Current Tree Grower’s Diary Letters
Post your letters about trees here and I’ll do my best to help you find an answer! Keep in mind that I do not reply via email. I post my responses HERE in the hopes of SHARING with people who might have similar questions.
Disclaimer: I am not a tree expert, just a novice who has been studying trees for quite some time now. If you require an expert opinion, I suggest the forums over at TreeHelp.com or the tree forum at GardenWeb.
If you leave a letter, please state in the letter where you’re writing from so that we have a general idea of your climate zone. THANKS for all your encouragement and support!
Don’t forget to let us know where you’re writing from! City, town, or even a climate zone number will help! Thanks!
Their innocence and simplicity really get... on 
My family calls me "the mamarazzi."
Hi Julie,
Love your website, have learned quite a bit from it. I wanted to pick your brain for an idea for a replacement tree. I have an out of control weeping cherry in my front courtyard of my house that needs to go. The tree was never pruned properly before we bought the house and it just grew like a weed and became too large for the area growing over the house etc. I want to plant a slow growing ornamental type tree in it’s place and love the color of the leaves of the royal red maple, although I think this tree would be too large as well for the area, especially at maturity. Do you have any suggestions for a tree of similar color that stays small for a near house accent look? Let me know your thoughts. We live in southeast Michigan. Thanks.
How about a Japanese red maple?
what is the maple tree that is turning bright red this time of season? I want to get a few. And how big does the trunks get? and how tall?
Take a look at my red maple pages and see if mine look similar to the ones you’re seeing. I think you’re in Utah?
October Glory red maple
Red sunset red maple
Hi Jules,
Well, everything was getting nice when high winds hit on Wednesday morning. A giant Norway maple street tree on the extreme right side of my front lawn lost a major limb. Most of it fell into the street, although a portion butchered a newly planted (last Spring), 7 foot tall, Forest Pansy Redbud.
At the time, I considered this a minor loss, as it hadn’t really gelled very well with the dark color of my house. Nevertheless, the yellow color it had at the moment was pretty. So, the Department of Works come and eventually decide to take down the tree. It was 80-100 feet tall, a real big one. Well, they got sloppy about it, and had a large section fall flat square in the heart of my yard, destroying my European Hornbeam. This was one of, if not my favorite tree, rivaled only by the October Glory (safe, luckily). It was untouched by the initial crash, making it all very frustrating. Also, it’s tough to find a good one. Several nurseries are selling columnar forms now, that don’t look good to me.
Anyway, in the aftermath, the entire right sector of my lawn is a mess without any tree protection from the world. Thing is, I was always limited by the shade cast by the Norway maple, blocking sun from 3PM on, and forcing me to crowd trees in the area less shaded. Now it’s an open canvas, with plenty of sun. Trouble is, I don’t know what to get. I have a nice 5 foot European Hornbeam growing in the back yard from a Forest Farm stick for the last 3 years that might replace the lost one. My Russian girlfriend likes birches, and I’ve seen bore resistant “Whitespire” species on Forest Farms, but that would still only be a stick. I’m also worried about planting before the city grinds up the stump and makes a mess again. I really need a tree over there though. Oh, the humanity!
Oh nooooooooo! That’s horrible, Jeff! I’m so sorry that happened. Is the town going to pay for your new tree? I feel your pain about feeling “open to the world.” Man, that really stinks that they weren’t careful taking that other tree down. I love birch trees. Is that still being considered? And yeah, I’m with you, I’d wait until the city is out of the picture before I planted anything new. Good luck. And I’ll keep you and your tree family in my prayers.
Jules, I was told by one of the DPW men, that I should contact a person there for compensation. However, all I have managed to get so far is an answering machine, with no call backs. I’ve had trouble getting through to these people before, but eventually I get them. The whole story is well documented with pictures.
