Why yes, I do know quite a bit about ash trees, since I am still pulling up thousands of ash seedlings from a monster that was removed more than ten years ago. I have three ash weeds growing right up through a dense hedge on the fenceline, a fun place to try to kill a tree. I would only recommend ash if you enjoy messy trees that attract aphids which spit honey doo-doo all over your yard and also drop billions of fertile seeds that look like h-e-double toothpicks and all sprout, managing to grow through concrete.

I hope to save you from a similar fate.

The ficus may not be a good choice either- I'll let those with experience tell you about the problems they face.

The other trees you mentioned are all lovely trees. I especially love the sycamore. It will grow faster than an oak and it is not as dense, so you can grow something under it. It is hard to get things to grow under full-grown oaks, and they produce a lot of leaf litter.

We are facing a few new citrus pests, so you may want to wait to see how things shake out. There's a new psillid that kills citrus, and a new leaf miner that makes the fall foliage look like it has been ghost slimed.

In my neck of the woods, the deodar is much prettier than the sequoia. Sequoias get a lot of brown foliage here and always look like they are yearnin' for the cold north. I'm not sure how well they do in your area.

I hope you have a good time picking out your trees and hedges. It sounds like a large and lovely property. Good luck!
Renee

Renee, thanks for the info re the Ash! What about a Deodar? Or what large, tall, evergreen that grows fast might you suggest to block that sports court and neighboor?

As far as the front I am so partial to oaks but know how slow they grow. How does a liquid amber vs sycamore vs deodar stack up in terms of:

Beauty
Height
Width
Fast growing

As those are my criteria for the front. I love liquid ambers fall color. Love deodars for beauty and majesty and size. Think the sycamore has a lot of visual interest and a relatively fast grower.

So Hight and fast growing are important in the front and at the sports court. Thanks again, Stephanie

Chinese Flame trees can be very nice.... they have a nice shape. I always had humming birds flitting around mine. Husband didn't like it because it's not evergreen (drops leaves and small branches in the winter months) and drops seed pods everywhere. Finally took it out to expand my vege garden and because it attracted Goldenrain tree bugs by the hundreds.

Stephanie, I believe Sycamore is the fastest growing of the four trees you named. The issue with oak and deodar is that they are extremely dense and evergreen, which means it is tough to get things to grow under them. I am not sure, but I think they are both slowish growers.

I don't know a thing about liquidambers. I know they used to use them as street trees but they have stopped, so perhaps there is something undesireable about them.

Keep checking back- people with much more knowledge will chime in.

Renee

Liquidambers are shallow rooted and cause sidewalk, driveway trouble. All kinds of trouble here cuz the city put in a gazillion of them.
They are pretty if you like stepping on the fruit they drop which feel like porcupine spiked balls.

Evergreen suggestions: Australian willow (Geijera parviflora), which isn't really a willow. Evergreen, drought-tolerant, well-behaved roots. Or Agonis After Dark (or Dark Star), which has ever-burgundy color, a nice contrast to green foliage.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas! We are about to place our order with the nursery and I find myself still vacillating. I found this info very helpful!

The native Oak trees are not that slow. There is one around the corner planted from an acorn 10 years ago that is 20', dense and gorgeous. They are best planted from an acorn taken from a tree in the neighborhood if you can find one. They localize to precise microclimates.

If you want an even fast growing oak get a Quercus suber, Cork Oak, a gorgeous Mediterranean tree.

I would pick something besides the ficus. They are trouble in the long run. There are a lot of good small trees/large shrubs that would be better. Arbutus unedo. The native Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia, makes a good screen fast with non-invasive roots. Prunus caroliniana, Carolina cherry, or Prunus ilicifolia another California native is really fast and dense, too. Some of the pittosporums like 'Marjorie Channon' if you don't need extreme height.

Here is a link that might be useful: narrow screening plants blog post.

Wow some great suggestions. Thank you :-) Love that Prunus Ilicifolia. Does anyone know how fast, under good growing conditions, a Coast Live Oak will grow a year?

Any opinions on Camphor? Love the tree, but I know in Fl it's invasive. I also read it could have invasive roots. Is that true in Ca? Would a deep water delivery set up and a root barrier take care of that?

I am also thinking, to cover the basketball hoop, a Gold Medallion tree. Any thoughts? Thanks!

I have a camphor tree in front and hate it. It's a Cinnamomum camphora. It does give nice shade on the street that is the only benefit. It sheds twice a year branches up to 3 feet in length and leaves also. The leaves are worse in the fall. It also has tiny black berries that the birds eat and they do stain cement.
I don't know how old it is but the trunk at ground level is about 2 feet in diameter. I have just noticed this year it is starting to sucker in the grass.

I love the look of Camphor trees, but they seem to be hit or miss and require very specific conditions to thrive. I know that in Pasadena they do well, but they uproot sidewalks and their roots fill yards so that you cannot grow much under them.

I think the Gold Medallion tree is very small, and it would not block much. Pretty little tree, though.

I would not count on a root barrier to protect anything- not in the long run. It's better to just plant a tree suited to the location and not have to worry about it.

Renee

Stephanie, if you are interested in an oak I would suggest the Tree of Life nursery on Ortega Highway. I have purchased a couple there that have been pretty fast growing. They will be multi-trunked - you can always limb them up a bit as they grow taller. I found when purchasing an oak that is a single trunk - the trunk will sunburn and the tissue will be damaged - sometimes enough to cause the demise of the oak. I just found that out a couple of years ago when a friend gave me a book from the CA Oak Foundation.

Good luck with your decision....

Thanks all. I think I am giving up on Camphor. Kind of bummed cause I love the look. The oak will be great but I just hope it's not too slow growing.

For the tree to block the bball hoop I am still undecided.... Thanks for all of the great info. It helped so much.

Stephanie