Trees In Your Yard

[earlofwindermere]

I recently cut down a few trees in my yard because they were either diseased, attracked swarms of red ants or dropped massive amounts of leaves/fruit on my ground. I am now looking for something that can replace them without doing a lot of the same. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have heard that Rain Trees are nice but my lot is not large enough for such a size.

Thanks

[Maejo Man]

I recently cut down a few trees in my yard because they were either diseased, attracked swarms of red ants or dropped massive amounts of leaves/fruit on my ground. I am now looking for something that can replace them without doing a lot of the same. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have heard that Rain Trees are nice but my lot is not large enough for such a size.

Thanks

Had you considered eucalypts? Hardy in this climate, no fruit and will retain their leaves if watered well. Red ants don't like them, and they look attractive too. Some nice lemon scented gums or ghost gums.....MM

[jackr]

Palm trees and so called banana trees, the latter of which are fast-growing, don't make a mess and look nice.

[sbk]

The Travellers Palm is a dramatic looking tree- but it does require some space to span for the full effect. Although called a palm it is in the same family as Banana and Bird of Paradise

[naammanow]

Whatever you do, do not get a "devil-tree" Just cut 3 down in mine, far fat too big and leaves . . all day, all year.

By the way, if you call a garden (British) a yard; what do you (think American) the back of the house where you hang the washing, store things, etc. In British English language we call the place with the grass and trees and shrubs a garden and the back of the house the yard. In American English? Always puzzled me what do you call a garden?

[sbk]

a yard has grass, a garden is made up of flowers and trees or veggies and no grass.

[naammanow]

a yard has grass, a garden is made up of flowers and trees or veggies and no grass.

Great! So what do you call the back of the house, for storing things etc?

Any example as to what one might call a garden then? The forest?

[Maejo Man]

a yard has grass, a garden is made up of flowers and trees or veggies and no grass.

All my yards have been concrete with washing lines. My garden on the other hand has a lawn with a border of shrubs and flowers. Depends where you come from I suppose

[lannarebirth]

Whatever you do, do not get a "devil-tree" Just cut 3 down in mine, far fat too big and leaves . . all day, all year.

By the way, if you call a garden (British) a yard; what do you (think American) the back of the house where you hang the washing, store things, etc. In British English language we call the place with the grass and trees and shrubs a garden and the back of the house the yard. In American English? Always puzzled me what do you call a garden?

The yard behind the house is calle the backyard. Gardens can be flower or vegetable, or rock or cactus or whatever and it's situated in your yard, Unless your house is for sale in which case you'd say "grounds", hoping to fetch a better price from the punters. . Fruit trees are in orchards, unless you only have a few and then they're just fruit trees in your yard.

[Naam]

a yard has grass, a garden is made up of flowers and trees or veggies and no grass.

that's the definition in the Greatest Nation on Earth™ but not in old Europe (don't know about the Brits though). i had a "yard" without vegetables and flowers when living in the U.S. where i never had a "yardner" to mow my lawn but a "gardener".

[Dr. G]

I recently cut down a few trees in my yard because they were either diseased, attracked swarms of red ants or dropped massive amounts of leaves/fruit on my ground. I am now looking for something that can replace them without doing a lot of the same. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have heard that Rain Trees are nice but my lot is not large enough for such a size.

Thanks

Had you considered eucalypts? Hardy in this climate, no fruit and will retain their leaves if watered well. Red ants don't like them, and they look attractive too. Some nice lemon scented gums or ghost gums.....MM

eucs... burn great

g

[lannarebirth]

a yard has grass, a garden is made up of flowers and trees or veggies and no grass.

that's the definition in the Greatest Nation on Earth™ but not in old Europe (don't know about the Brits though). i had a "yard" without vegetables and flowers when living in the U.S. where i never had a "yardner" to mow my lawn but a "gardener".

Ah! It's one of those things that makes you go hmmmmm.

[Maejo Man]

(don't know about the Brits though). i had a "yard" without vegetables and flowers when living in the U.S. where i never had a "yardner" to mow my lawn but a "gardener".