It’s tricky to figure out a price they’ll go for. The nearby nursery charges $229 + tax for Forest Pansy redbuds (same as the one lost), and $239 + tax for fastigiata form European Hornbeams (not the form I like). There are other places that charge $329 + tax for EU’s, but they aren’t like the one I had either. Of course, there are all sorts of costs that go along with this, transportation from nurseries, planting, not to mention the work of removing the old trees.
Another problem is if they want to pay me precisely for what I do to fix things up. I’m thinking about little trees now, assuming the city will put another street tree in eventually, but not a potential giant. Thing is, I can get several of these for under a hundred dollars, so it would help to be compensated for what I lost, not what I bought. Yes, I’m thinking about white barked birches. They are somewhat rare in nurseries due to the birch borer issue, and nursery stock is of a susceptible variety (Himalayan). Checking Forest Farms gave me the idea of Whitespire. I thought a clump near the outside of the house and a single trunk somewhere else would work. I’m going to need a “real tree” too though. My front yard is heavy in trees on the left and center and nothing on the right, making me think the yard will tip over some day
Keep me posted, Jeff. Aren’t there arborists who specialize in insurance claims relating to the value of trees? Seems to me the town should compensate you for the loss of the value of the tree they whacked.
Hi again Jules,
Well, you know, the tree wasn’t like a Central Park species or the like. For me, it was great due to its dense crown of leaves that shielded me from the neighbors porch when I stood at the front door.
I’m mainly trying to get replacement costs, including transportation and planting. I called Barton’s yesterday for quotes, and went over there early this morning in the rain. They had a few nice hornbeams and also forest pansy redbuds. The latter were still mostly red (my remnant is yellow already) and were clumps rather than single trunks. They were more dense than mine. There are a couple of other nurseries that carry the European hornbeams, but they’re more the “pole” type suitable as street trees. The claim is getting up there; 700 bucks easy, although I feel the loss is more like 2000.
I’ve been going the Forest Farms route somewhat as well. I’ve planted a 2-3 foot Whitespire Birch clump near the end of the house, and a tiny American Hornbeam in a place to shield an Alaska Weeping Cedar that took a lot of stress when first planted, and now is slowly recovering, but not pleasant to look at. My soil is very rocky, and I get a sore back everytime I dig a hole for these little guys
I have a few more little ones to plant (including an Eddie’s White Wonder dogwood), but the rain has really slowed me down.
I’ll let you know how it all works out.
Jeff
Hello!
I am looking for some advice on selecting a tree. I have a 90 degree angle between my garage and the main house. House and garage on two sides, the front sidewalk is the third side. Area between all of this is about 10′ across by 18′-20′ deep. The house is two story brick. I currently have a pear tree (no fruit, just small seeds). The height of the pear is way too tall, about 35 to 40′. It also is spreading out onto the garage roof, filling gutters, etc. The leaves are the last to fall, and the little seeds cover the sidewalk and driveway, creating a big mess.
I want to put some other type of tree that does not get as tall and not as spread out. Ideally something 12 to 15 high would be great. I have seen a Japoanese maple, and they are pretty. I live in a suburb of Chicago, so we do get some winter weather. The area would receive full sun until about noon. Then full shade the rest of the day. Any ideas?
Thanks
Tom McAlvany
Hi Tom,
I love Japanese maples. Do they grow well in your area? Hmmm, you might pose your question to the tree people at GardenWeb. Good luck!
Hi I have 2 questions, 1. I have a small green Japanese Maple and the ends are scorched is it because I have it planted with my Hydrangeas? And how big is your PB Purple Beech? I am thinking of investing in one.
thanks tons,
Peggy
Hi Peggy,
About the Japanese Maple: do you feed the hydrangeas to make them bluer?
About the beech: oh dear. My little tree died from water logged roots.
Yes, coffee grounds and miracid. I found out they need aluminum to turn blue. This year they are a green color my mother thinks it is beautiful. i will be getting some soon. aluminum.
How far did you plant the red maple from your house?
Which one? Japanese? October Glory? Red Sunset?
The Japanese is about 15 feet from the front door (I like where it’s planted).
