Native Shade Tree

I bought my current home because the neighborhood has lots of mature trees. Within a short time of moving in, we lost the two biggest we had, which were 40 year old ash trees. They were rotting from inside the trunk out. That's kind of old for an ash anyway. I still had pines. Now the neighborhood has been attacked by pine bark beetles. It looks like most of the pines in the entire neighborhood are affected. I have 6 that will have to be removed. I'd like to replace them with something other than a live oak. I don't particularly care if it's evergreen or deciduous. If it has some fall color, that'd be a plus. I'm looking for a shade tree that grows fairly large. I thought of hickory, just because there was a huge one in the yard where I grew up. Any other suggestions for a native shade tree? The don't want list is live oak, cypress, pear (or other fruit), crepe myrtle. Just a large shade tree that is hopefully a native.

I have a bur oak that I planted about 5 years ago, and it is growing quite fast and has not had any problems. They are very long lived, and will get quite large over time, and have really cool giant leaves and acorns. :)

Dennis

Thanks Dennis for that recommendaton. Do you know if they are susceptible to Oak Wilt? I'm sot sure if that affects all cultivars of oak or not.

from what I gather, if u have pine beetles, when they r thru with the pine they move on to other woods. 1 pine beetle drills his holes to about 8 to 10 feet hi, then another kind only drills from like 10' hi to the tops/ make little even spaced holes around the trunk. there is not yet a legal kill for them since Diazinon was banned. Walnut n Hickory can be sensitive to where they grow. In Houston u can grow everything from Chinese Pistache, Bradford Pear (both have nasty shed habits, but pistache has gorgeous fall color) Redbuds, Dogwoods, Musa banana, American Holly Trees, Bois d'arc, Willow. Oak wilt supposedly does not affect all varieties of Quercus, but, oaks are brittle in hi winds n branches break before bending...

U also didnt say how tall a tree u wish, or if u want certain things from it. Fruiting trees? Blooming trees? medium height trees, or towering hi, or even a special shape to accent or shade the area it grows.

I grimace at the "oak" tree. I love them but near the house, the acorns attract squirrels, flying squirrels and when the acorns hit the ground, rodents. Every fall, our oaks are covered up with the oak leaf caterpillars. To this day I can not see the value in that bug! He strips the leaves and poops all over the ground, patio etc. YUK!

Hi, I check on it and bur oaks are not susceptible to oak wilt. I had chosen it for my yard because all of the Texas landscaping books I had consulted gave rave reviews. So far I have not been disappointed, but conditions may be different in Houston.

Dennis

I had a Bur Oak planted in my smallish backyard in 2002 and absolutely love it. I especially like it's "gnarlish" bark. The acorns are big, but that just makes them easier to find and pick up! :-)

This is from April 2007.

Carla

I want a large shade tree. Doesn't matter about flowers, no fruit desired, don't care if evergreen or not. I would like no pest or disease problems. I'd like something that's not in every other yard in Houston. As to height, bigger is better. I'm not looking for a small specimen tree but a tall shade tree with a large canopy. Did say I didn't want oak, cypress, pear or any other fruiting tree, or crepe myrtle. I need something much bigger than a crepe myrtle. Isn't there a maple that does well in Texas?

Hey, Josephine, chime in here on some native trees please. I'll give the Texas Superstar site a look too. I forget about that sometimes.

WE have a number of very nice looking cedar elms. They are natives.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/ulmuscrassifolia.htm

Another that come to mind are Black Tupelo,
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/nyssasylvaticavarsylvatica.htm
An American Elm is a gorgeous tree. There are now several that are resistant to Dutch Elm. They are fast growers, long lived
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/env/cultivars.html
Bummelia languinosa is an evergreen, grows to 80 ft, a relatively fast grower around here,
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/bumelialanuginosa.htm
Bois d'Arc, Maclura pomifera is a native. There are thornless male cultivars available
There are several native hickories you might consider.

Thanks a lot Betty and others for all the suggestions. A lot of good ideas to choose from.

Have you thought about a Texas ash? (Assuming the ash trees you had weren't the native Texas ones indigenous to my area.) I've had mine for 20 years, with only one problem ever (the web worms that infested this area last year). They are hard wood, turn a beautiful gold in the fall, and don't really have any pests that threaten them.

The only complaint I have is that they do spread a lot of tiny seedlings. But then I can't think of any trees that wouldn't do that.

Sorry, I have been really busy and didn't check the forum.
How about a Tulip Tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, it has pretty flowers, is large, has good fall color and is host to the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, also fast growing. Who knows, it might be the tree for you.
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LITU
Josephine.

Things to note: needs to be transplanted in the spring

The SFA plant sale this Saturday has lots of really nice trees for sale. Lots of them are in 5 gallons so will be easy to transport and plant.

Maybe it's just me, but the trees offered this year are particularly good.

The Chalk Maple being offered will grow in part shade and is deciduous, growing to 40'. It's described as a rare native with spectacular fall color.