Maybe not a yardner, but when I was young we had both a Yardsman and a Groundsman As I said...depends on your origins and where you were on the totem pole....

[cmsally]

Err.. back on subject

Rose apple trees (ma meeo variety) are good as the leaves are so big you can just pick them up by hand.

Teak trees shed all their leaves at once, saves constant sweeping

Jampi & Jampha (or however you spell it) don't seem to drop too many leaves.

Frangipani, not many leaves and smells good.

There are a couple of trees that have thick green foliage that I don't know the name of. One in a garden close to me and another kind they have at Love at First Bite - afraid I don't know the names of either. Neither of these trees seem to shed their leaves. Will try to post a picture.

[Ajarn]

Palm trees and so called banana trees, the latter of which are fast-growing, don't make a mess and look nice.

The only mess they make is their continual rooting all over. I planted three banana trees, which when they were ready, turned into twenty rootings, effectively destroying anything else I plant in the area... The Palm trees were slower, but with a similar effect...

[sbk]

Thats the nice thing about the travellers palm, ajarn, they send out pups (really, that is what they are called) but are not nearly as prolific as the banana. Also, you can dig the travellers palm pups up and give them to your friends.

My tree (the one pictured in my post) was planted about 5 years ago, and was a bit under 2 feet high when planted.

As for the yard/garden argument. Whatever. It was hardly what the OP was interested in, in the first place. If you can't figure it out, or if it really matters that much to you, then you probably aren't that much into gardening anyway.

[cmsally]

Wasana, doesn't really look like a proper tree but gets to a good height and has big long leaves.

[sbk]

Whats a Wasana tree?

Also, should make a quick note: the Travellers Palm is also called the East West Palm and will orient its branches east to west. Didn't believe it until my tree (which was not planted east-west) rotated itself so that the leaves pointed to the east and west.

[earlofwindermere]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm not a big gardener so I'll have to look up a few of the names that you gave me. For those who may be interested, I cut down a rose apple tree and a mango tree. Both attracted a lot of red ants which was a problem as our yard/garden tends to be a gathering point for a lot of young kids (mine included). Both also dumped a lot of leaves and fruit. Several times, the mangos just barely missed falling on my son.

[sbk]

The fruit and sap attracts the ants.

A good decorative tree with some leaf drop (but not much) is the Chong Ko (in Thai)--Bauhinia x Blakeana or Hong Kong Orchid Tree. Make sure you get the one with the big purple flowers as it doesn't seem to produce seed (its a sterile hybrid cross--the species has nice --but smaller-- pink flowers). It has distinctive bi-lobed leaves and grows to about 20-40 feet tall.

[chownah]

Eucalyptus are famous for huge branches falling off and killing whoever happens to be underneath them.....teak trees shed alot of huge leaves over a long period of time which is a problem that bamboo has also.

Couldn't you make a concrete tree and put vinyl leaves on it?

chownahhaha

[jackr]

Also, should make a quick note: the Travellers Palm is also called the East West Palm and will orient its branches east to west. Didn't believe it until my tree (which was not planted east-west) rotated itself so that the leaves pointed to the east and west.

Same here. Had ours perfectly in line with the fence and she turned herself around. Really sprung up fast in the last couple years although not quite as striking as yours yet, sbk.

The Royal Poinciana is a beautiful tree, providing lots of colour and shade, although tends to spread right out when fully grown and I fear you'll spend a lot of time picking up. There's a few of them in our moobahn and they're gorgeous when in full bloom.

[tigerbeer]

Also, should make a quick note: the Travellers Palm is also called the East West Palm and will orient its branches east to west. Didn't believe it until my tree (which was not planted east-west) rotated itself so that the leaves pointed to the east and west.

Same here. Had ours perfectly in line with the fence and she turned herself around. Really sprung up fast in the last couple years although not quite as striking as yours yet, sbk.

The Royal Poinciana is a beautiful tree, providing lots of colour and shade, although tends to spread right out when fully grown and I fear you'll spend a lot of time picking up. There's a few of them in our moobahn and they're gorgeous when in full bloom.

planted 3 of these in the garden. 2 of them growing really quick. hope to see flowers next season when it blooms. !