Recomend a tree for shade cover for a driveway

13 years ago

I am looking for a tree type recommendation for Zone 7, Long Island (temp extremes are 110F to -30F).

Since i turned my garage into a workshop I park my car outside. Being on Long Island there is plenty of sun so I was thinking of planting a tree that would provide leaf cover within a few years.

Picture of the drive and where I plan to plant the tree.

{{gwi:39902}}

What tree would provide enough shade cover in minimal years and would stay that way?

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Comments (9)

missingtheobvious
13 years ago
Which direction does the house face?
missingtheobvious
13 years ago
Well: that's bizarre. I posted my embarrassed realization that the OP's photo was a satellite view, and therefore the house faces south.

I saw the entire thread with both my posts -- and noted that there were two minutes between my posts.

Now the second post is no longer there.
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Ornamental Corinthian peach trees will work there. No root problems, all the branches grow upright and the tree will not overcrowd the space. There are several cultivars of these which bloom different colors. They do best planted in full sun and in well draining soil. You can choose from those which bloom pink, red, or white. quite beautiful trees year round. solid cover blooming before red colored leaves emerge. the red leaves change to green in the hottest part of summer, and then any new growh on the tips of the branches in Fall emerges out red again. Branches never thicken enough to cause weak crotch breakage problems. 'Franz Fontain' hornebeam trees would also work just fine there without producing damaging rooting patterns. These are quite nice trees, but while young stay extra narrow for quite some time. Still if you have the patience to wait they mature into a very nice still narrow enough tree. Both of these trees do well in full sun exposure, and will grow tall enough to provide the shading you want, with out overcrowding the area. Only thing about the Franz Fontain hornbeam tree, either be prepared for a really young 4-5 foot tall tree to take quite a few years to fill out enough to begin doing much of the shading you desire. If that is the tree you choose, then it is worth paying more for one that has grown and spread to the least size, that your patience will endure in the spot where you want it planted.
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q lobata is probably the biggest native tree for warm flat dry clay. they tend to spread. i don't think one would reach 70 ft tall. the leaves take a while to all fall off, so you'll do multiple sweepings if leaves bother you (gutters). [had a bizarrely huge crop of many oak acorns fall 2007, and i suspect the squirrels planted more than they could eat later. so I expect lots of seedlings (unless perhaps we get a horribly hot summer). ] sycamore, Platanus racemosa, gets tall when along creeks, but no one seems to plant it so maybe it drops large branches or has other offensive behavior. Acer macrophyllum, Bigleaf Maple seems to like more coastal/semi coastal, and be near creeks (very woodsy). I don't think it would reach 70 ft tall. but... http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/acer/macrophyllum.htm the hybrid walnut rootstocks get huge, but are only half native :-) (and not at all native to socal) IIRC, they have no fruit or very rare fruit. giant sequoia, isn't native to OC, but in southern sierras. doesn't like flat clay. tall and tall in proportion. seem slow. my impressions, but... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron#Europe "one young tree in Italy reached 22 m (72.18 ft) tall and 88 cm (2.89 ft) trunk diameter in 17 years (Mitchell, 1972)" santa lucia fir is nice looking. i think is very slow. might not tolerate warm clay. cedrus spp Araucaria (classic santa cruz monster tree) big cones, yep... some pines, but cones or clay may be problems. yeah, Macadamias are very nice looking trees. AFAIK need water to grow fast (or half fast), otherwise tough. (seem wide not tall, though) castanea sativa (i think they're slow. tend to look gawky when younger. begin flowering while still small. nice green leaves) Corylus colurna (I suspect slow, and a bit brillo looking in leafless season)
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Weeping Alaskan cedar is a full sized tree over 60' tall. Did you allow enough room for this, or are they going to overwhelm the house both physically and visually (if you are going for naturalistic will not want to be planting formal matching pairs or groups)? One I planted at the corner of my drive when I was a kid grew at least 2 ft. per year once established, some years it seemed like it might have gotten more like 3 ft. taller that year. In time it grew out over the road and began to become a bother, when I had most of the lower part of the property converted to lawn last fall the stump was something like 18 in. across - and too close to the road to grind out. Measurements of examples of the Van Den Akker clone of 'Pendula' (now listed as 'Van Den Akker' even though that is not what Van Den Akker sold it as) on a commercial site near Kirkland a few years ago produced heights of the order of 79 ft. The planting was identified as this introduction by a member of the Van Den Akker family and the measurements were obtained using a laser range finder. A section of the parking lots immediately east of the Edmonds marina has both paperbark and what look to be red - as well as some definite Freeman maples, with flame-shaped crowns - growing near one another. The former look in scale with the planting spaces and are covered in decorative bark all winter; the latter are all pokey, explosive and cement colored (except for reddish twigs) - and have been disfigured by removal of larger lower branches in an obvious attempt to keep them away from sidewalks and roads. Some of the Freeman maples are so scalped they might as well cut them down now - they are only going to get bigger and bigger, what are they going to do with them later? This post was edited by bboy on Wed, Jan 15, 14 at 14:40
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Or the birds will sit above your car and leave you little gifts, lots and lots and lots of little gifts. Which won't come off, causing you to swerve and curse while driving cause you can't see, then the police pull you over, and you get in a fight with them, where you get sprayed with mace, wrestled to the ground, thrown in a squard car, taken to the mental hospital, put in a staight jacket and you have to sit all day by a window...where you watch the birds leaving little gifts on the cars in the parking lot which causes you to start swearing and jumping around in your straight jacket and the orderlies rush in and wrestle you to the ground and stick you in the butt with a tranquilizer and prop you up where you see the birds...... Just say no. Tally HO!
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frumchkin
Original Author
13 years ago
Driveway does face south so the tree would get maximum amount of sun. Hopefully the tree and not the cars.