The October Glory is about 40 feet from the back door (that’s a good distance from my house, but at about 20 feet from the neighbor’s house, it’s too close to theirs).
The Red Sunset is about 10 feet from the side of the garage (way too close).
[...] a full shot of my purple leaf plum, taken this morning, especially for Allison, who posted a question about the plum on the Tree Grower’s Diary letters page. Note for scale: the treehouse is 10 feet tall, about the same height as the arborvitae to the left [...]
Hi Julie,
I have been reading your website and have decided to plant a purple leaf plum despite your cautions. Is it possible to see a more recent picture? I am trying to pick the right spot in my yard and want to make sure I have enough space…
I’ll put a new picture up on the blog for you today, Allison. Check back soon!
Here you go, Allison.
Click here for a picture of my plum tree today.
http://www.juliewaltonshaver.com/blog/2009/09/15/late-summer-palette-of-my-backyard/
Hi Julie,
I live near Seattle, WA and my 6 yr. old Red Blood maple got Verticillium wilt and had to be removed. It was the certerpiece of a large perennial flower bed. I need a replacement that is not going to get huge, has an umbrella shape rather than verticle, does not have much debris and it would be nice to have some fall color. What’s your suggestion. It gets full sun most of the day.
Hi Pat,
Not being familiar with your climate, I suggest you post your question on the tree forums at GardenWeb.com. There’s some guys over there that really know their trees! Good luck!
–jules
Hi Julie,
Love your trees! Found your website while looking for more info on the little leaf linden tree. We moved into our west-facing, 2 story house just over 2 years ago.
We’re in Sunset Zone 17 in Northern CA. We’ve been wanting to plant a tree on the front lawn for much needed shade but choosing a tree has been harder than we thought. We’ve some front west-facing windows like yours that we need to shade. The tree will be planted in the lawn.
Some trees we love and considered were Red Sunset Maple (love the fall color but worried about surface roots), Gingko (love the fall color but too slow to grow), Chinese Pistache (love the fall color but too slow again). Yes, even though we don’t live in the east coast, we love fall colors!
Only recently, we read about the Little Leaf Linden tree and found your site while searching for more info. So far it seems to fulfill our requirements: no surface roots, some fall color, not too messy. It turns out that the little leaf linden tree is on the recommended trees list of most cities here.
Since you’ve had this tree for over 10 years, we were hoping you could answer some of our questions:
1) How far away from the house did you plant the tree? In your opinion, was the distance sufficient or would you plant it further away? From what we’ve read, since this tree can be 50feet, it should be planted about 20-30 feet away from the house?
2) How much debris (falling twigs, leaves, seeds) is there during spring,summer? Do the leaves fall gradually during fall and is it over a period of a few weeks?
3) Are the roots fairly well-behaved? No surface roots?
4) I think you mentioned that the girdling issue came from not digging a large enough hole when planting? How big a hole do you think is sufficient if planting a 15 gallon tree? We’ve read that the planting hole should be 3 times the size of the pot?
5) How tall and wide is your tree now? From the 2008 picture, it looks like it’s maybe 40 feet tall and 30 feet wide?
Thanks so much for your insights!
Elle
Hi Elle,
Well, I don’t know much about your growing zone, but I do love my linden tree. To answer your questions:
1) We planted our tree about 25 feet from the bay window’s farthest point. That was too close to the house. I wish we had planted it at least 10 feet farther out. Keep in mind that our ‘Greenspire’ Linden is a narrow variety. I’m not sure if you’re looking at a Greenspire or something else.
2) About debris — there is a lot. I went out today to check for you. Mike mowed the lawn just over a week ago, so he would have cleaned up all the debris then. So today, about 10 days and a few windy rain storms later, the yard under the tree’s canopy is covered with small twigs. Twig-drop happens regularly, year-round, but the only time leaves fall is in autumn. When the tree is blossoming, in June, the blossoms fall to the ground regularly. But I don’t see that as a menace. I think it looks pretty under the tree.
