Ada,

If you go for the less expensive ones, you usually have to buy them as small whips that are only a foot or so tall, and sometimes not even that tall.

Although it can be discouraging to start out with tiny pencil-sized plants, research has shown that trees started from small whips or saplings often outgrow trees grown from 5 to 10 gallon containers within just a few years. Why? Because the trees in 5 to 10 gallon containers usually have too much topgrowth for the containerized roots to support, whereas very small saplings or whips usually have a more balanced distribution of topgrowth/roots.

It usually is cheaper to buy berry plants and fruit trees in January as bare root plants (roots are in plastic bags or boxes in the home center stores/nurseries/big box stores) than as containerized plants. You might, for example, buy a package containing 5 rooted cutting-grown blackberry plants bare root in January/February for about the same price that you'd spend for 1 or 2 plants in containers a month or so down the road.

I've linked one online article for you that lists 5 sources for small plants, and I am sure there are others. Beware certain mail order companies that offer such plants at ridiculously low prices, though, because they often send you an unrooted cutting which is essentially nothing more than a stick that may or may not root and grow for you.

For what it is worth, both crape myrtles and photinias grow very quickly, so even if you start with only a one-gallon pot, they'll have really nice size in just a few years.

Keep an eye on Craig's List and your local Freecycle or Cheapskate groups too, because sometimes you'll see people offering free or very low priced plants, often with the caveat that you have to come dig up the plant yourself and bring fill dirt to fill in the hole.

The Oklahoma Forestry Dept. usually sells pretty small trees in the spring at selected locations around the state, so you might want to check their website.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Five Sources for Small Tree Saplings

Great ideas! I hadn't thought of the Forestry Dept, though I'm not sure why since that's where lots of folks got their trees from in the NW (it's probably because I automatically think "douglas firs" when I hear the word "forest," LOL!). And, I hadn't thought about Craig's List, but that's a great idea.

What you said about the smaller the better makes sense. We planted Leyland Cypress along the highway at our last place (in Oregon...how do they do here?); we bought some large plants in 5-gallon pots and some small plants in 1-gallon pots. By year three you really couldn't tell the difference in sizes...

Ada

Ada,

In Texas, Leyland Cypress became the "new hot thing" in the mid- to late-1980s and developers planted them all over the place around malls, public parks, in medians as street trees, etc. Of course, many homeowners then thought they ought to plant them. There is a price to be paid for planting fast-growing trees in an area where they are not especially well-adapted. (Randy and I call such trees "trash trees" and we aren't the only ones.) So, by the mid-1990s, those trees were showing severe signs of unhappiness. They do not especially like the summer heat, especially when they are roasting hot from sunlight reflected upward from nearby roadways or parking lots. They brown out and drop leaves like crazy in late summer to early fall from heat stress and disease. I haven't seen many planted here in southern OK, but the ones I've seen look about as bad as the ones in Texas.

If you could plant one on the edge of a woodland where is had some morning sun or maybe sunlight until 2 or so and then shade, it might make it through the summer without a struggle. But, you'd always have to give it extra irrigation and you'd always have to watch closely for signs of decline, and be prepared to take it out at some point. I'll never plant one here in Love County because we are too drought-prone in southern OK and I know they wouldn't do well. I refuse to plant anything that has to be babied or coddled. My trees and shrubs have to be able to survive some pretty severe droughts without a lot of extra water.

A few months back, we had a discussion that started with hollies and ended up focused on leyland cypress trees and I explained a lot of the reasons why I wouldn't grow one here, including a disease issue that's fairly new in our region. I'm going to find it and link it for you. Look at the very last post on that thread, and you can read what I said then. I'm too tired to type it all over again from scratch. LOL

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Prior Post That Discusses Leyland Cypress

Thanks, Dawn. I couldn't really imagine them doing well here, considering they seemed to love the Oregon springs which are REALLY rainy...(like hardly any sunny days from October through June, I kid you not). They did well there, but it seemed that this was the case because they got plenty of water the rest of the year to get them through the summers, which are usually dry though not nearly so hot as here. I don't have any use for coddling anything either, especially trees and shrubs, so I won't bother with Leyland Cypress, LOL!

While we're on the subject, do you have some favorite shrubs that are relatively fast growing? We need something between us and the street...I'd say no taller than 8', and preferably around 5-6' that don't need much water once established...and also in between us and various neighbors (we didn't want to put up a privacy fence, but we're a little too open to the whole world...it's sort of like a fish bowl around here. :-) I was thinking of Crape Myrtle for along the road and perhaps Nandina for the other fenceline...or photinias...?

Ada

I'm also curious in regard to fast growing trees adapted to Oklahoma. I, however, need them to be taller than 8 feet as I'm going to use them as a sound barrier and wind break ... so something in the 20 to 30 foot height category is more what I was thinking. However, I also need something solid like the Leyland's ... but also one that can take heat and a lot of sun. If Leyland's don't do well here then obviously the new Murray Cypress won't either ... and I'm guessing I should avoid Giant Thuja as well. So I'd appreciate any ideas and feedback anyone has.

