Trees for Lawns
In order to be a good tree to grow in a lawn it needs a number of
things going for it. In particular a good lawn tree:
1.Should be deciduous, meaning it should loose all of its leaves in the
winter. This will let in light in the wintertime, when light levels are
lowest. Deciduous trees also do not block any warming winter sunlight
from reaching the house. Trees on the south or east sides of any house
should always be deciduous, never evergreen. 2.Should have roots that
do not creep upward into the lawn where theyll be hit by lawnmowers.
Roots that grow up into the lawn are a real pain, hard to get rid of,
and will easily ruin a lawnmower. 3.Should be attractive, or why else
even plant it? 4.Should be fairly easy to grow, not too fussy. Always
select trees that are know to be disease resistant. 5.Should be able to
adapt to the irrigation a lawn will receive. Certain trees grow well in
lawns and others, such as oaks, do not. Plant lawn trees that will
thrive in a lawn area, even if it is frequently irrigated. 6.Should be
a type of tree that will not have a negative allopathic effect on the
lawn. For example, eucalyptus or walnut trees produce a substance that
kills off other plants below them. 7.Should produce shade that is not
too deep. No grass can grow in the deepest shade. Branches on lawn
trees should ideally be kept fairly high. 8.Should not produce a lot of
allergenic pollen. Theres no point in planting a tree that will make
you sick every year.
*Note: No lawn tree will grow well when it is young if the grass is
allowed to grow right up to its trunk! I cant stress this enough. A
young tree in a lawn should have an area underneath it that is kept
totally grass-free for the first 4-5 years of the trees growth. If lawn
is permitted to grow right next to the trunk of a young tree, the trees
growth will almost always be stunted. Even after this period of time it
is better to either keep the area immediately under the tree
grass-free, or to plant a low-growing groundcover under it. Trunks of
young trees should never be hit with weedwackers. String- trimmers ruin
the tender bark of many young lawn trees, and then stunt their
subsequent growth. Keep a clean area a minimum of 3wide under any new
lawn tree. Even though a lawn has shallow roots and there is little
point in watering lawns much deeper than a foot, trees will develop
deep roots. To make sure your new tree grows those deep, drought
resistant roots, give it a really good soaking once a month from spring
until fall. Just put a garden hose near the base of the tree, turn it
on low, and let it soak for a long time. Watch mulch around the trunks
of young trees! Mulching trees is a good idea but keep the mulch a few
inches away from the actual trunk of the young tree. In the wintertime,
especially where there is snow cover, it is a darn good idea to put a
wrap of ¼ inch mesh chicken wire around the trunk, to keep
mice
and rabbits from eating the tender young bark. Many a new tree is
killed because of wintertime damage to the trunk from rodents. If you
live in an area where the winter temperatures get below zero F, it is a
good idea to paint the trunks of new lawn trees white. The white paint
will reflect the winter sun, and will keep the sap from warming up and
starting to flow in the middle of winter. Painted trees are much less
likely to get "winter sun scald," which is what they call it when the
bark cracks and splits open, usually on the south side of the trunk.
Use indoor grade white latex paint for this, and it is perfectly okay
too, to paint some of the larger branches. This painting can be
repeated each fall with good effect until the tree is about 7-8 years
old. As the trees mature their bark will thicken and toughen up, and
will naturally be more resistant to freezing and the winter sun. Make
sure to fertilize the new trees twice each season. Use a fertilizer
high in N, nitrogen, in the springtime, and a fertilizer low in
nitrogen and high in potassium in the fall. Lawn grass that grows under
trees may well need a bit of extra fertilizer through the growing
season, as the tree roots will absorb much of the lawn fertilizer as
well. There are devices with long, hollow spikes on them that screw on
the end of a hose. You put the fertilizer for the tree in these
contraptions, shove the spike down deep into the trees root zone, and
turn on the hose. This is a good way to fertilize lawn trees. Existing
trees and planting new lawns Many a nice lawn tree has been killed when
the owner decides to plant a new lawn, and hauls in extra topsoil to
spread. If you cover the roots of a tree with several inches of
additional soil, you may easily smother the tree roots, killing the
tree. If the soil around an existing tree needs to be raised, then you
need to build a "tree well," an area around the tree, at least four
feet wide, where the original soil level is maintained. This is
especially important with oak trees, which will quickly die if the soil
level is raised right up to the trunk. Manure and lawn trees Never put
manure right up to the trunk of a lawn tree. Fresh manure in particular
is especially toxic to young trees. I have seen some pretty nice, large
trees killed when their owners mulched them with a thick layer of
supposedly "well-cured" horse manure. Even with compost, dont place it
right next to the trunk of the tree!