3) About surface roots — actually, there are many visible roots at ground level now, and not much grass under the shady canopy.
4) Dig a hole around three times the width of the rootball and you should be fine. Make sure it’s not too deep though. The tree should be planted no deeper than it was growing in the nursery. So look for the rootflare markings that show ground level, and dig the hole slightly shallower than that to allow for settling.
5) Your estimate is about right for the tree’s current height and width. How tall is a 2-story house with an attic? The tree is taller than the house, and the shade is perfect for the front bay window, shading that window spring through fall and making our living room a comfortable place to be and saving us thousands in cooling costs, I’m sure.
I love my linden tree. I definitely recommend it, as long as you’re aware of the potential for surface roots and twig debris.
Good luck!
–jules
Your story about the European Purple Beech has inspired me to plant a Tri-Color European Beech in my yard this past spring. Thanks for the photojournalism. It was a very moving story.
Hi Julie,
Just found your great website. I have a question about trees in Cape Cod. I have a 60×100 foot atlantis (that horrible weed which looks like a tree) grove. On one side of this grove is a new road which is hidden by the grove. In the middle of the grove I am going to plant a hedge of leyland cypress trees. I want to gradually get rid of the atlantis and create a real grove. There are a few black locust trees which grow wild here and I think are very beautiful. I love river birch. The grove will be in full sun when it is clear but once it is a grove it will be shady. Any suggestions for types of trees and ideas about how to position them?
Thanks.
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Thanks! The problem with Leyland Cypress is that people tend to plant them too closely together and don’t take care of them.
Please see:
http://forestry.about.com/od/treeplanting/p/bad_leyland.htm
http://www.mdvaden.com/leyland_cypress.shtml
For some alternatives, see:
http://forums.arborday.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3464&highlight=leyland
Good luck!
Hi Jules,
I was just glancing at your old tree site, and see something new, the tree calendar. I don’t see anything posted yet (although sometimes I have to go from Firefox to IE to see stuff). Just wondered what you were planning here.
Oh BTW, they went crazy planting trees in Linden this year, over 400 of them, I think. Most of the people don’t appreciate what they got. A few (6-8) even received European hornbeams of the type costing $250 at the nursery. Also, there were many serviceberry trees and Japanese Z’s. Most people don’t appreciate what was forced on them, and it annoys me
Jeff
LOL! I’ll have to take a ride over there to see some of these new trees, Jeff. As for the calendar, yeah, aheh, I started that years ago and never updated it. The plan was to keep track of first leaves, and fall color times, basic weather info. Life got in the way.
I’m not sure they are that easy to grow I too am concerned about the yellowing also they almost look like they need fed something.
I live in central Idaho Grangeville
Which trees are you talking about, Sandy?
Thanks so much for your arborvitae page. The pictures showing how the trees grow over time is exactly what I’ve been searching for!! Useful practical information with pictures that show how fast/slow they really grow. They’ll probably grow slower here in Denver but it’s so helpful to see real live examples for comparison. I’d love to see a 2009 update on them.
Yeah, I should do some new pictures. In short, the ones planted in full sun with little competition from surrounding trees are doing great. The rest, not so great. The one by the back corner of the house is 12 feet tall now. Wow!
My neighbor asked me if I can transplant 2 Arborvitae trees. They are about 4 years old,10 ft tall. I told him they would probably die. Is it possible to move them? If so, when is best time to move? thanks
I moved mine after they’d been in the ground for about a year and a half. It wasn’t easy. The roots of those trees are shallow, and spread out very far along the surface. You’d have to get a very large and deep rootball in order to keep as much of the root system as possible. Most of the ones I moved died, but they were probably destined to die anyway because I planted them in shade and competing with a big maple tree for water and nutrients. I think it’s POSSIBLE to move them, as long as it’s done very carefully, the trees are transplanted to an ideal location, the after-planting care is watchful, and you’ve got a lot of luck.
I moved an arbovitae (8-10 feet) a couple of years ago, and it survived Ok.