Ada,

Crape myrtles would be great if you don't mind that they are deciduous and you'd lose some of their screening in the fall thru spring. They do come in all different sizes, so be sure to select varieties that mature at the appropriate height, or you'll drive yourself crazy trying to keep them pruned back. You do know that many Crape Myrtles have powdery mildew issues, don't you? So, watch for the ones with resistance to powdery mildew bred into them--they are in a series with Native American names. One of my favorite is a purple-flowered one called "Catawba" that gets about 12' tall and 5' to 6' wide. "Tonto" is more the size you're looking for, maybe 8' to 10' tall and 5' wide and has gorgeous watermelon pink flowers.

I might choose a holly like Berries Jubilee or Dazzler. Their deep green glossy leaves are so gorgeous, and the berries are just a bonus.

Today's newer dwarf Nandinas never do as well as I think they will although some of the older common ones would be about the right height. My parents had a 5' to 6' tall and about 3' or 3.5' wide nandina (with the red berries)outside an east-facing window all our childhood and it is there still. It must be 40 to 50 years old. The newer dwarf varieties, though, seem to struggle more in drought and heat than that old standard one did. For a nandina that gives you a slightly different look, you could plant the yellow-berried one, which is Nandina domestica "Yellow Berried". There may be some named varieties with yellow berries, but all I've ever seen is the old common one. It gets about 6' tall.

Is this a full sun location? If so, I'd be tempted to plant smallish trees like Chaste Tree (Vitex Agnus-Castus) or Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis--not a willow and not a desert plant either). Both are deciduous, but the Chaste Tree spreads out really wide and is multi-trunked. (You can prune it to a single trunk, but I don't.) It is lovely in and out of bloom, attracts butterflies and has lovely bluish flowers. Desert Willow comes in the standard native version that gets about 12' to 14' tall in about 5 to 7 years. It also is a multi-trunked tree and it has lilac blooms. There are shorter, wider named hybrid desert willows, like "Bubba", that have gorgeous blooms and are more shrubby than tree-like. Because they are natives, they are relatively easy to establish and shouldn't need supplemental watering after their first 2 to 3 years in the ground, unless you are suffering from exceptional drought. They also have few insect pests and I've never seen any disease symptoms on them.

I adore Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera), which can be kept shrubby or pruned up tree form. It gets really tall and is very fast-growing. Mine grew about 15' in about 5 to 7 years, starting from 3-gallon plants. It obviously gets taller than what you're seeking, but I had to mention it because it is a top performer in our landscape. There is a dwarf version called, appropriately enough, Dwarf Southern Wax Myrtle, that gets 5' to 6' tall and it would make a nice screening plant.

An underused shrub that has been around a long time and which forms an arching mound is Glossy Abelia. It has very tiny leaves and lots of very small white flowers that attract lots of bees. The tiny leaves are a dark green in summer and turn a sort of bronze-green in the cooler fall and winter months. Glossy Abelia gets about 5' wide and 5' tall although I don't know if it is an especially fast grower. The cultivar "Edward Goucher" is ever-so-slightly smaller, about 4' tall and wide and it has pink flowers.

If you have soil that holds moisture well, then you might like Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus), commonly referred to as sweet shrub due to its lovely aroma. It is not show-stoppingly lovely in appearance--just an average-looking shrub, but the fragrance is nice.

Another under-utilized shrub is Black Kerria, also known as white kerria or black jetbead. It is Rhodotypos scandens and is fast-growing, and likes any well-drained soil. It actually is a member of the rose family and is an arching type of shrub that gets about 6' to 8' tall and not quite as wide. It has small, single, white flowers in midspring. There's also Japanese Kerria (Kerria japonica) and the one you usually see in nurseries is an old variety with double flowers (yellow) called "Pleniflora". It is a sort of gangly, arching shrub and it is unusual in that it blooms very well in almost total shade.

In a partly shaded location, you can grow another shrub that is not especially common, but which is uncommonly lovely. It is called American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) and it has unusual violet-colored berries that grow in clusters on the stems...spaced sort of like this: leaf, berry cluster, leaf, berry clusterm leaf, berry cluster. It is deciduous, but the berries hang onto the branches for a long time. We have them growing here in our woods in everything from morning sun/afternoon shade to almost full shade.

If you want more of a lush, green, tropical look, you could plant canna lilies and the very large-leaved green elephant ears that get about 5' tall. The cannas might get 7' tall in good soil.

There are lots of kinds of yaupon hollies and they come in all sizes, including dwarfs. Yaupons hollies are very nice and very tough, but tend to be overused in modern landscapes, not that I'd hold that against them.

