Hey I know about that park! My breed's group had a get-together there a couple of months ago. The short answer to the question, is it would be nice to replace what was on the land prior to it being cleared. I'm thinking River birch and sycamore which are very large trees, great for fast shade in a park setting. Red maple is another one you could use. Ashes would work. You have quite a few options that are easy to find.

I thought I'd just give you a few to avoid. Do not plant bradford/cleveland/aristocrat pear. Do not plant mimosa. Princess tree is another one you'd want to avoid.

Another thing to think about, at least until the trees have been in a few years, and the root systems are well established, is fencing the trees off so the dogs won't urinate all over them. One or 2, or 3-5, dogs in a home setting wouldn't make much difference, but with the number of dogs visiting a dog park, the day-in, day-out volume of urine might be enough to affect the trees, and probably not for the better, despite ammonia being a fertilizer of sorts. Having people standing right under them, to get the benefit of any shade, would compact the roots, so you might plan on a good mulch layer there, to mitigate any compaction. Planting the trees on small berms, so people can't stand RIGHT under them, but can get the benefit of the shade, might help with compaction.

I think your idea is great, and I like the idea of replacing the original tree population also. Planting a few trees outside the fence, on the south and west sides, might be an idea too.

Most states' Dep't of Forestry or similar dep't, offer free or low-cost trees in fall or spring. They are usually smallish trees, I think, but I may be wrong. Anyway, it's a thought...., maybe worth pursuing and getting on a list.

Georgia Forestry Commission is a great place to get seedlings if that is the size you want. And some of the seedlings can be 3 feet tall (not the pines, they are usually about 12 inches). Trees are shipped December through February, but they take orders July 1 (and things like Red Cedar sell out fast). I have bought trees from them about 6-7 times for Arbor Day projects and the quality is good. I have the trees shipped (free) to the Canton office and pick them up there.

I think Sycamore is a good idea and it is naturally found in the Alpharetta area. Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) is also a fast growing tree and naturally found in that area.

Here is a link that might be useful: GFC

The hybird plane tree (London plane) is tough, deep rooted, fast growing, and has a good shade tree shape/structure.

--Spruce

Different dog park, the one you are thinking about closed last month. We've been here for 9+ years but have mostly catered to K9 and working groups. We are now opening up as a more general park facility.

We didn't clear the space when we bought it, other than removing the vines and thorns from the main field. It had been a horse pasture for years so I'm not sure what would have been there prior to that.

I'm hoping to start out with some decent size trees, trunks about an inch or two in diameter. I think I will have to fence them off for a year or so, so will take that into consideration. I'm off to look up the trees suggested, thanks for the input so far!

Oh, and no ormamental pears around here, DH has a fruit tree grove, and will only have fruit bearing pears on the property!!

Annette

Our get together was at Royal Paws dog park.
Did that close?

Let me know if you have a hard time finding the trees you need. Retail nurseries in the area don't usually have sycamores or london plane and usually stuff in in a container and smaller than you want.

Dibbitt's point is an excellent one. These trees may be peed on many times each day and need to be protected from that.

Let us know what you come up with. Honeylocust might be another possibility too.

We need to repeat Dibbit's suggest of a mulch layer. Not only can mulch protect the roots from doggy urine, but will also greatly reduce the effects of foot (and paw) traffic. Be generous in the amount of space you devote to your mulched areas.

We have a row of about 20 Thuja "Green Giants" at the west end of the field. I like the London Plane but have vetoed it due to dropping those annoying ball thingies. I'd be the one picking them up so that's a no go!
I'm going to check out Twin Branch Nursery next week and see what they have of the suggestions here.
Annette

Oh, and yes, Royal Paws closed in April.

Annette

Annette, among the trees you might consider are, in no particular order:
River birch - I would get 'Heritage' as it is more attractive than the species, with whiter bark
Liriodendron - tulip poplar
Various oaks - including but not limited to; water, willow, red, chestnut, scarlet
Various maples - southern sugar, chalk, bigleaf, red
Sourwood
Serviceberry
Redbud
Various Magnolias
Cedar
Longleaf pine
Bald cypress

Shrubs could come from; (maybe mostly outside the fence?)
Calycanthus
Clethra
Itea
Hollies, both evergreen and deciduous
Viburnums

I will tell you where to get the trees from Dibbit's list.

River birch - Pikes, Lowes, just about anywhere ('heritage might be kind of hard to find though. Dura heat seems to be the more commonly sold variety nowadays.
Liriodendron - tulip poplar.......Lowes has some small ones
Various oaks - including but not limited to; water, willow, red, chestnut, scarlet....... Oaks are rather difficult to find around here in nurseries with the exception of Willow oak. And that is extremely overplanted. You can get pin oak at lowes, HDepot and you can get nutall oak at pike
Various maples - southern sugar, chalk, bigleaf, red...
You can find red maple practically anywhere and you can find Sugar maple at Pikes. You can't find "Southern Sugar Maple" too many places around here and need a specialty natives nursery, most of which in the region are in south GA or in Northern FL. Big leaf maple is a west coast plant good luck finding that although strangly I have one. Go figure.
Sourwood.... The John Deere Landscape supply on Mcginnis fry rd has some of these as does pike in suwanne. Pricey though.
Serviceberry.... Pike suwanee and the one at 141 and hwy9 at least they did a couple mos ago.
Redbud... Practically anywhere.
Various Magnolias....Pikes for the deciduous magnolias and for southern magnolia practically anywhere.
Cedar.... ? What kind of cedar?
Longleaf pine.... Not seen around here that is a coastal plain tree but you can find shortleaf pine, virginia pine, white pine (my personal fav) and also loblolly.
Bald cypress...Sometimes HD and Pikes has these.

I just thought of something - I would pick oaks, if you want one/any, from the species with smaller acorns, else you may have a litter problem, and a problem with slipping. I KNOW that water oak and willow oak have very small acorns.

If you want a water oak, I can send you several seedlings in the fall.