Best shade trees for the desert southwest OTHER than mesquite?

12 years ago

Hi everyone!

I have been gardening for only a few months now, but I am getting the hang of it. I live in Tucson, Arizona, where it is hot and dry. I live on about 1.25 acres near a wash in the foothills, so we get slightly more rain than they do in other parts of town, but it's still the desert!

My house was built in 1984, and I assume that's when all of the trees were planted. Lots of mesquite and a few pines. My front yard has some prickly pear cactus, mesquite, beavertail cactus, saguaro, and a big open space right in the middle.

I would love to put a great shade tree right there, but I am SO sick of mesquite and palo verde. Someone suggested a Royal Empress, which I had never heard of. I have seen tall trees around town that look like some sort of birch, and they're very pretty. I'm hoping for something that gets tall and full. I plan/hope to live in this house for many years to come.

Any ideas? Also, would it be okay to plant a tree now with 112 degree heat on the way in the coming weeks, followed by a monsoon season? Or should I wait until fall?

Any tips from the pros would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

-Rachel

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Comments (8)

tim_treenut
12 years ago
My brother used to live near joshua tree, Ca and he had a huge pinyon pine in his back yard. Definitely worth a thought.

Or what about some sort of palm? Sorry Im from Minnesota so this is something I dream about.
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
12 years ago
Hello Rachel, I spent a day in Phoenix a few years back.

The Desert Botanical Garden blew my mind. Even after spending a whole week in Vegas and Death Valley the diversity and color on display impressed me greatly. Get over there before the temperatures get life threatening. On the day I went employees were driving golf carts around handing out water and offering rides.

I assume your next planting season is late October so you have some time to plan.
Even if you don't find a shade tree I was amazed at the different flowering plants and mean to get back.

Here is a link that might be useful: Desert Botanical Garden
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Compiled from suggestions by various members of our forum. Mesquites are wonderful trees that provide lots of precious shade in our landscapes. They typically grow very large - to 30 x 30 feet so make sure you have enough room. There are also many other great desert-adapted tree choices, if you don't have your heart set on a mesquite. You might consider: One of the thornless Palo Verde hybirds (Sonoran Emerald or Desert Museum) Cascalote - fabulous fall color from spikes of yellow flowers that hummingbirds adore (yes some rose-like thorns) Sissoo - bright green leaves, upright growth habit Fruitless olive - low litter, no thorns Chinese Pistache - dark green leaves, red fall leaf color Evergreen Elm - dark green leaves, attractive bark That was going to be my recommendation. The Arizona Desert Museum a hybrid Palo Verde. Wonderful tree. Low litter. Very beautiful spring bloom, looks wonderful and compliments it's bright gree, "thornless" trunk. Very nice tree, and probably my favorite Desert tree. For trees that would blend in well with the natural desert up in that are you can't beat palo verdes and mesquites for shade. Palo Verdes (Blue palo verde, Foothills, Palo Brea or Sonoran palo verde and the thornless hybrids) - Most grow fast to about 30 x 30 except Foothills which is smaller (20 x 20) - Produce light or filtered shade - Gorgeous spring color with golden flowers Mesquites (Velvet, Honey & Chilean hybirds) - Most are large trees 30 x 30, and fast growers - Heavier shade - Produce edible bean pods that can be ground and used in baking, etc. - Some folks are sensitive to the pollen Ironwoods are great trees but grow at a slower rate. They are beginning to bloom now and have tiny pink to lavender colored flowers. Excellent wildlife tree The evergreen elm is very hardy, has a beautiful weeping form, with no thorns, grows fast and has a really pretty trunk. They are best grown with one trunk trimmed up high to account for the weeping form. The colder it is the more leafs they will drop-this winter most trees dropped all leafs, but they leaf out quickly in March. Chinese Pistache work very well in the valley-there are hundreds of very old, very large one's around. It's just about the only tree around here that give us the spectacular fall color we remember from back east-intense dark orange, red color usually right around Thanksgiving. They leaf back out in early April. I wouldn't call them fast growing, more like medium growing but they are very strong trees and are a great investment to your property. You should go walk around ASU. They have an example of almost every tree you can grow here at various growing stages. Two trees that I like, but require some H20 are the Southern Live Oak and Carob Tree. Dark barked big trees with large round canopies. The area around the Nobel Library reminds me of the East. There are large Oaks, Elms, and Honey Locs. Have you considered a Sissoo tree? They have a nice leafy look and though they can use lots of water for fast growth, they can also subsist on less. The color is fresh green but doesn't look out of place in the desert. Once they're well established they seem to be more cold-hardy, too. Mine only had a few browned leaves this winter and it was fairly cold. Leather-leaf acacia (Acacia craspedocarpa) - grows to about 10 feet tall with rounded gray-green leaves. Yellow puff-ball flowers in spring. Low litter. Hop Bush (Dodonea viscosa) - grows about 10 feet tall with bright green leaves. Has very tiny flowers. Low litter. Sugar Bush (Rhus ovata) - will reach 10 feet and has dark green leaves. Small cream colored flowers. Low litter. Arizona Rosewood (Vauquelinia californica) - reaches 10 feet or more wiht narrow dark green leaves. Clusters of white flowers in early summer. Can be mistaken for oleander at a distance.
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denninmi
12 years ago
I would go to a good local nursery/garden center and ask to talk to someone who is a professional in the field. NOT a big box store, NOT some little dumpy hole in the wall that looks poorly managed, and make sure the person you are speaking with and asking questions of has some training in the field, preferably a horticulture degree and at least some kind of certification from the state Nurseryman's association (assuming Arizona has one, it should).

