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Thread: Tree Talk (Messages moved from Rain Topic)

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    Tree Talk (Messages moved from Rain Topic)

    Well, from the picture, that looks like an Arizona ash tree... one of which we have had in the yards of our last 2 homes.

    They are fast growing trees that provide nice shade, but they don't usually last more than 10 to 15 years. Mostly because they are a soft wood, and Texas has a ton of boring insects that love them for chow...

    Ours did the same thing by losing leaves right after they bloomed. It is because the boring insects have eaten all of the conduits that transport fluids to the leaves... ergo, they die off quickly and drop to the ground. When you cut the tree up, if you look inside the wood you will probably see the holes where the borers have made their home...

    If you want a really good replacement, either get an Oak (which takes so long to grow you will be long gone before you can reap the rewards of its shade) or, better yet, a Texas ash which is fast growing and is specially bred to be borer resistant.

    We got one for the front yard and it is great... Growing like gangbusters and it only took 4 years to get big.
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    or, better yet, a Texas ash which is fast growing and is specially bred to be borer resistant.
    We got one for the front yard and it is great... Growing like gangbusters and it only took 4 years to get big.
    Well, I think you just sold me on the Texas Ash.
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    I could see where ASH would be resistant to borers. Ash makes for one heck of a baseball bat. So does Maple.
    "The difference between golf and government is that in golf you cant improve your lie"
    John Daly

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    Quote Originally Posted by fchafey View Post
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    I could see where ASH would be resistant to borers. Ash makes for one heck of a baseball bat. So does Maple.
    Any fast growing tree, even if it is called Ash is a soft wood, at least for the first 50 years.
    What makes one tree more resistant to insects than another is usually how tasty they find the bark and sapwood.
    (Eucalyptus is case in point, insects find it particularly unpalatable)

    My problem thus far has been finding a tree that will grow fast, and able to deal with the insanely hot summers.
    I don't mind being called far right.
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    Poplars grow very fast. The only problem I had with one I planted is you will forever
    be cutting off branches close to the ground. But once you do that it will grow and fill out nicely.
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

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    Texas Ash grows even faster than Arizona Ash, far as I have seen... The biggest problem I have had with mine is that it puts out a lot of roots... And in the Texas rock (also known as dirt) they do not go deep but run across the top of the soil where the dirt is actually dirt. The roots have a tendency to lift any concrete, and upset foundations if planted within 30 feet of either.

    Not sure what the difference between the Arizona and Texas varieties is, but I have not had any bug issues with the Texas variety, as the Az. version had issues after only a few years.

    Oak is the first choice of serious landscape architects, but it takes 50 years to get a good sized shade tree... Plus there is another disease that is called Oak Wilt that destroys as many Oaks as does borers in Ash.

    The only decision is do you want shade soon, or for your grandchildren.... I have also successfully grown an apple tree (from seed) and have a young seedling peach growing in a pot to be transplanted next spring.

    If you want shade, might as well get some fruit with it, right?
    If you do not read the news you are uninformed. If you do you are misinformed. Mark Twain


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    If a tree grows fast it also has a short lifespan. The faster it grows the faster it dies.




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    Quote Originally Posted by fchafey View Post
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    I could see where ASH would be resistant to borers. Ash makes for one heck of a baseball bat. So does Maple.
    the ash is under attack right now from the ash beetle (emerald ash borer) up north. it hasn't made it down here yet but it prob'ly will......I had a green ash that grew fast and made really good shade...mac
    Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sojourner truth View Post
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    Well, from the picture, that looks like an Arizona ash tree... one of which we have had in the yards of our last 2 homes.
    No, this was definitely a Willow but we did have a hard time keeping the bugs away which as you said, played a big part in it slowly dying (especially when you add the droughts into the equation).
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    From the looks of it, it hardly had a root system.

    I have a volunteer hackberry in my yard which is just 20 years old and shades the house quite well. Fruit trees are good for fruit but are generally poor shade trees since we tend to keep them short for an easier harvest. If you want a producer and shade, you can't go wrong with a Pecan. I plan to experiment with Chestnut trees this spring... I have 18 Chestnuts wintering in my reefer right now... they are of the inedible "Horse Chestnut" variety, smuggled in from the Chech Republic this fall.
    "A boy cannot become a girl and a man cannot become a woman, not even if he shuts his eyes and wishes really hard."



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