a sample of your soil to your local ag office & get it tested to see what kind you have & what you need to add to it.

 

[Naughty]

just make sure you don't plan trees anywhere near your power lines... if they are the type to grow tall. If it grows in the lines it will cut your power - or the company will cut it down to avoid their lines and outages... most power companies will give you guidelines on where you can plan to be safe - i know it is frustrating to watch a big beautiful tree be cut down just because it's too close to the lines. and if it is on their right-of-way - you can't stop em

 

[chixie]

I am surrounded by pine trees... dont get them. i love oak. dont know about sycamore trees...

 

[HHandbasket]

My personal choice would be the oak, only because it'll live forever. The pine will last a long time, but did you know pine attracts roaches?? BTW, cleaning your house with pine sol attracts roaches, too... if there are roaches in the walls that you don't see and you use pine sol, they'll come out into the light ... anything with pine oil in it attracts them. I didn't know any of this until an acquaintance of mine who was an ag student at LSU told me. And sycamore creates a LOT of dust to which I am personally, quite frankly, fairly allergic.

Oak wins.

But everybody's tree needs are different.