Silver Maple Shade
This week all trees except fruit trees are 30% Off!
There is no doubt that trees help cool the Earth, and they also cool your yard and your city. Even if you don’t have room for a big shade tree, smaller ornamental and fruit trees keep the sun’s rays from striking the soil and warming it. Plants are a good energy investment, because they grow on their own and synthesize food from sunlight. Trees are even a better investment, because of their large photosynthetic capacities and because their value is multiplied over many years. Trees often out-live us, continuing their benefits for our children and the following generations.
Colorado doesn’t have many native shade trees. The best two for urban landscapes are Hackberry and Boxelder. Hackberry is the most drought tolerant big shade tree, growing 40’-60’ with strong branching and tolerant of loose or clay soils, and very cold hardy. Boxelder is actually a maple (Acer negundo) that grows 30’-50’ and is tolerant of drought and our alkaline soils. It is not a “trash tree”; if it is not overwatered, it is a very good tree for our landscapes and for its value to bees and birds. The variety ‘Sensation’ is a male selection that does not attract boxelder bugs or make seeds, and it has a red-orange fall color. It is fast-growing even at the edge of Harlequin’s parking lot.
Harlequin’s Gardens sells container-grown trees with smaller tops and complete root systems. Compared to field-dug ‘ball & burlap’ trees, our trees will fit in your car, are easier to plant, start growing right away, and need less water to establish. One of our customers sent this review: “People tell me they want to plant big trees; no you don’t. I bought 26 big trees from ____. They cost a fortune and only one of them is still alive. I bought small trees from Harlequin’s Gardens and they grew rapidly and one is already providing shade. You want small trees with big root systems.”
Everybody likes being in a community, including trees. So where there is room, plant your shade tree along with two or three shrubs or small trees. This plant ‘guild’ will help keep the soil shaded and moister, and the plants will share nutrients and biology, like in a natural ecosystem. Plant with one third compost and mycorrhizae, the symbiotic fungus that brings water and nutrients to the roots of plants. This month, current members get a free packet of mycorrizae to help establish plants in the heat.
Current List of Colorado-adapted, non-native trees available This Week for 30% Off : Bald Cypress, Hot Wings Maple, Russian Hawthorn, Skyline Honeylocust, Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, Dr. Klett’s Buckeye, Choice City Elm (not susceptible to scale), Scarlet Curls Willow, Chinkapin Oak, Bur Oak, American Linden, Sucker Punch Chokecherry, Ginnala Maple, Crab Apples: Prairie Fire, Dolgo, Spring Snow, and Silver Maple: unfairly maligned, it is the fastest-growing shade tree, therefore it needs pruning every three years to prevent breakage. Mikl says “A great tree for homeowners; not good for city maintenance. It made Mapleton Hill famous in the old days when trees were few.”
Here is a link to an article announcing NYC’s plan for Shade: The mayor’s administration unveiled NYC’s first-ever urban forest plan.