Be aware that while the Grewia can be kept fairly narrow if trained as an espalier, if not so trained it will grow as a wide bush. I'd suggest starting off with espalier trained 5 or 15 gallon size from the nursery. This shrub may also drop some foliage in your freezes, but is generally safe to use as an evergreen hedge if you seldom drop below 27ðF or so. Your much warmer winter days may give you better evergreen character in winter, they can tend to thin out a bit in colder winters here in northern California. As to amending your soil, it depends on what you have to start with. First thing is to dig any planting pit at least 2 to 3 times wider than your container size, but no deeper, and flood test to see that water drains fully within a couple of hours. I generally do amend the backfill 50% with aged compost or similar, but current horticultural research says this is unnecessary, and a surface application of compost as mulch is more beneficial, repeated once or twice a year. I'd suggest you get a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book as a good general reference for your gardening and plant questions, it should answer most any gardening question you might have.

Deciduous choices: 1. A small native tree, cercis occidentalis (Western redbud). Gets to about 15 feet. Usually grows as a multi-trunk. Usually blooms better inland where it gets colder. Attracts hummingbirds. Doesn't bloom heavily near the coast where I live. Rounded shape and leaves. Well-behaved rootwise. Mine is 5 feet from our pool. 2. Chaste tree (vitex agnus-castus). Great, reliable summer bloomer, even near the coast. Attracts hummers and butterflies. Roots well behaved--ours is also 5 feet from the pool like our cercis occidentalis. To about 15 feet. We've grown ours as a multi-trunk. Some people like to keep the tree trimmed as a large shrub. (You can see a small portion of the Western redbud in the foreground to the left.) 3. Forest pansy redbud (cercis canadensis). This one blooms better (at least in my location) than my native redbud.

I went with 3 crepe myrtles from a local nursery. They fit the bill as far as lower branching (check), nice glossy foliage (check), good fall color and nice bark. They were also relatively inexpensive. The $64,000 question is will they bloom in this spot, with intermittent morning and afternoon sun. I think I'll be OK either way, although of course I'd prefer them to bloom. I looked hard to dwarf or Asian forms of Mountain Ash but couldn't find any (I went to 3 pretty big nurseries south of Seattle) that met the bill (I really wanted to stay under 2o feet of height and the most common European and American mountain ashes get larger than this). Ironically, it is evident that my crepe myrtles are somewhat water sensitive (I suspect they are potted in a potting mixture that is too dry). In the mid-Atlantic (where I used to live), they were legendary for their drought & heat tolerance. The ones I have, I suspect if they went 8 or 9 days without water, they'd be dead. They'll be planted soon. Goofy

Thanks Ken, I'll do some more research online. I agree, I'm not looking for a very fast growing tree as I know the problems with such trees. I'm fine with 2-3' of growth each year. It just looks like most Oaks will outgrow my yard, probably not while I'm in the house but I don't want it to be a problem for the next owner. The tree would be 20-30' from my house and my neighbors. I would be sold on the Blackgum but they are hard to find and hard to transplant. I'd hate to waste another year on a Blackgum that ends up dying, but maybe I'm worrying too much. As for the Shantung maple, I don't need to plant anything under it, but it may be somewhat close to a stone patio I will install in the near future, so I wouldn't want the roots to become a problem with that. So I think I'm between Blackgum and Shantung Maple now. Eastern Redbud is another option, but from what I read they are relatively short-lived. Am I right in avoiding Oaks due to the size? Or will it look ok 30-50 years from now towering over my house?