You also could use some of the large ornamental grasses as a screening plant, you know.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

Dawn

Dawn,

These are great suggestions. Now it's time for me to do some more figuring, LOL!

Ada

Hopefully I won't be banned for saying this, but I truly hate crepe myrtles :-) So they're out LOL. The location I need the screen for gets blasted by the sun pretty much the entire day. I want a wind screen for spring and winter ... and a sound barrier because I'm not very far off Interstate 44 in east Tulsa. So taller is better ... at least to a point ... and evergreen is ideal.

So given that ... any suggestions since it sounds like cypress varieties won't work? I'm guessing I should avoid juniper's even though I know some can take the heat and sun in this area ... I seem to remember someone mentioning juniper's having an affect on some vegetables ... but maybe I'm crossing my posts.

There's your challenge Dawn :-)

Brian

Brian,

Can you tell me what kind of soil you have in the area where you'll be planting your screen, how well it does or does not drain, and what your "average" rainfall is. (I know when you tell me your average rainfall and I compare it to mine, I'll probably cry.) Also, how wide is the area where the screen will go and....how close will the screen be to your veggie garden and ornamental landscape plants? And, how close to the roadway? If you're going to plant them very close to I-44, we have to keep the winter road salt/sand mix in mind.

Dawn

The soil is a black clay mixture but has fairly decent drainage as it's at a high point of my yard. The trees will go between the fence and my back driveway. The area is probably 50 or 60 feet long and about 10 feet wide. It's on the northern edge of my property and the veggie beds will be on the southern edge ... so probably 150 feet away from the veggies. The area next to the trees is going to be mainly daisies, dahlias, sunflowers and the like.

As far as close to 44 ... I'm close, but not that close. There's a church about 300 feet west of me, then a frontage road, then I44. Still, it's close enough to get a fair amount of sound many days.

Average rainfall ... from what I've seen on the climate websites, between 45 and 50 inches a year.

BTW ... during early spring most of my wind is from the N or NW. During late spring and summer the wind is from the south. During fall and winter it's a mix.

Does that help?

Brian

Don't forget freetreesandplants.com. You pay only shipping and handling, which is reasonable since usually one "order" is two plants. This is a workshop for people with mental disabilities in Nebraska. Apparently local greenhouses donate surplus plants to them.

I've gotten several things there: Nanking cherry bushes, False Indigo, Chokecherry, Arrowwood Verbena. They don't ship until the plant is dormant and then it arrives bare root. I got the cherry bushes last year and they did very well. The others I planted only a couple of months ago and they are still dormant.

I would think now would be a good time to order because they will ship in the spring when the time is right.

Brian,

If it is only ten feet wide, then you don't have a lot of width to work with. That eliminates a lot of trees and evergreen shrubs I would have suggested for an area 20' to 30' wide.

If you want to go with evergreen shrubs, you could plant Southern Wax Myrtle, Burford Holly (the standard one, not the dwarf one), Nellie R. Stevens Holly, Fraser's Photinia, or Chinese Photinia (might be too large for your area).

If you want a juniper (and the distance from your garden is large enough that this wouldn't be a problem), then I think Ames Juniper (Juniperus chinensis 'Ames') would be a great choice for you. When mature, it will be about 10-15' tall and maybe 8' to 10' wide. It is a slow to medium grower and is very tough and compact, which makes it great for a sound barrier and windscreen.

Taylor Juniper (Juniperus virginiana 'Taylor') is a very columnar evergreen that is often used in screening similar to the way you see Italian Cypress used in warmer zones.

Another very columnar and thick-leaved, dense juniper that makes a great screening/sound barrier plant is Blue Point Juniper, which is Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Point'. It also will reach 10-15' in height but only 4' to 5' in width.

If you had a little more width, I would have suggested oak trees even though they aren't evergreen, but most of the oaks I had in mind need a larger area. I also had some pine trees in mind, but they probably would get too wide for that area too.

Riverbirch would look lovely, but is not evergreen.

I feel at a distinct disadvantage talking about trees or shrubs for northeastern OK because the conditions there are so different from mine here in southcentral OK. I also have some concerns about the ice storms. It might be good to look around your local area and see what handled the recent ice storms well, or at least better than other plants.

Let me think about some small trees that stay pretty compact, and I'll come back and add them later. I need to run to the fire station real quickly and get a couple of things done to prepare for this potentially bad fire day. Our humidity has dropped like a rock this morning and that's never a good thing. Back later.

Dawn

If you want to look at an amazing selection of plants that grow well in Oklahoma, along with the terrific, detailed descriptions of each plant, check out the linked website.

Sooner Plant Farm is a great place to buy plants, and you also will find their plants at other retailers.

Even if you don't buy specifically from them, their website is a terrific resource for info on what will grow well here.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Sooner Plant Farm

Dawn,

Sooner Plants is a great site! Lots of varieties and an easy way of searching for plants by sun exposure. They also give a discount for quantity... Thanks!

Ada