--
Wanda
aka Willow
The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances
garden gnome
http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow

~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~
Adam wrote in message
om...
"Willow" wrote in message
...
I'm presently tossing up between a box tree (non--varigated), a weeping
mulberry & a dwarf sugar gum tree. The box is hardy, apparently fast
growing
& is fairly dense. The mulberry is dense, seems to be fairly fast
growing,
but requires a fair amount of water (not too sure about this), the dwarf
sugar gum grows to about 5m, is fairly dense & doesn't require much
water.
I'm after a tree or three that will spruce up my front yard, provide
summer
shade to the windows at the front of the house & is low maintenance.

--
Wanda
aka Willow

I've got a weeping mulberry in my backyard - it's a fantastic tree.
Hardy, great spreading head, plenty of fruit and doesn't seem to need
any more water than my other plants. The only problem I've got it that
the head is still fairly large for the trunk, so I've got to keep it
staked so it doesn't get knocked around by the wind. Another 6 months
or so should take care of that...
Also, the blackbirds eat most of the fruit.

Sounds like my kinda tree. My father used to tie ice cream containers & bits
of alfoil in his almond tree to keep the 28's at bay. It might work for the
blackbirds also, although I've heard that they're highly intelligent, so you
might want to change your methods regularly.

Some of the other suggestions here I've also tried, I particularly
like the Japenese Maples - I've got a small ( 4 foot ) weeper that
does pretty well.

if the front yard is a reasonable size, you could try a Golden Ash. I
put one of these in a couple of years ago, and it's only supposed to
be 5-7 meteres max. (Check the size, some Ash are huge ) It's a great
shade tree - deciduous so I get sun in winter - plus it looks
magnificent in bud - golden branches and black buds.

I tried Lillie Pillies, but they got some sort of bug (little lumps
all over the leaves ) plus they left quite a mess. Although I know a
few people who think they are fantastic, personally I steer clear of
them.

I kind of like the dwarf lillie pillies, but mostly as a border or in a pot.
I don't like them much as trees for pretty much the same reason as you, the
fruit, it makes a hell of a mess.

Good luck - let us know what you decided.

Ta. Apparently the local council can plant trees on the council strip at the
owner's request, giving the owner a choice of trees. I might throw some
suggestions at them & see what they say.