ficus, nursery and the winter frost

bbrenner_2007

16 years ago

We bought 8 ficus nitida from MV Nurseries 2 years ago. We lost 6 in the winter freeze )-8. I need to replace all the dead trees in my back yard - it's too sad to go out there!

We are looking for low maintenance shade trees for our yard - any recommendations? and most importantly, is there a decent nursery to purchase trees from in the north valley?

thanks for any input, I'm new to the forum

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Comments (7)

steelersfan
16 years ago
Summer Winds used to be pretty good but I haven't bought from them in awhile.
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
16 years ago
We bought a shamel ash from Summer Winds at Bell and 67th (?)Ave (somewhere around there, north side of Bell). They did a good job and I would buy from them again.

I thought we lost that tree to the BF (Big Freeze) but it is coming back after all. Lots of folks lost their ficus trees, sadly so. I lost a Royal Poinciana that we tried to baby through the cold nights. It's a bummer for sure.

Good luck.
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Hey there Miss Basilbird. I'm sorry I missed this thread last year if only because I missed saying 'Hey' to Laurazone5. Her posts are always interesting and full of usable information and she is a very nice person. That is not to say the rest of you are not nice people, too. Most of the people on this forum are good folks. LOL! I was able to acquire 10 frogs shortly before I broke my back and I distributed them in three separate parts of the yard. I haven't seen any of them but I know they are around because I heard them all summer long this year. I made the people who collected the leaves put some of them in strategic parts of the yard in case the froggies needed bedrooms so my neglect shouldn't be a disaster. DH hasn't noticed the leaves yet. I have had greenhouses of various types over the years and the interesting thing is that while I have had them damaged by the wind they have never been damaged by snow loads. The reason is that so long as the cover is reasonably tight the warmer air on the inside melts a thin layer of snow so the load is floating on a thin layer of snowmelt (water) and that allows the snow to follow the pull of gravity. It slides off before it can break through. I admit being a nervous wreck the first time my glass and aluminum greenhouse was subjected to a blizzard in Wisconsin but my fears were proved groundless. That is not to say that it is not possible, it just isn't very likely unless you built the greenhouse under the edge of the roof where there is a dropoff. The last time I tried to pull up Greg's website it did not have anything on it about his various designs although it did talk about his growing business. I was glad to see his success but now I can't send anyone to his site about the floating light bulb deicer. I am glad I bought one of his CDs when they were available. I made a deicer similar in concept to his and would be happy to tell anyone how it was made just so everyone knows it is a variation on a theme. I don't want to pass on a patented design if Greg managed to register it. I have my doubts that he was able to since I am sure I have seen similar contraptions used over the years. Mine certainly isn't as pretty as Greg's was but I didn't have the materials that he used at hand so I had to improvise my way around the construction much the way he did. In the end, I think the only similarity is we both used a light bulb as a heat source. I wish I could see the video you made. I'm going to see if I can find someone with an Apple. I still think your pond is great. I do think Laura is mistaken about the ledge being only a conductor rather than a collector of heat. So long as it is not totally engulfed by frozen ground it is a heat sink and will act as a collector of heat during any clear day and release heat at night. Even on cloudy days it is likely to be collecting heat from the ground below the frost line. The subject of heat sinks in construction is well documented. We became interested when we built our Earth Shelter house in Wisconsin. The river rock floor and the brick backwall in our greenhouse collected and retained heat that was released at night. It wasn't what you would call hot but it could be measured. I could never convince DH that we should put the cash into insulation for the greenhouse. It would have been much more effective. Sandy
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The Sissoo is a semi-deciduous tree so as long as it has been in the ground for at least a year, it should be fine. The Ficus is a different story. I have seen one or two very old, very large Ficus in Sun City that are beginning to show signs of new growth just underneath the frost damaged branches, but 99% of the Ficus I see everyday are still completely brown and nasty looking. I took the easy way out. I cut my old Ficus down replaced it with a 24" box Shamel Ash. The Shamel looks great, and itÂs already bigger than the 2 year old 24" box Ficus it replaced. Those of you not in love with your Ficus might want to consider replacing them now while you have a good excuse. ItÂs true that Ficus can, under normal Arizona winters, battle back from some slight frost damage, but I have never seen anything close to the extent of the damage they received this year. It think itÂs fair to assume that many of these trees, particularly the ones that were unhealthy to begin with, may not make it back from this severely cold winter weather. But think about it, if your Ficus do somehow, slowly recover whatÂs to say we donÂt get another hard frost again in 5 or 10 years and then theyÂre back to looking like nasty garbage. IÂm using this cold winter as an excuse to reevaluate ymy long-term tree plans. Dave
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You know greendesert, you are right. I drove down Mill Ave. this weekend, down by the Tempe townlake you know, where its all lined with tall established Ficus trees, even some younger ones. And I have to tell you I cant understand for the life of me why they haven't a SINGLE brown leaf. They certainly look like Ficus, maybe they're very similar but boy I dont think so. There's even another post in this forum about Ficuses and they are mentioned or pictured there. Anyhow, why cant we get that variety of Ficus, whatever it is. I wonder who would know, those look planted by someone that knows trees. Anyhow, for a replacement, I am thinking of going with a Tipu (Tipuana Tipu). They look nice when they're big. I saw an 8-year nice-looking huge tree at one of the nurseries out there by Gilbert and McKellips Rd. Not for sale, of course, it was planted in the ground. But boy it was nice and tall, lots of shade and a very unique look. I think I am sold on getting a Tipu to replace the Ficus. Another nursery told me that the Shamel Ash gets its leafs burnt in the summer, so it takes the summer kind of hard here, one reason why the Tipu might be a better choice. I think I am going to try to move the Ficus to the backyard and hope it survives. As lazygardens said in anotehr posting above, a shrubby and weak tree wont work as the main shade front-yard tree. If the freeze has effectively "stunted" the Ficus growth potential at this point (it's about 3 yrs old I would say), it wont be able to shade my house as large as I wanted it to. If anyone knows any better I appreciate any pointers on what to do with this dilemma: stay Ficus, or replace with Tipu or other? Thanks.
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Jana, I believe the general rule of thumb is two to three years for the tree to become 'established'. Someone here suggested running a fan(s) to keep air circulating. Sounded like a good idea. Good luck. Mary
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english
16 years ago
Unfortunately we endured what was probably the worst frost in Phoenix history. If you are looking for something new for a shade tree the best are sissoo, fan tex ash (shamels sometimes don't do well)or chinese elm. Live oaks are also great but grow slower. Jacarandas and eldarica pines also grow fast and give lots of shade but are a bit more messy.
A lot of people (myself included) are replacing ficus with new ones since they are the best overall shade tree and the chances of a repeat frost like this year are unlikely. Most of the ficus 5 years or older (in central phoenix area) seem to be recovering quite well, especially the older ones. So I'm hoping that there won't be a big frost soon. Even young ficus seem to recover very quickly from short frosts. Good luck.
chuparosa
16 years ago
We used to get frosts almost every year here. Could be that they're back.
I'm not counting on Sissou making it through a frost. Same with Ficus.

