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By AMY IVY, Cornell Co-op Extension
In my last column, I mentioned our lack of shade when we moved into our house 27 years ago. I remember how discouraged I felt at first.
We planted young trees to save money, and I looked at those scrawny 8-foot-tall sticks and wondered if I'd live to see them cast any significant shade on our house.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, take heart. The years have flown by, and now we have lots of shade, and we've had it for years. It's obvious, but the sooner you get some trees and shrubs in the ground, the sooner you'll have a mature landscape.
DON'T DELAY
New homeowners have lots of different expenses to juggle. You may be tempted to put off adding trees to your yard if your house needs more insulation or new windows. But I encourage you to set aside even just a little so you can get started on your landscape. A mature tree adds a lot to the value of your house in addition to your enjoyment of the yard and the shade cast by the tree.
Since trees are such a long-term investment, think carefully before deciding which tree to plant and where to locate it in your yard. I suggest you start by considering why you want a tree. To add interest to your front yard? To help cool your house in summer? To block an unsightly view or noise from the road?
Sorting out your motivation will help you choose the tree that can best fit your needs. If you want a one to help keep your house cool, pick something that grows tall and wide with large leaves to make a dense canopy. Since the afternoon sun is the hottest, choose a location on the south or west side of your house.
But don't forget about winter! This is when we usually want as much sun as possible to reach our house in order to benefit from the solar heat and light on those short, cold days. For this reason, do not plant evergreen trees on the south or west sides, or at least not close enough to your house that they will shade it in winter once they reach their mature size. Deciduous trees are those that drop their leaves in winter, and these are ideal in this situation since their bare branches let the winter sun shine through.
TREES DO GROW
And don't forget to consider the mature height and width of your tree. I'm sure every homeowner has made this mistake at least once. The trees look so little when you bring them home from the nursery, it's hard to imagine they'll ever get so big. But maples and oaks typically spread 45 to 50 feet across, while ash trees reach at least 40 feet across. Keep this spread in mind when you decide how far away from your house to plant each tree.
And think about it when you decide how closely to plant your new trees to each other. Try to give them enough room to reach their full potential. So if a tree spreads to 50 feet across, you'll want to plant them 50 feet apart.
Smaller trees are good choices for specimen plants for the front yard or to use in a grouping. Good choices for our area include Heritage river birch (many fewer pest problems that the white birch); serviceberry or Juneberry; a disease-resistant variety of crabapple; and Japanese tree lilac, to name a few.
One good way to get ideas of what to grow is to visit botanical gardens where everything is labeled and you can see mature specimens. The Montreal Botanic Garden is easy to get to and is a terrific resource for anyone interested in plants.
Amy Ivy is executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, Clinton County. Office phone numbers: Clinton County 561-7450, Essex County 962-4810, Franklin County 483-7403. Web site: www.cce.cornell.edu/ecgardening. E-mail questions to askMG@cornell.edu.
