In article ,
"Ric" writes:
| I'd be grateful for suggestions for a suitable canopy tree to fulfill the
| following criteria in my house in south of France:
|
| 1. It will be near a swimming pool, so should not drop too much detritus
| (leaves not ok - a few flower petals or needles is ok). I'd like it to
| provide attractive dappled shade.

Any tree that has leaves will drop some, but there are trees that
drop very few.

| 2. It must be capable of living in south of France climate. Water will not
| be an issue as I have irrigation - but it gets hot in summer. The mistral
| winds can hit 40mph sometimes so needs to be fairly wind resistant.

Not a problem, and there is no need to irrigate suitable trees when
established.

| 3. I want to block out my neighbours view of my garden (no worries from
| their point of view - very friendly about it!) and so the ideal canoby shape
| will be about 8ft (2.5m) tall, 15ft (4.5m) wide, 3ft high. But if it gets
| bigger, not too much of a problem.

That is partially incompatible with the lack of leaves. You might
want to plant more than one tree to get the width.

| Grateful for ideas.

The Sunset New Western Gardening Book has some lists at the front
that would help, but many of the trees from Australia, the African
savanna and so on will match the requirement. You should be able
to get some with spectacular flowers.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.