Twenty-five Recommended Trees for your Lawn
1.Red Maple Autumn Glory: Zones 3-9. a large, rounded, handsome female,
pollen-free tree, loses its leaves, easy to grow in bluegrass lawns.
Great fall color. 2.Red maple October Glory: Zones 3-9 a female,
pollen-free tree, does especially well in lawns and does not cast a
deep lawn killing shade. 3.Red maple Bowhall, Acer rubrum Bowhall, is
an attractive, pollen-free deciduous female tree, with excellent fall
color. It grows narrowly upright and is a good lawn tree for smaller
yards. Shade is not dense. 4.Crabapple Molten Lava, Malus species,
Zones 4-9. A smaller, very pretty, flowering crabapple tree, to 10
tall, with great flowers in spring and small red fruits in fall. Does
fine in well-drained lawns, and is an especially disease resistant
tree. 5.Crabapple Dolgo, Malus dolgo, Zones 3-9, Pink buds open to
fragrant, white flowers in late spring. Glossy, dark green foliage
turns yellow in the fall and has good disease resistance. Large, almost
florescent, bright red fruit ripening in early summer is excellent for
crabapple jelly. A hardy tree with a spreading, upright and open habit.
Does well in bluegrass lawns. 6.Crabapple Red Splendour. Malus species,
Zones 3-8. Greenish-red leaves with rose-pink flowers. Small red fruit
stays on the tree well in to the winter. Good resistance to disease. An
upright growing smaller crabapple tree, good in lawns. 7.Crabapple
Snowcloud, Zones 4-8, profuse double white flowers, mostly pollen-free
and fruitless, bright green leaves, smaller tree, to 20 feet tall. Good
in lawns. 8.Crabapple Sugar Tyme, Pale pink buds open to fragrant,
showy white blossoms that cover the tree in spring. A bounty of small,
persistent, bright red fruit are produced in the fall and attract
birds. This vigorous tree has crisp, dark green leaves and an upright,
oval habit. One of the most disease resistant flowering crabapples.
Good in lawns. To 20 feet tall. 9.Flowering plum: Prunus species, zones
4-10, a pretty, easy to grow tree, loses its leaves in fall, flowers in
the spring, grows fast and likes frequent irrigations, as in a lawn.
Shade is not dense. 10.Apricot trees, Prunus species, Zones 4-10:
attractive, loses its leaves in fall, easy to grow in western areas,
blossoms smell great, and the fruit is good. Should be pruned so that
it is not difficult to mow under. Does not cast a dense shade. Good
fall color too. 11.Fuyu persimmon trees, Diospyros kaki, Zones 4-10:
slow growing, very attractive bark and leaves, shade not dense, fruit
is beautiful, sweet and excellent, tree is female and pollen-free.
