Suggestions for tree in driveway circle. . . in SoCal
catchick
8 years ago
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catchick
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Long circle (1/2 mile) drive suggestions Zone 8, Ga, US
Comments (10)Thanks so much for all your wonderful suggestions. The soil is a sandy loam, not sand hills. It is a bit on the alkaline side as with much of the soil in our area needing a ton or so of lime every few years to maintain a good agricultural balance, so, should do well for the acid loving plants. Thank goodness the deer don't seem to like our roses and azaleas so far. They have not generally been a problem in our area. Of course, one never knows, they may very well take a liking to the roses and azaleas. We have quite a few wild muscadines and while the deer to love them, It would appear to me that we have plenty of wild ones that it won't be too bad sharing some cultivated ones as well. With the fruiting trees, they would really be more for the deer than for humans. Our consumption needs are very light but we do really love watching the deer and turkeys. BTW, I'm not so much seeking free advice as simply open discussion. I know the landscapers in our area (very limited) and I know their plant selections well. Mine tend to be a bit more diverse than theirs. Most of our landscapers, all 2 or 3 of them, tend to use primarily the old evergreen stuff. Not exactly to my liking. I am familiar with the problems associated with Bradford Pears and have seem some of them locally. However, the wife wants some so it is likely she will win that one. I will have to give the evergreen tree business some thought. Notice from the photos that the southern and western boundaries are Pine Tree plantations. We live in the heart of pine plantations. If I choose an evergreen, it will have to be something like leyland cypress (we have already planted several cypress on the north side of the pond) or maybe a different type pine. An uncle about 2 miles away has some which have a more northern or mountain look which have trived. I believe they are white pine, will have to check more into that. Again, with respect to the deer, I have lived in the area 50 years and they don't seem too partial to the roses, azaleas or camellias in our area. Who knows, they may wind up liking ours but if they do, we'll probably enjoy watching the deer. I like man of johnofsedona's suggestions and will continue to think about plant selection and group composition. As for as my goals, I like the varying heights, different forms and flowers for all the seasons. I like the varied island look. There are a few homes in the area which have similarly long drives with limited islands and there are ones which have long drives lined with pears or other plant material. I prefer the islands. I suspect we will include different varieties of naturalized daffodils as time goes on. We MAY also add wildflowers but probably not as we prefer a little more "clean" and organized look for the drive. We WILL have a wildflower meadow, probably near the pond on the north and east area there. I'll do some more thinking this weekend. Thanks for your contributions. The pictures in the link above should give you some idea to our tastes and the area. Sincerely, Joel...See MoreNeed tree suggestions for around driveway
Comments (4)Degroot's spire do a web search on this tree and see what your think. I planted two on the Southeast and Southwest corners of a very small house with a small front yard. The one I planted closest to the driveway that leads up to and goes along the East side of the house, is only about 6 feet away from that driveway and I centered the planting hole either 2 or 3 feet infront of the siding on that Southern exposure side of the house. So if you can invision what I have just described, it should give you a good idea of how substantial this cultivar of tree is, which can grow around 10-12 feet tall and not spread more than about 4 feet wide, with out becoming too overbearing in such narrow confines. I love the look of the leaves this columnar growing tree has, and in the three years they have been growing there, they never have caused litter mess that would otherwise be a bother to keep cleaned up off the driveway. This is a very slow growing tree, so it is best to purchase as many as you determine you need, in a B&B form with heights already at least 5-6 feet tall. Of course the size you want to start with really will depend how they will look along the curve of your wall. What ever size you choose, just try to get the smallest size you are willing to see along your curved wall. I say that because these trees grow slowly and the size you plant will be what you will still have to look at for several years at least. The nursery owner who sold my two trees told me that he had just finished planting some rows of this tree along a customer's driveway, and that both he and the home owner ended up very pleased with the affect the Degroot's spires had on his overall landscaping. I really like mine, and they seem to do well in hot nearly full sun or even morning sun and afternoon shade. Just be certain to watch them closely and keep them watered approprately especially when they are attempting to establish. Remember that a tree this large will have a rootball that is at least 18 inches deep and up to 3 feet wide. So they need deep watering methods or even drip watering. The neighbor has a very old 5 trunked Silver Maple in his front yard that tries to steal all the moisture from my landscaping. But I was advised to use 5 gallon buckets, with holes in the bottom that punched just small enough to let the water slowly trickle out of them, and I set them as close to my tree's rootball, or just uphill, of them as possible. My area allowed for me to use 3 of those buckets around each tree. I would fill them, let them drain, and repeat that 2 more times every time I watered these trees. That worked so well for them, that now they are well established and require less often supplimental waterings. Once you check the Degroot's spire trees out, and if you think you might like to plant some, just be prepared, because they can cost just over $250 each or even more for that size of at some nurseries. The overall cost of your project could climb pretty high if you need to purchase a lot of these trees. Still they seem to be well worth the cost. If you find that you can only afford less of them than you really need, maybe you could use a few of them as speciman trees in a mixed planting arrangement. I only mention that because it would take 3 of them for filling each 15 foot long section of your wall. Also, odd numbers of landscaping items placed in separate groups seem to present a more pleasing affect than when even number item groups are used. For your driveway wall, curves, it seems best to plant one of this or other tree you chose, and design it to look like a speciman tree with complimentary plantings around it, or to plant 3 of these trees in a line along the each wall, or staggered if space allows, or 5 of them planted along each wall's curve, if you find you need and you can afford that many trees....See MoreCircle driveway, ponding issues in middle
Comments (4)There is no place within the circle that is lower than where the water has already drained. I'm surprised the asphalt contractor didn't suggest a culvert or small pipe under the driveway shown in picture #2 . As it is, you have a part time pond, known as a vernal pond. Those trees in standing water have a probable chance of dying whether you make that area in to a rain garden or not. You may be able to find a company that can 'shoot' or drill a horizontal drain under your driveway to the lower, other side. I assume it's lower. The pipe does not have to be very big in diameter because your flow is small. A shallow swale should be dug to connect the standing water in picture #5 to picture #1 and 2 so it will drain and give better drainage to the existing trees impacted by grade change and standing water. With very young kids I don't think a rain garden is a good idea at this time and where you will have to put it will kill several trees. I have several rain gardens and they work for me. They're full of water in the winter and I mow them in the summer. I used a bulldozer to make them. The ultimate Tonka toy! MikeThe grass in under water in the Winter and Spring. It needed mowing when I took this picture....See MoreNeed help with SoCal Front Yard
Comments (14)For plant suggestions, I'd go over to the California gardening forum as I think you would have suggestions from gardeners who are local to where you are. I would agree that a photo showing the entire area would help us to give you useful design feedback. Without seeing the rest of your yard, I would suggest moving the sagos to a rear corner and clustering them, as they tend to look best planted in groups rather than as individuals. For year-round interest, you'll have to rely on structure, texture and foliage color as opposed to relying on flowers, such as you would get from roses and such. Furcraea variegata is a beautiful statement plant, and if you're in Southern California, consider some of the "prettier" agaves like agave attenuata, agave blue flame, agave desmettiana variegata, agave guiengola or agave ellemeetiana instead of the typical, spiny agave americana. Echeverias do extremely well here. Echeveria cante is very popular right now and will look great year round the closer you are to the coast. If you're inland, they suffer in summertime with direct sun. If you're close to the coast, you may be able to grow alcantarea imperialis or other bromeliads like aechmea blanchettiana. Aloes like aloe vaombe, aloe sabaea, aloe striata and aloe vanbalenni provide structure and interest year round....See Morecatchick
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