Hi - I'm new to gardening in Boise, ID and I'm trying to find a medium sized shade tree appropriate for the area. I'd like something drought tolerant that doesn't drop a lot of extra stuff (berries, seeds, etc), and I'm hoping for something that will eventually get large enough to put a bench underneath. I've looked into Japanese Zelkova and Freeman Maple, but those both seem too large for my smallish backyard. I can't seem to come up with much that's smaller. The goldenrain tree looks good except for the amount of "stuff" to clean up. Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm in hardiness zone 6 and from what I understand, the soil pH here is generally between 7.3 and 8.4. I'd really appreciate any ideas you may have - thanks!
Not Elaeagnus, that's listed as an invasive weed in Idaho: http://www.invasivespecies.net/data...=sss&fr=1&sn=&rn=idaho&hci=-1&ei=-1&x=24&y=12 My suggestion would be Acer grandidentatum (Bigtooth Maple); native in Idaho, medium size (smaller than Freeman Maple, but large enough to shade a bench!), drought tolerant, stunning autumn colour. Some photos Tree: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bi-colored_Maple_Tree.jpg Leaves, summer: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bigtooth_Maple_Leaves.jpg Leaves, autumn http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:BigtoothMaple0309210085.JPG
Thanks for all the ideas! I love the bigtooth maple idea - I'll have to look into that more! The Freeman maple is enticing because of the fall color so it would be great to have that in a slightly smaller tree. Kada, I don't mind raking leaves since it seems a must with any shade tree, I just don't want to have to deal with too much other clean up since I'd like this to be fairly near the main seating area in the yard. I wasn't able to come up with much on sumac from a quick search so I'll see if that would work as well. I really appreciate your suggestions - of course, any more ideas are welcome!
How about a Syringa reticulata, Japanese Tree Lilac hardy zone 3-7, nice canopy tree, grows 20'-30' x 15-25' Cercis canadensis, Eastern Redbud is beautiful in the spring just full of bloom hardy to zone 9, grows 20-25 x 20-25. Tricolored Beech is also beautiful with its pinkish foliage (tricolored). Janet
Would also be talking about common purple tricolor beech and not extremely rare (extinct?) tricolor beech. Purple tricolor beech becomes mostly purple (copper in summer) with irregular pink edges as it ages, looking highlighted rather than three-colored.