If you want to see starling mania, go visit parts of town with lots of ficus. I wouldn't plant a ficus, after seeing this, frost or not. Try Mill Ave in Tempe at sunset, the noise is unbelievable.

I'd consider native and near native trees to attract native birds. They are so cool and really bring joy into a yard. I've never seen them in the crazy quantities the starlings gather in and most of the native ones sing nice, too. Ever heard a curved bill thrasher solo?

Might also consider the deciduous / evergreen thing. Deciduous trees loose their leaves once, many evergreen shed year round. I go for a mix of trees with mostly deciduous ones. Got a balance with a lot of the shrubs being evergreen. Looks good and gives me warmth in winter when it's needed.

My favorites for shade: honey mesquite, desert willow, palo brea, ironwood
I've seen velvet mesquite make good shade, too.

Think about mature size of the tree when choosing it.
Lots of smaller ones if need be. Sophora secundflora is a fun one. Evergreen with purple fragrant blooms.

A row of hopbush gives a nice break from western sun, not overhead shade but still good. They grow pretty fast. Another option, less fast but nice are Arizona rosewood, big shrub to small tree.

Vines nice for shade, too.

Latest interesting landscape design book out with native plants that I've seen is:
Landscaping with Native Plants of the Southwest
by Miller
You might want to check it out. Lots of nice photos.

Do you want to get more aware of trees and related stuff? See http://www.thearb.org/plant_links.htm

It's a big interesting world. Much more to choose from than ficus and more ficus. Hope you have fun with it.
chuparosa
16 years ago
I like Bakers. It's in central Phoenix but Bakers delivered some trees to Northwest Phx for me and planted them and the fee was quite reasonable.

I hear good things about Swan Hill and that's on the west side, never been there, though.

Baker's is a well loved reliable old Phoenix nursery with lots of different plants and they give good advice, too. It's a real pretty place and fun to visit. Run by about 3 generations of the family, too.
Bakers 3414 N. 40th St. Phoenix (just north of Thomas) 7:30-5:30 daily 602-955-4500
kazooie
16 years ago
we have 4 sissos, and they all looked horrible after the frost, but now you would not have even known that all the leaves on them froze. they have all recovered and have grown out. they are still putting on new growth like crazy. that is the nice thing about the sisso tree, it is a fast grower.

but, we did replace a ficus that was 5 years old that did not recover well from the freeze. this time we got a deciduous tree (shamel ash). so hopefully, we will not have to worry about frost.
arizona_ash_lover
16 years ago
Sisso is low maintenance shade tree. Shamel Ash's will do just fine, but they will loose their leaves during colder winters. Fan-Tex Ash's are great. Their fall color is spectacular, but they are also deciduous.

ficus, nursery and the winter frost

Comments (7)

steelersfan

MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ

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