Tree suggestions for front yeard close to sidewalk

Hello all,

we need tree suggestions for the front of the house, close to the sidewalk, we are looking for a fast grower, good in hardy mud soil, pyramidal shape kind of, so it doesn't block the sidewalk with branches.

Please send in your suggestions, as we plant to do this on the weekend

thx

 

Hollywood Twisted Juniper is easy to control and grows fairly fast.
Are you looking for something with more color like Crape Myrtle?

 

If you're ok with a deciduous tree, Cottoneaster is nice and grows in a confined columnar shape. Otherwise, second the Crepe Myrtle and Junipers, they're lovely trees. You might also look at Cedars of some sort...

 

don't like those 2 from what have read. We need something that will grow fast and furious

 

With that in mind, maybe make arbors and grow grapes up them. That's good shade, and they're totally trainable. Plus, fast growers.

 

Crape Myrtle is out anyway, unless you want a tree the behaves like a dieback perennial.

Any tree will block the sidewalk with branches if it's not pruned correctly. Many people assume that the tree they get from the Garden Centre need only be planted then never touched again. 10 or 20 years down the road, those same people end up cutting the tree down because of aesthetic reasons or safety hazard, a situation that could have been prevented with a forward thinking pruning regime (limbing up being the most effective, followed by bad structure correction).

Finally, how big do you want this tree....fast growing usually equals big tree, though there are exceptions.

 

How big? Between 70-100 feet, as this would now be going in the backyard, I have planted something more smaller in front now

So suggestions please for a fast growing tree for zone 5, that might attract birds like the hummer please


cheers

 

Try Aesculus flava (Yellow Buckeye), that has flowers attractive to hummingbirds.

 

What did you decide on for the front?

 

What are some dimensions?

You asked some questions that pertain to blocking or not blocking, but I did not see measurements or distances.

How big are the spaces? How far apart? Etc..

 

The backyard is 50ft wide and 40ft long

 

I made a flower bed close to the side, and on it I have an hibiscus plant, bee balm, cardinal flower, rubeckia, and on the other side of this, I have a snowball tree

 

Sunburst Locust grows fast. It's a nice shade tree. It grows about 45m high. It is not a cone shape tree. I don't think hummingbirds are attracted to them. Your flowers sure will do the trick! Don't they?
Linden trees are very fragrant when they bloom and grow in a cone shape. But they grow slowly. Mine is 13 years old now and when I bought the tree it had a good size trunk. It is only maybe 15-20 ft. high now.
Good luck in your decision.

 

Tulip tree, Black Locust, and Catalpa apparently attract hummingbirds as well and are large fast growing trees. All have a short blooming period (same for most temperate trees) after which the hummingbirds will have no use for the tree until the next year.

 

The trees that attract hummers here are all too delicate for Z5, unfortunately. Otherwise, I'd say try Schinus molle, Tabebuia angustufolium, or some variety of Brugmansia.

And on second dash, the Brugmansia may be ok for you in Z5 if you have a sheltered place for it to grow. However, they're slower than Tulip tree, the Locusts, and Catalpa. The payoff is giant and fragrant trumpet-flowers after year 2 that hummers flock to. I have three cultivars, and they're all stunning.

 

Thx all....I settled for a ginkgo tree instead. It turns out my old sugar maple died due to over watering, and it was too deep. The root was rotten. I planted the gingko today, and it came with a sack wrapped around the root, I was told to drop it into the ground like this, and not too deep.

Apparently it's pest resistant, hardy, low maintenance

 

Ginkgo is a very nice tree. My mother's favorite. She said that they are very disease resistant. Just like you said.
:>)

 

Glad to hear it

 

I would stay away from Black Locust, but the Honey Locust are beautiful and I have 3 of them.

 

>Try Aesculus flava (Yellow Buckeye), that has flowers attractive to hummingbirds<

As well as large rounded fruits that would be quite a bother where there is paving, pedestrians and vehicles - once the large-growing tree is mature enough to flower and fruit, many years after planting.

A handsome tree, but like other large-growing Aesculus species not for every setting.

 

Ginkgos are beautiful pyramidal trees but they are slow to start so be patient. I came to this thread late and would have suggested Liquidambar styraciflua or sweetgum or some tree preapproved by your municipality for use as street trees because of the proximity to the sidewalk.

 

The ginkgo is in the backyard, along with a tulip tree and serviceberry. The only think I have on my front lawn now is an hibiscus plant that flowered profusely this past summer

 

The sack should have come off.

 

At the very least the string holding the sack should have come off.

 

No materials that will be penetrated by roots should be left in hole. Girdling may occur later, when roots constricted by fabric or wire that didn't rot or rust away in time, afterall.