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Texas Gardening

Recommendations for a Columnar Growing Tree

8 years ago

Hi everyone. I primarily post in the Plumeria forum but I am looking for recommendations from seasoned Texas Gardeners for a row of tall growing columnar shaped trees. I want this row of trees to eventually shade the west side of my house from the sun. Here are my site conditions and desired characteristics:

1. West elevation (afternoon full Sun) with about 12 feet of distance from the house on one side and a 6ft fence on the other side. The trees can be placed very close to the fence. There is a modern concrete septic tank within about 20 feet of the area. The house is on a north/south axis.

2. I am looking for trees which have a mature height of 25ft or taller and a span of 12ft or less. I was leaning towards evergreens but am thinking the dimensions and Soil tolerances are more important.

3. Looks like a Clay soil which does not appear to have the best drainage. I just recently moved to the Boerne area so I'm still learning the local characteristics.

Some of the Trees which appear to work at least on paper so far are Italian Cypress, Poplars, Columnar shaped Crepe Myrtles (if any), and/or Thuja.

Thanks for your suggestions and help.

K.

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Comments (5)

roselee z8b S.W. Texas
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
While you're waiting for some replies you might want to check out these posts on growing trees for screening.
the_first_kms2 thanked roselee z8b S.W. Texas
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
'Blue Ice' Arizona cypress
is one that could fit and do well in your area. Eastern red cedar
could also work, but don't know how well adapted any of the
fastigiate/dwarf cultivars like 'Brodie' are to the hill country.

Suspect Boerne soil is probably too alkaline for the several pond cypress cultivars that grow ~12 ft across and ‘Slender Silhouette’ sweetgum used elsewhere in Texas. Plus they're native to wetter areas, so would likely need more irrigation than other options.
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the_first_kms2 thanked bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
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PRO
the_first_kms2
Original Author
8 years ago
thank you. based on your suggestion and the link provided AZ cypress is now on the list. I'll start looking for them locally to see in person.
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bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Neglected to say congratulations on the move to such a nice area. We really enjoyed our side-trip there for lunch on Cibolo Creek a few weeks back.

Don't know of a fastigiate crape myrtle cultivar, but they can be trained to many shapes. The two full-size multi-trunked CMs in our narrow side yard were trained from 3 gal size to fit within the 10 to 14 feet between our house and the fence - without resorting to "crape murder". Generally prune twice a year to train and maintain.

There are some very nice Italian cypress and Thuja in Dallas, but they are not often highly recommended here. Would proceed with caution if there are not any good examples growing in your area or not recommended by a good local nursery.
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PRO
the_first_kms2
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks again. I was looking for a Cypress or evergreen so the AZ Cypress sounds like a good fit. I'll also look for the Red Cedar you recommended. Crepe Myrtles are great (but messy) and certainly forgiving but they were going to be my last resort. I am wary of Italian Cypress after word searching this forum and finding what seems to me to be very seasoned gardeners asking for help on them.
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