OOOH, that chalk maple sounds perfect. Unfortunately I'll be nowhere near San Antonio (or Nacodoches). I've had poltergeists at my house lately :) My freezer died and had to be replaced, then the washing machine went about a week later, then the laptop, then car was rear-ended while I was stopped at red light this week, and today the garage door opener has died. Man, I could be on Hee-Haw with the "if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all". I've had to replace all that in about 6 weeks time. Talk about budget busting! I'm sure I could still spring for the price of the maple, just can't get to San Antonio to get it, but thanks so much for the suggestion. Maybe I can find one locally????

Sorry for your bad luck! BT, DT. You know it's because appliances can hear you. If you want to discuss the refrigerator dying, you'd better not say it in front of the dishwashwer or the A/C.

:)

Wow, Crowellli, sorry to hear of all those unexpected expenses. Nothing's cheap and a pile of high dollar fixing and replacing throttles a budget.

I'll be planting the Chalk Maple tree and will let you know how it goes. Sounds like it has possibilities for you.

And the trees I saw were in 1 or 2 gallon pots, rather than 5 gallon, for those who may be interested. SFA very well may have other sizes of potted trees, I just didn't see them when glancing over a couple of areas of plants for sale.

And Podster, the oak leaf caterpillars were terrible here this year. They didn't build tents, (maybe they don't) so they were hard to destroy. Even after 45mph winds with Hurricane Ike, they were clinging to the trees. Stunned but alive.

Antiquedrose, please do remember to let me know how that maple works for you. I think the Houston bulb mart is next weekend and they usually have some native trees for sale there, so I may give that a try. I love your neck of the woods as I was raised just south of you in Sabine County. Conditions are a bit different here in Houston, but if the maple does well for you, I'll definitely try to locate one.

Ann, I love your sense of humor. Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong, talking to my appliances too much. It's been so nuts around here that the appliances are the only ones who'll listen to me!

Crow

This information comes from A&M tree database:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/acerleucoderme.htm
This one from the Dallas Arboretum:
http://www.dallasplanttrials.org/Chalk%20Maple.htm
From Lady Bird Johnson site:
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ACLE

This tree requires acid to neutral or slighly basic soils as well as good draining soil.

I wanted to mention that the Tulip tree is native to Texas and other states.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LITU
Josephine.

Those links are helpful! I have a better idea now what to do with my chalk maple.
Thanks bettydee.

And Frostwood!

Hi all, just read through this thread today, cuz we are looking for a tree as well. Didn't quite understand the reference to San Antonio. Is there a tree sale there this weekend? I am not familiar with SFA.

There must be some disagreement among the experts about the Tulip Tree's native range. I've seen sources that show its range extending only as far west as Louisiana. But in any case, it should do fine in Houston. People in SE Texas are going to be needing to replace some trees, that's for sure!

Houston cannot safely grow but 1 variety of Ash, n your electric problems may be the surges going thru re-establishing electricity in the area as electricity is especially destructive to appliances. u would need surge protectors far larger than the little strip ones walmart sells. A refrigerator has a fail safe that kicks in with bad spikes n surges- it dies, unplug for 24 to 48 hrs then plug back in, n it may start back up -unless it is from the 50's. Houston has some huge landscaping supply places, n by summersend they r prone to selling off leftovers cheap, there was a water garden place closer to Katy that I wish I could remember the name of...should have escaped the hurricane probs, tho...Sweetgum is also a s Tx native I'm not fond of, as is Catalpa... Luck!

Kittriana, the water garden place I think you're thinking of is Lilypons.

I'm going to the Bulb Mart this weekend and they usually have some native trees for sale, so I'll check that out and see what's on offer. I've spent most of this weekend trying to eradicate Black & Blue salvia from a huge bed. That's the worst plant I've ever encountered and that list includes mint and wisteria, so that's saying something!

yep. salvia, mint, n wisteria. i've got 'em, but, I'm forgiving, I just like all the bad stuff. No actual memory on the water place, I've been gone too long, n there's another place I've dropped in on up I45 towards Woodlands that I've picked up plants no longer wanted. I am sitting now in Indianapolis, but with luck, Dr will let me get back on my 18 wheels n resume a paying vocation long enuff to see what may be salvaged at home. Houston is also home to a candlewax? tree. I have 3 different oaks on my 4.4 acres-1 of which has me stumped on variety, it blooms white flowers, then the green fuzzy fringy things, has thorns when small, but a smooth bark when grown, n the pine beetles love it, sadly enuff, oh, n it is growing from both acorns, n the roots. I'll take pics if I ever get to go home b4 summer ends.

The candlewax is probably a candlestick tree. If it has yellow blooms and the leaves look like a giant version of mimosa leaves, that's probably it. I'm stumped on the oak though. Live oaks have tons of the green fuzzy things, but they don't have thorns as far as I know. They're probably the most common oak in Houston though.

Hope whatever is ailing you improves soon.

Crow

Sorry to hear about your trees — losing mature ones can really change the whole feel of a yard. If you end up needing help with removal, *Cutting Jack Tree Service*
does *affordable tree removal Nacogdoches* and they’re great with handling beetle-damaged or rotted trees safely. They can also recommend native replacements suited to your area’s soil and climate.