Hopefully, a competent professional should be able to make some suggestions that are meaningful. If the nursery is a dump, and they sic some pimply-faced 17 year old part time high school kid or some kindly but uniformed older lady on you, leave and try the next nursery/garden center.
scotjute Z8
12 years ago
Rachel,
Tall and full can be a bit difficult to do where you are at.
Arizona Cypress and Afghan Pine are two conifers that grow at a moderate rate and do well in hot dry areas. Probably some of the pines you are seeing are Afghans. They tend to be more triangular to cone-shaped than full.
Prairie Flameleaf Sumac -will grow to 30'(15-20' is more common) and has exceptional heat and drought resistance.
Am drawing a blank on more deciduous trees. Most of the nice deciduous trees I am familiar with would need 20" or more of annual rainfall (example : Cedar Elm). The suggestions above are good except that the Pinyon Pine and Joshua Trees (type of Yucca)mentioned are very slow growing. Good luck/Let us know what you decide.
mackel_in_dfw
12 years ago
Pistacia chinensis is said to grow well in Tuscon. You could probably confirm that but I don't doubt it , having one myslef. It makes quite a nice shade tree, and it is the easiest tree you can imagine. It grows three foot a year or more with some irrigation, and has super strong wood. In it's second year, ours survived easily the great drought and heat spell of 2012, in which ten percent of all trees in Texas died. It needs pruning it's first few years due to codominant limbs. It's an ugly duckling that grows up to be a stunner. If you plant the male, there is no chance of it reseeding. It is a true earth friendly tree, needs little input from man, highly disease resistant, and puts on a show in the fall. It's deep rooted, wind resistant, and will survive on twelve inches of rain a year.
nsmith756
11 years ago
You should really check a nursery, not home depot or lowes but a nursery that specializes in plants for the area. Also, Tucson use to have a planting restriction because of the lack of water. No grass. That being said I really like the sissoo tree. It has an Aspen look to it. It is from Australia. It is tall, but not too tall. Just a real pretty tree.
wintercat_gw
11 years ago
I found this "Arid Plant List: an illustrated guide to common landscape plants used in and around the Tucson area"

It features Jacaranda Mimosifolia - lovely shade tree in my experience.

The list also features Edible Fig, which can get pretty big and broad, and serve also as a shade tree, though people don't tend to think of it as a shade tree.

I also discovered there's a Gardening in Arizona forum on Gardenweb. You may get some feedback there as well.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Arid Plant List
poaky1
11 years ago
Quercus Fusiformis is available at Oaks of the wild west in Arizona. Although I have many planted here in the east, they are a low desert native. I am getting 1 ft per year here so far, your climate is what they are adapted for, after a year or 2 of helping them with water til they are established,they may grow fast for you. They are zone 6 hardy for cold.

Best shade trees for the desert southwest OTHER than mesquite?

Comments (8)

tim_treenut

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis

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denninmi

scotjute Z8

mackel_in_dfw

nsmith756

wintercat_gw

poaky1

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