Replacing Loblolly pine...would Deodar Cedar work:

Last week I lost 15 mature loblollies in a storm...some uprooted and some snapped in the center. (They called it a Derecho, not a tornado...I had to look that one up). Anyway, a great big healthy Loblolly (maybe 90 feet) was still standing proudly at the end of it all. But my neighbor, whose bedroom is about 60 feet from the tree's base implored me to take it when I was getting the others cleaned up. I hated to do it but It's gone now. He offered to buy me any tree to replant there. It is in full sun at the bottom of a sloping hill with lots of room. An evergreen would be nice because it would shield me from his house. I am considering a nice deodar cedar if it will work in my heat and humidity. How would this do in the deep south? Or any better ideas?

Should do well, but make sure you use one of the cold-hardy selections in zone 7, such as 'Eisregen', 'Eiswinter', 'Karl Fuchs', 'Paktia' or 'Shalimar'. The normal type is only reliable to zone 8.

Resin

I don't know what is available at local nurseries but I had my eye on the "silver mist" cultivar. There is one on a college campus in Huntsville, about 90 miles north of here. This photo doesn't look very silvery on this one but the form is beautiful:

http://www.uah.edu/admin/Fac/images/Dslvrmst.jpg

Only a young tree, so not safely tested there.

A few years ago I saw several Deodar Cedars from 20 up to 40 years old killed in a severe winter in zone 7; the larger ones were easily 3-4 times taller than the one in that photo.

Resin

I have an Eisregen. It looks very good here at the close of its first winter in zone 5b at this juncture. Winter lows went to -5. We had several days of 55+ mi. per hr. winds with temps hovering around 0. No needle burn or drop visible yet. It's still a little early to be absolutely certain though.

This message was edited Mar 6, 2008 11:41 AM

OK, thanks for the warnings! I will be more conservative in my choice. I am researching the cultivars and their photos.

Best to plant a mixture of several cultivars, don't have them all the same! That way you get more variation in colour and texture, and it'll look better.

Resin

That's a great idea. And if one fails I will have others. And it will screen the view and noise of my neighbors house and pool.

Plus I lost 15 trees, I gotta put something there!

Some are in a wooded area between my pasture and house; the horse tends to ignore evergreens and browse the rest to pieces. I know not to put yew back there but I may experiment.

I transplanted a longleaf pine back there 5 years ago and it's looking nice; the problem is I can pay a lot for individual trees, buy them in lots of 1000 from the forestry people or travel to central AL and dig some up which is hard with their long taproot.

This message was edited Mar 6, 2008 10:17 AM