I believe you need permission from the city arborist to remove oak trees. They are protected.
I believe there are big time fines if you take them out and get busted. You would likely be granted permission due to the location to the fence.

Jacarandas are weak limbed and very messy trees all be it beautiful when in bloom. You'll have purple spent flowers stuck to everything.
Hope you find something you like!

JG

Actually, according to the arborist I hired who diagnosed the Laurel's with oak borers, he said that due to the city cut-backs, there is no current code enforcement in place for cutting down oaks - Laurels in particular. The city arborist job was eliminated in the cut backs and the primary responsibility of that role was code enforcement.

He could have been completely ill-informed, but he did work for a big tree compnay with the proper certifications, etc. rather than 'Joe's Tree Trimmers'.

In any case, I would be hiring professionals and obtaining whatever permits required for the city of St. Pete. I think the previous requirement was if you cut one tree down, you replace it with another? I'll find out the perimeters before proceeding for sure.

I hear you on the 'messy' aspect. I was thinking about the trade-offs and realized oak trees are messy (or worse...) with the pollen and leaf drop combined. With two oaks side-by-side, I have a lot of leaves and pollen to contend with now. Plus, Laurels (vs. Live Oaks) are easily damaged in winds and also get knocked down easily due to the shallow root system.

At least with a Jacaranda, the flowers are a stunning shower of purple! :)

It's always about the trade-offs, right? That's what makes this a tough decision to make. Planting a tree is a big committment and an important decision.

Saintpfla,

I had a jacaranda removed from my back yard a couple of years ago. During the 2004 hurricanes it lost several large limbs, even though we never had more than tropical storm force winds here in St Pete. It really is a brittle tree.

While it is arguably the most beautiful tree in Florida for two weeks out of the year, for the other 50 weeks it is (IMO) one of the ugliest.

In addition to the lavender blossoms creating a beautiful carpet/mess on the ground, it has tiny rice-sized leaves that are constantly falling during the seasons that there are leaves on the tree. That may or may not be a concern for you, but I found it was a pain to have to scoop them out of the hot tub. If I had the cover off the hot tub for 15 minutes, there'd literally be 50 to 100 of those little leaves to scoop out when I was done.

How about bottlebrush? I'm not sure if there are drawbacks to that one, but I'd love to have one to attract hummingbirds.

John

So...the bottomline on Jacarandas are to enjoy them via someone elses yard?...LOL...

What's about Orchid trees? They are so lovely.

Or, Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia - yellow or pink/purple)?

LOL, that is a good way to look at it. A jacaranda is a beautiful thing in somebody else's yard!

I have to add my two cents and recommend a royal poinciana:

They are not brittle as the Jac and they grow quickly - I have two in my front yard, two years apart that I grew from seed (easy as pie) and they are BIG. If you need seeds or a seedling (I have a few to share/trade).

Saintpfla
I was going to recommend the Royal Poinciana too. It is listed as one of the 5 most beautiful in the world!

Tampaart
Can I get some tips on starting the seeds?
Susannah (natives and veggies) send me seeds for the dwarf Royal Poinciana. And I also want to put it in my front yard.
How long does it takes to germinate? And what is the best medium to start them?

Silvia

Wow...Absolutely stunning!

How long did it take for it to grow that big? What is the size difference in a dwarf vs. a normal Poinciana? Also, how long do they bloom? Do they provide a large shade canopy, ie: as shady as an oak? I have to be careful of not casting too much shade on my grapefruit tree which is my current problem with the oak placement.

Sorry for all the questions, but it seems like books only give you the basic info and not all the key answers,

Saintpfla: They grow VERY quickly; over 5 feet a year and sometimes more. One I planted in my front yard is two-years old and over 12 feet already. SOLID tree. When fully leaved, they are a beautiful shade canopy which may be an issue for your grapefruit tree. In fall/winter they lose their leaves and provide plenty of sun light. Mine have blooms for about two-three months with a lovely orange carpet on the ground.

Silvia: You have to clip the bottom of the seeds with a toe-nail clipper and then plant. A good potting mixture (or not) both work and before long (a few weeks at most) I had sprouts. I transferred them to one-gallon buckets and then in the ground at six months. My largest tree is now over 25 feet and WIDE and it's only five years old.

Very cool! Is re-seeding/volunteers an issue with Poinciana? Will I be spending my weekends removing seed pods? I have a cherry laurel...VERY annoying to find babies everywhere...talk about a fast growing tree!

I did a lot of reading on the dwarf ponc, naturally after I had acquired one, because why do your due diligence ahead of time?

But I love mine.

What I've discovered is: it's not actually a dwarf of the Royal Ponciana. It's a different tree/plant all together. If you google Pride of Barbados, you get better info than googling dwarf ponciana.

And it is a fast growing little thing too, so much so that when it grew 10 feet it's first summer, it scared me. I thought I had accidentally planted a Royal waaaaaay too close to the house. I finally found a site that told me the unmistakeable difference: Pride of Barbados has thorns and the Royal doesn't. I had to go out and check my tree to find the thorns, they aren't numerous or long, so I had never noticed them, even though, at that point, it was a 10 foot tree and beginning to scare me. (It started out a foot high the year before.)

