greetings,

our landscape architect has picked the following trees to use in/around
our patio/pool area. would appreciate any comments...

1) 3 betula nigra 'duraheat' (river birch)
2) 1 magnolia butterflies
3) 3 lagerstoemia indica 'dynamite' (crape myrtle)
4) 1 acer pal. diss. 'ever red' (laceleaf japanese maple)
5) 2 ilex x. 'mary nell' (holly 'mary nell')

i'm a bit concerned about size of a few of the trees. the manolia will
be w/in 4 ft from our 2nd story deck. 1 of the birches will be w/in
8-10 ft from the deck.

thoughts?

thanks.

wrote:
greetings,

our landscape architect has picked the following trees to use
in/around
our patio/pool area. would appreciate any comments...

1) 3 betula nigra 'duraheat' (river birch)
2) 1 magnolia butterflies
3) 3 lagerstoemia indica 'dynamite' (crape myrtle)
4) 1 acer pal. diss. 'ever red' (laceleaf japanese maple)
5) 2 ilex x. 'mary nell' (holly 'mary nell')

i'm a bit concerned about size of a few of the trees. the manolia
will
be w/in 4 ft from our 2nd story deck. 1 of the birches will be w/in
8-10 ft from the deck.

thoughts?


None of them would be good choices if you live near the artic circle, or
at the equator. Without knowing something about where you might fall
between those extremes, it's hard to offer much useful comment.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Clean-up your yard this spring with Black and Decker tools:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blac...ker/index.html

i live in Northern VA (zone 7-8 i believe). i'm a bit worried about
the size (height) and if the roots are particularly invasive as they'll
be near some concrete pavers that we'll be putting down.

wrote:
greetings,

our landscape architect has picked the following trees to use
in/around our patio/pool area. would appreciate any comments...

According to the Sunset Western Garden Book.

1) 3 betula nigra 'duraheat' (river birch)

50 to 90 ft tall and 40 to 60 ft wide

2) 1 magnolia butterflies

to 20 ft tall and to 15 ft wide

3) 3 lagerstoemia indica 'dynamite' (crape myrtle)

this particular one is not in the book but the sizes vary widely

4) 1 acer pal. diss. 'ever red' (laceleaf japanese maple)

a 7 ft mound

5) 2 ilex x. 'mary nell' (holly 'mary nell')

this particular one is not in the book but they vary from a small shrub
to a very tall tree


i'm a bit concerned about size of a few of the trees. the manolia
will be w/in 4 ft from our 2nd story deck. 1 of the birches will
be w/in 8-10 ft from the deck.

The birch, magnolia and the maple all lose their leaves in the fall. I
wouldn't want that anywhere near my pool.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

On 7 Mar 2005 18:16:21 -0800, wrote:

greetings,

our landscape architect has picked the following trees to use in/around
our patio/pool area. would appreciate any comments...

1) 3 betula nigra 'duraheat' (river birch)
2) 1 magnolia butterflies
3) 3 lagerstoemia indica 'dynamite' (crape myrtle)
4) 1 acer pal. diss. 'ever red' (laceleaf japanese maple)
5) 2 ilex x. 'mary nell' (holly 'mary nell')

i'm a bit concerned about size of a few of the trees. the manolia will
be w/in 4 ft from our 2nd story deck. 1 of the birches will be w/in
8-10 ft from the deck.

thoughts?

thanks.
LA's tend to think in terms of how the yard will look tomorrow, not in
ten years (those with lesser skills, at least). They put potentially
big trees where they will not fit when mature, squeeze three plants in
where one mature one will be crowded, and sometimes choose plants that
are more pretty than sustainable (due to soil issues, weather, or
whatever). Perhaps it's not always a bad way to go--you can always
thin out two plants later--but if you plant a big tree within 4' of
your house you'll just be planting a lifetime's worth of headaches for
yourself or any future residents.

On a related note, the quality of the installation is questionable for
many tree transplants. Trees that are planted too deep, or with the
burlap/wire basket intact, or with codominant leaders, or with
girdling roots are nothing but income for removal companies and
replacement plantings a few years down the road.

To improve your odds, learn a bit about choosing a good specimen and
planting it correctly, and do it yourself or supervise those you hire
(a year guarantee won't cut it when you're talking trees most of the
time). Further, a sapling will be less prone to many of the common
problems and will establish in the native soil quickly, and will
overtake the larger, slower-to-establish trees within a few years, so
save your money and get young trees.

See consumer info brochures on these and other tree topics at
www.treesaregood.com

good luck,

Keith Babberney
Isa Certified Arborist

it seems the birches are definitely too large for the area. can
someone point me to the single trunk variety of the crape myrtle? i
believe this is the species that is used around our town hall building
and something that would fit the bill.

thanks!

All great choices for our area, all great cultivars as well. Duraheat is a
fantastic variety which you will love.

That's a tad close for the magnolia, although it's a dainty tree and will
take a long time to encroach. It's amendable to pruning, however.

The dissectum Japanese Maple is a tad cliched in our area now. (overused,
ubiquitous).


--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
email:
http://beyondgardening.com/Albums

wrote in message
oups.com...
greetings,

our landscape architect has picked the following trees to use in/around
our patio/pool area. would appreciate any comments...

1) 3 betula nigra 'duraheat' (river birch)
2) 1 magnolia butterflies
3) 3 lagerstoemia indica 'dynamite' (crape myrtle)
4) 1 acer pal. diss. 'ever red' (laceleaf japanese maple)
5) 2 ilex x. 'mary nell' (holly 'mary nell')

i'm a bit concerned about size of a few of the trees. the manolia will
be w/in 4 ft from our 2nd story deck. 1 of the birches will be w/in
8-10 ft from the deck.

thoughts?

thanks.

hi david, what would you recommend as an alternative to the laceleaf?
this tree will be at the far end of our pool and considered sort of the
"showcase" tree. i agree, something on the exotic side would be
preferred here.

thanks!

The duraheats will get abit large...the others should be OK as long as you
maintain them

--
Mike LaMana, MS, CTE
Consulting Forester & Arborist
Heartwood Consulting Services, LLC
Toms River, NJ
www.HeartwoodConsulting.net

wrote in message
oups.com...
greetings,

our landscape architect has picked the following trees to use in/around
our patio/pool area. would appreciate any comments...

1) 3 betula nigra 'duraheat' (river birch)
2) 1 magnolia butterflies
3) 3 lagerstoemia indica 'dynamite' (crape myrtle)
4) 1 acer pal. diss. 'ever red' (laceleaf japanese maple)
5) 2 ilex x. 'mary nell' (holly 'mary nell')

i'm a bit concerned about size of a few of the trees. the manolia will
be w/in 4 ft from our 2nd story deck. 1 of the birches will be w/in
8-10 ft from the deck.

thoughts?

thanks.

yep, got a few of those in the plan for the yard further out as they're
quite large fully grown. was looking for something a bit smaller
(20-30ft or so?). too bad citrus trees don't grow well here. a nice
lemon or orange would be cool.

so my research has put me at replacing the 3 birches with

2 tibetan cherry (love that bark)
1 japanese snowbell

still haven't found a replacement for the jap maple at the far end of
the pool. what variety of maple do people like here? i looked at the
harry lauder walking stick but the foliage wasn't particularly
attractive to me.