Planting a tree

Chai, I had missed your last big post! Are you planning on having a lawn? I'd consider getting enough good soil to cut into the clay all across the 'yard' portion of your lot. Make sure to add a lot of good dirt for the tree. You'll dig (or someone will) a hole twice the size of the rootball. That should be filled with good dirt. But even better, since it's all dug up already, consider digging the hole even wider and deeper to add good soil. Does your yard puddle after hard rains?

oooo boy!

You're giving me a lot of credit littlek.

from the time I got the house until now (was working on house all this time) was simply a wasteland of whatever happened to push itself out of the ground. Once in a while Mr. Tea would run a mower over whatever was there. This is all virgin territory, nothing has been salvaged (and boy am I one happy camper).

The only "lawn" area in front will be that 12' by 10' area where the tree will go, and honestly, I'm going to make every attempt to minimize grass there. I am hoping to establish things like phlox and lantana and other stuff you can't kill if you tried....all of the little perennials I'm starting from seed I picked out with the eye toward low low low maintenance.

This year, I'll have to plant annuals I know. That's fine.

Yeah, the area for the tree will need to be dug out pretty good and fairly deep, and replaced with soil.

neko nomad - vitex - that's pretty, I'll have to look that one up.

Chai - good for you for minimizing the lawn area.

why?



just curious, I mean, besides the fact I think grass is boring and you have to cut it and everything.

Is that a good idea from a gardeners standpoint?

Lawns are evil.

They're pretty but they require evil chemicals and fertilizers and you have to water them and mow them and for something so green they're not green at all.

If you catch my drift.

I already flogged vinca for that area, right? I'm totally in love with mine, it fills shady, difficult areas like nobody's business, is really hardy, and has pretty little flowers to boot.

oh yeah, vinca's gonna be someplace.

Yep, soz answered just as I would. grass can be gorgeous, but mostly it ends up looking pretty bad. It needs very specific conditions to be happy (NOT central texas) and even then it still needs a lot of maintenance

You can get vincas in different flower colors and with variegated leaves.

Chai: If you're willing to spend $1,000 on a tree, take your time and do some research. Here's a tree book by a Dallas organic horticulturist Howard Garrett.
I think it's a good idea to to with a tree that's native your area, Austin, perhaps a cedar elm or ash.

Thanks Coulber.

Looking at the links linkat provided, I notice the Mexican Plum has all the attributes I want. It likes dry weather, not pests or trouble to speak of, and doesn't get too big.

It not that I want to spend $1,000. this is a number Mr. Tea mentioned.

I've been happily married long enough to know which hills I'm willing to die on, and how to time questions/comments on these matters.

If it comes down to spending that much money and keeping a happy partnership, so be it.

If it turns out we don't have to spend that much, so much the better.

I'm going to check out some nurseries about Mexican Plums.

I'll be honest with you, I don't think I would get anything out of that book. Reading the description and saying how it'll help you identify hundreds of trees and discussing their attributes and care made my eyes glaze over. I take care of my things, and would keep a tree healthy, but to me most trees look alike. Green stuff on the top and some brown thing going into the ground.

Mother Nature I'm not.

The original idea of a house (manor house, natch) surrounded by expanses of grass was to demonstrate to the neighbors that you could afford to have an acre or so of land that had to be taken care of even if it didn't produce a useful crop or support grazing animals.

I understand that many of the Stately Homes of England graze sheep on their greenswards when the tourists are not tromping through. Mutton and wool both provide money for upkeep.

Yes, I just can't keep up with the maintenance of this anymore....



Well, I just found out a Mexican Plum only lives like 20 years....back to the drawing board.

Mexican plum is a beautiful tree, and it's blooming this time of year.

I haven't read this entirely thoroughly, but it sounds like you are looking for a tree to shade the house and that it will be planted on the north side, which gives me pause... but perhaps I misunderstand. More likely the house will shade the tree.

On live oaks - I have no experience with central texas, where you mention they are abundant. In California, we take a lot of care of them, and have gone to extraordinary effort to not position soil or concrete over existing tree roots, and to not dig around the roots generally, and have good drainage. There are a lot of guidelines for how to water newly planted ones (garden water until established, and then cut water down to natural rainfall) and which plants to grow under them (a relatively short list, if any), with suggested mulches only. Your humidity is different there, so I've no idea how much of that applies. I know less about other oaks, as they're not prevalent in my old LA area.

Various Ash trees (Fraxinus) grow well here in Albuquerque, and like Coluber, I'd consider looking at those. I'm looking at Vitex myself for my yard.... there are some nice ones at our local botanic garden.
On Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia), we in LA were wary of planting them too close to the coast because of a fungus they tended to get with the humidity, but there are recent (oh, last 30 years) hybrids that grow both taller and have considerably less tendency to get the fungus.

I don't know what level of tree nurseries Austin has.. some of our california nurseries have very knowledgeable staff re which plants are good for which situations in a local area, and - alas - some don't. If you find a great/knowledgeable nursery, be sure to mention your clayey soil when you do talk with them.
I agree with Coluber's comment about looking toward trees native to the area.

D'oh, it just occurred to me... local botanic garden. Do you have one? That could be a useful visit, given that they label the trees. (They are amazingly miserable at that at the Abq Bot Garden, I couldn't believe how little signage.)



On natives, I'm not a purist on that, but I'd sure look at natives to the LOCAL area first. For example, it doesn't help someone in LA to know that a certain sequoia (redwood) is a california native - the climate of, say, the north coast redwoods, is waaaay different.

yeah, I know it seems weird that the house is facing South and that where I'm putting the tree...

However, the sun shines on the front of the house until mid-day, and it's plenty plenty hot by then.

Also, I need Something, since there is not tree out there now. I live in an old established neighborhood, and it's strange to see a house without a tree.

Actually, we started looking at the 2strees my neighbor to the west has in front of his house.. I remember when it was planted, and it's pretty big now.

He just sold the house, so we'll call him and ask him what kind of tree it is.

I'm all for a tree, in any case.. I didn't realize the sun would be directed at the front of the house for part of the day. Would be neat if it was the same tree as the neighbor's, would give the group a "grove" effect - at least from a bird's eye view.

Texas Mountain Laurel is another beautiful small tree native to the Austin area although it's slow growing and would be expensive to plant a mature tree. Here's a website. Mountain Laurel

Next time you are driving north on Lamar and you pass the other half of Pease park, where the sharper turns are??

Look at those tall skinny trees.
THey have huge tops that appear to offer alot of shade, yet grow straight up so you wouldnt have to worry about pruning it away from the house, or having to remove it all together because it is growing right into the house.

They are native ( i hope ) and grow between each other well which tells me they dont need 100% , 24 hour texas sun.

Do you have space for this Texas native Magnolia grandiflora, or Southern Magnolia:



I'm pretty sure you can see see a specimen or two on the UT campus.

Click picture for a TAMU listing of others to consider.