There are others here who grow Pride of Barbados and know them better than I do. What I've learned is it's often grown as a shrub in the Caribbean, and is quite happy being cut and trimmed and cajoled into a hedge. It's also easy to train it into a standard, and I've had very little problems with suckers coming up from the base.

And there are several gorgeous Royals in my neighborhood. My little guy will never be as gorgeous as they are in bloom, and he'll never have that lovely canopy. But he blooms longer _ the dwarf's season starts here a little before the Royals are blooming and it's still blooming now, a couple months after the Royals have given up.

I've also found that it seems to be well able to take wind, which we've had a lot of, even some gale-force winds, since I put it in. After its first year of shooting up so dramatically, it hasn't gotten a lot taller. And, happily, it hasn't fallen down. But we haven't had a hurricane since I put it in, so I can't vouch for that yet.

If you want seeds, email me. susannahnesmith (at) yahoo.com

Tampaart
Thank you very much for the information, I needed it that! Now I can go and plant my seedlings.
I love your trees! And if they grow fast is a plus.

Susannah
Thank you for the explanation, I will be happy with the Pride of Barbados. I have an idea now about the time to grow them and plant.

Silvia

I also have two HUGE laurel oaks and they do get huge. I wanted to cut them down,but it's SO expensive because it's such a huge job.I just have so many other trees that are so much prettier that I want to let grow to full size. I'll have to decide soon what to do.

I also have planted alot of other trees(not sure what I've done, in ten years this is going to be a forest,which is fine with me!) and I think in that spot you have you'd need a tree that grows more upright(not like an umbrella).

I am thinking the Florida Maple(doesn't flower),sweetgum(one of my absolute favorites)and bald cypress,all deciduous; and the flowering one that is nice because you can prune and I have a few in containers is the Cassia bicapsularis(tree form), it has yellow flowers and attracts butterflies(sulphurs). All of these are in the fast growing category.

If you want to come to see what I have planted and you can see some of the different shapes they have(they are all 8-12 feet tall at this time), you are welcome, just e-mail me. I live in NE st Pete, a few miles from the Gandy bridge.
I also have bamboo!
teeka

Teeka,

Sounds like we're neighbors! I'm in NE St Pete as well. All of us locals should get together and tour yards some day

Bren

Very good information! Thanks!

I have two Cassia already...but, they have never bloomed in the two years I've had them. I think they don't receive enough sun to their liking.

What about an Orchid tree? It doesn't get as large as the oaks, right?

I agree..we should have a St. Pete plant swap/meet & greet!

saintpfla,

There is a mature orchid tree blooming on the corner of 16th st and 36th ave if you want to see one in its full glory.

I think once rainy season starts and our gardens recoup a bit more from winter we should definately organize local tours. I'll be in touch

I live in South St Pete and had an arborist (sp?) come look at my two huge laurel oaks on the SW and W side of my house. He said that as long as the trunks were under 3' diameter, that you didn't need a permit, so he had us take a picture of the tree trunk holding a measuring tape across it, in case anybody questioned it.
I would look it up on the St Pete city website, just to be sure, or better yet, swing by the municipal building on the corner of Central & 4th Street and run in and talk to someone quick. All the zoning/code rules change pretty quickly (ask my garage door guy), and you get a different answer every time you talk to someone different on the phone, so I find it's easiest just to stop by early in the morning, when they open.
We had the diseased one taken out for $300, which included hauling away (but left a 2' stump to make it easier for the pool diggers). We're going to take down the other one ourselves before hurricane season (being one of the 3 most dangerous trees), but I will sure miss the shade all summer. I'm sure our electric bill will reflect the missing trees this summer.
Good luck!

Thanks for the info C9! I think I'll call the city to find out the 'rules' today. I agree...the rules seem to change by the week.

My guess-timate was that the cost would be around $300/tree - but always hoping for less. Did you have a good experience with the tree service you used? If so, are you comfortable recommending them?

Those Laurel oaks grow so quick. The canopy is almost over my house now. Like you, I'll miss the shade, but hoping the grapefruit tree recovers.

Definitely check with the city before you get set on a tree. Here in Pasco, there is a list of trees you can plant and that's it. No trees not on the list are allowed. They started that a couple of years ago.

My neighbor's jacaranda literally fell apart in a tropical storm and never looked right again.

Julie

Would the Royal poinciana grow well in Zone 9b?

I did some research and it says it is hardy to 30 F. and this last winter was really cold and I lost a few small trees already and I am looking for a tree that is hardy enough for this area...

Also, what about hurricanes? Is this strong enough?

Very nice tree.. I would like to have it..

The arborist recommended to me, and came over to give us a free estimate for pruning the bigger tree and taking down the diseased tree was Jeff at Altitude Arbor Care 541-7387. He spent quite a bit of time at my house discussing the trees and the ball moss (bad) and confirming that they were laurels and pointing out the diseased parts of the tree, etc. I felt very comfortable with his service and he was very professional.

Don't tell Jeff, but my DH ended up using one of the guys who was doing cement work at our house. DH didn't understand the estimate I got, so he paid more than the trained, licensed, insured tree guy, and I was not happy with the job because he left a big hole where he took another tree that we "gave" him.