Incredible fall color. 12.Pineapple Guava tree, Feijoa sellowiana,
Zones 8-10, small evergreen tree. Best grown as a multi-trunked tree,
to 18 tall, gray-green attractive leaves, white-red flowers, sweet
green fruit. With age the tree becomes more and more attractive, the
bark ever more interesting. 13.Honeylocust trees, Gleditsia
triacanthos, all Zones, a nice, medium-sized shade tree. Loses its
leaves in fall, grows well in lawns, and does not cast a deep grass
killing type of shade. 14.Variegated Box Elder, Acer negundo Variegata,
an attractive, smaller three-leafed maple tree, with beautiful
variegated green and white leaves. Deciduous, female and pollen-free,
easy to grow, and does well in lawns. Shade not dense. 15.Fringe tree,
Chionanthus virginicus, Zones 5-10. If you can find one that has small
black fruits on it, then it is a pollen-free female tree, a much
desired lawn tree. Roots go down and stay down, foliage is very
attractive, leaves lost in winter, attractive, lightly fragrant bright
white flowers, grows well in lawns. Shade not dense. 16.Sourwood tree,
Nyssa sylvatica, Zones 4-9. A small to medium-sized lawn tree,
deciduous, excellent fall color. Female sourwood trees are pollen free;
look for the exceptional cultivar called Miss Scarlet, which has no
pollen, terrific red fall color, and has attractive small ornamental
blue fruit. These trees thrive in acid soils and will not do well with
alkaline soil. 17.Japanese Raisin Tree, Hovenia dulcis, Zones 8`-10.
The female trees have small, sweet, raisin-like fruit and are
pollen-free. Raisin trees have beautiful leaves, are deciduous, grow
well in lawns, and do not cast a deep shade. 18.Hardy Rubber Tree,
Eucommia ulmoides, best in zones 5-7, is a large shade tree that does
not cast deep shade. If you can find a fruiting tree, it will be female
and pollen-free too. Roots stay down and tree grows well in bluegrass
lawns. 19.Pomegranate tree, Punica granatum, Zones 7-10, makes a
beautiful, small lawn tree if grown as either a single-trunked tree, or
as a three-trunked tree. Pomegranate thrives where summer heat is high.
Loses its leaves in fall, bright yellow fall color, shade not dense,
attractive orange flowers and red fruit. Will grow well in a fescue,
Bermudagrass, or St Augustine lawn. 20.Bougainvillea, Zones 9-10. Not
normally thought of as a tree at all, a bougainvillea can easily be
trained into an unusual and quite beautiful small lawn tree. The best
way to do this is to pound a strong 8 metal stake, several feet deep
into the ground, and then plant three one-gallon bougainvillea plants
around the stake. Trim the plants back to one or two of the longest,
most vigorous branches, and weave these up the stake. It takes about a
year to develop this into a tree form. Keep the trunk leaf-free and
shear the top several times a year for a lollypop shape. Best cultivars
for this are San Diego Red or the variegated Raspberry Ice
bougainvillea. There are some fantastic bougainvillea trees at
Disneyland. 21.Quaking Aspen, Pendula, Populus tremuloides Pendula
grows in all Zones. This is a medium-sized, pollen-free, female,
weeping aspen tree, very attractive, good fall color, easy to grow, and
is fast growing. Doesnt cast a deep shade and grows well in most lawns.
22. Black Poplar, Theves Poplar, Populus nigra Afghanica or P. n.
thevestina is an attractive, medium-sized, tall, narrowly upright shade
tree, winter hardy in all zones. Theves Poplar is female, pollen-free,
and has bright yellow fall color. Good in lawns where a narrow tree is
needed. 23.Noreaster Poplar, Populus Noreaster is a good, larger shade
tree for lawns. Noreaster is a sterile female tree, so no seeds and no
pollen. Does well in most bluegrass lawns and is winter hardy in even
the coldest zones. 24.Japanese Paper Mulberry trees, Broussonetia
kazinoki, are separate sexed and if you can find a fruiting tree, it
will be pollen-free. These do not cast deep shade like most of the
other mulberry species and will thrive in lawns in most cool areas.
Winter hardy zones in 5-9. Paperbark maple, Acer griseum, Zones 4-8.
This small to medium-sized maple tree has exceptionally beautiful bark
and is totally handsome at all times of the year. Paperbark maple
doesnt cast a deep shade and lawn will grow quite well underneath it.
Best in soils that are well drained and slightly acidic.
Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-Free Gardening, Ten
Speed
Press. Tom does consulting work on for the USDA, county asthma
coalitions, and the American Lung Associations. He has appeared on CBS,
HGTV and The Discovery Channel. His book, Safe Sex in the Garden, was
published 2003. In 2004 Time Warner Books published his latest: What
the Experts May NOT Tell You About: Growing the Perfect Lawn. His
website: www.allergyfree-gardening.com
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