<p>Here’s something that’s much more fun than college applications, SATs and FAFSA forms!</p>
<p>I would love to have some advice from any landscapers!!
I live in the Mid Atlantic - 2 story house - has full sun in the front of the house all afternoon. For some reason - the builder put the thermostat in the dining room (front of the house) so the sun shines right on it unless we keep the shades closed and I hate the room being so dark.</p>
<p>The house is 17 years old. We currently have the original landscaping that the builder put in including a Norway Maple right in the front lawn. The tree is huge and gives us wonderful shade but it also gives us terrible roots that are most likely growing right into the pipes and under the foundation of the house.
We’re thinking about taking out the tree and replacing it with a fast growing shade tree in the fall. We’ll put in a tree that’s already a few years old so we don’t have to wait too long for shade.
Any suggestions?
I love crape(sp?) myrtle - but I know it won’t provide the type of shade we need.</p>
<p>If you google fast-growing shade trees there are a bunch of sites with various suggestions. Among the suggestions my favorites were Tulip trees (we have a lot of these in our neighborhood) and Red Maples. One site did mention that fast growing and problem roots sort of go together.</p>
<p>nunya - yea! Tree discussion…my fave. The landscaping committee I serve on just planted a big willow oak (red oak family) and it is gorgeous. I’m trying to find a place in my yard for one. It’s a fast grower, but has a very upright form and straight trunk…so you get an ornamental as well as functional shade tree. It’s one of the few trees that will give fall color here in Texas (our temps are never right…we go from hot to cold in a matter of weeks). It is native to the eastern half of the U.S. and grows well in zones from NY to Florida. We chose this oak because we had a fairly tight area due to aerial obstacles… brick wall of the neighborhood, overhead power easement. Ground obstacles were not an issue. The growth is predictable and the oak ‘behaves itself’ so it was the perfect choice. </p>
<p>Btw…it’s easy to have the thermastat moved. We had the same problem…called an A/C company and they moved in less than 30 minutes. Small drywall patch job…less than $50.</p>
<p>OP–(too lazy to type your name, sorry!) You might check with someone at a nursery in your areas. I didn’t think Maples generally had too bad of root problems. If that’s your biggest concern, I’d check into it—it’s not like a willow. I have a “thing” about removing stuff–especially a beautiful shade tree. Our house was built in the middle of the woods. Other than the landscaping right in front of the house, most of it is “wild”. We are taking the big step next month and putting in a patio and pond/waterfall and fireplace in the back, so we can enjoy that amid all the outlying trees. I told the landscape dude that I could part with 2 scraggly trees, but we’re designing around the other 2. What state do you live in? We’re in NC – crepe myrtles (?? sorry, I don’t know) were one of my favorite discoveries when we moved here—in the hot steam of summer, they are just magnificent…streets here are just lined with them. I just don’t know how far north they thrive, though… (we were outside Philly and I don’t think they’d make it there).</p>
<p>beesknees,
Sadly, “fast growing” trees are usually also short-lived and prone to storm damage. Here is the midwest, a favorite tree for developers is the Bradford Pear, a beautiful large flowering tree, the last deciduous to lose its leaves, the first to leaf out in the spring. They are very good sized within a couple of years. However, they usually split and land on your house by the time they are 15 years old if the wind blows hard. Our subdivision has started losing dozens every time we have a storm. </p>
<p>You should ask a professional, but ask a lot of questions. A landscaper sold me a mountain ash as a “large shade tree”. It is, for a short while each summer, but it loses its leaves very early if the season has been dry, and is very late to leaf out. Also, it is extremely allergenic! If you have tree allergies, ask about that.</p>
<p>Astro- I agree with you - I hate to take out the tree- but a neighbor has already had major problems with tree roots in the pipes and I really don’t want to go that route- We’re in Central Maryland and I’ve seen a number of crepe myrtles here- </p>
<p>We’ve decided to wait until fall before we do anything so I’m going to take in all of your suggestions and start researching.</p>
<p>midmo - I have to ask…do the Bradfords get fireblight up in your neck of the woods? We are looking at removing 6-8 good sized Bradfords from the common areas of our neighborhood due to fireblight, which we’ve been told is basically incurable. I’ve notice virtually every Bradford on residential property also has the disease. </p>
<p>I know the residents are going to scream because we will also have to finally remove 150+ year old MASSIVE water oak at our main entrance. It is not leafing out and we have been advised by an arborist that it’s ‘done’…that most deciduous oaks take a 100 years to get to full maturity and after that is the ‘dying’ stage which can take another 100 years. Such a shame - it is our ‘signature’ oak for which the neighborhood is named. People are gonna be mad when they see all these trees coming down.</p>
<p>We are in Central MD also and have had Bradford Pears. They are great for about 10 years, then very susceptible to wind breakage. You can have them cabled but we opted not to go to that expense. We planted a River Birch out back and it grew about 25 feet in 6 years. Unfortunately we put it too close to the house and had to remove half of it last year.</p>
<p>River birches are wonderful if you have a wet spot to put them. I tried a few, but the area I put them was too well drained and they just declined over the years. Removed them and put in an oak leaf holly. </p>
<p>But I love the pink peeling bark and the delicate leaves of the river birch. Up in The Woodlands in the Spring Creek flood plain, they grow wild and get HUGE…so make room if you use them.</p>
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