chokecherry
Trees are Cool and Harlequin’s Gardens is starting a two week 30% OFF Tree Sale to help with the Cooling. Trees, both the 30’-60’ big shade trees and the 15’-30’ trees are powerful allies for humans both for our survival and for our quality of life. Trees on the west side of the house shade our windows and house from the scorching late afternoon sun, which not only makes our life more pleasant, but also reduces our need for costly air conditioning.
Trees on the south side of the house are also very valuable for keeping our living environment cooler and more humid, and creating a supportive microclimate for other plants and their insect, bird and wildlife allies. Trees that shade decks and patios allow us to enjoy being outdoors in the summer.
This statement from our partners at Cool Boulder says it well: “Communities must begin preparing for climatic extremes. A host of scientific reports have underscored that the shading and evaporative cooling provided by trees and other plants will be an increasingly critical part of keeping communities safe and livable.”
So, for the next two weeks, July 28 through August 9, all our trees except fruit trees will be 30% OFF!
Native plants have always been a major focus for Harlequin’s Gardens, but there are not that many large Colorado native trees: hackberry, boxelder, cottonwood and willow, and those last two have some issues. Catalpa, Honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree and some oaks are a few big midwestern shade-trees that readily adapt to our dry and alkaline conditions. The large maples, pears, and oaks, from the eastern and central U.S. are adapted to more rainfall and soils with more organic matter, so they need our support to prosper here in the west. To support shade trees, we suggest planting varieties that are adapted to drier, alkaline soils, planting them with 30% compost, and 10 to 20% expanded shale for more oxygen and water-holding capacity. Provide a 2” layer of mulch.
When we look beyond the city limits of Colorado towns and cities, we don’t see trees except along ditches, streams and ponds. That is why we need to nurture trees like children for the first three years after planting; we need to care for them with determination so that they survive and thrive.
TREES ON SALE
Bald Cypress – Taxodium distichum
Hot Wings Maple – Acer tataricum ‘Hot Wings’
Russian Hawthorn – Crataegus ambigua
Chokecherry – Prunus virginiana
Bigtooth Maple-Acer grandidentatum
Dr. Klett’s Buckeye – Aesculus glabra ‘Dr. Klett’
Scarlet Curls Willow – Salix matsudana ‘Scarlet Curls’
Chinkapin Oak – Quercus muehlenbergii
Haystack Arbovitae – Thuja occidentalis ‘Haystack’
Skyline Honeylocust – Gleditsia triacanthos inermis ‘Skyline’
Ginnala Maple – Acer ginnala
Silver Maple – Acer saccharinum
Hackberry – Celtis occidentalis
American Linden – Tilia americana
Canada Red Cherry – Prunus virginiana ‘Canada Red’
Crabapples: Spring Snow, Dolgo, Prairie Fire
Catalpa speciosa – Northern Catalpa
Suckerpunch Chokecherry – Prunus virginiana ‘Sucker Punch’
Quaking Aspen – Populus tremuloides