P.S. typed that before, must've pasted the picture over that.
krycek1984
13 years ago
Are you OK with a large tree? Or would you prefer a medium-sized tree?

To me, the main requirements are: Fast to medium grower; doesn't make too bad a mess; and strong/decently strong structure and growth pattern. I would assume that on Long Island, nor'easters and the occasional 'cane would blow a good wind.

Does anyone have any opinions on this? London Planetrees grow quite quickly and are large, but I don't personally think they provide the best shade.

An Oak would be wonderful in that spot. They grow medium-fast. What do you think about an oak tree?

A red maple could be nice, too.

Don't do silver maple, as tempting as it is. You will forever regret it.
feed_the_tree
13 years ago
I am impatient. You can plant a small tree, and sell the house before it reaches a decent size. I moved a 27 foot tall Colorado Blue Spruce from across the street by hiring a 90 inch spade tree mover. I looked up 'tree movers', and asked my local nurserys and arboretums to find a tree mover. I am a novice tree person, but it worked for me. Also, an easier way is to buy one at a nursery, they have some bigger trees they will plant for you for a fee. Go big = more shade and enjoyment.
tibs
13 years ago
No locust, they drop sap. Not a tulip poplar or a flowering pear, they drop limbs. No Ash, the Emerald Ash Borer is on the move, killing all Ash.
Sorry for just "No" answers. How about a car port? A trellised one with vines.
krycek1984
13 years ago
Not sure why some people have excellent luck with tulip poplars being strong and others don't. I have never known them to have weak wood at all. Of all the fast growing trees out there, it is one of the best.

It's not good for that site, though...aphids often attack it every summer and drop honeydew all over, to the point that it looks like it is raining black goo.

Oak or Red maple would really be best if you're looking for a large tree.

I also have never known a honey locust to drop sap.

Moving a 20' tree would most likely not be your best bet...there is a high failure rate for moving and transplanting such large trees.

There are some other medium sized, slightly more obscure trees that you would likely find in a local nursery. I would suggest going to the tree forum - they will be able to help you out more than we would.
User
13 years ago
Having the tree on the east side of the driveway would not give you afternoon shade and that's when you need it the most. Look at the shadows of the cars - the tree shadow will be the same.

Trees along the east edge of the driveway would give afternoon shade, and they don't need to be huge ones, just ones with a spreading canopy.
fanofgarden
13 years ago
How about a Kwanzan cherry tree?

I found a picture of it...
{{gwi:39903}}

Recomend a tree for shade cover for a driveway

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missingtheobvious

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frumchkin
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tibs

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Recomend a tree for shade cover for a driveway

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frumchkinOriginal Author

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