Sago Palm Care, Plant Shade Trees for Beauty and Comfort

There are many types of shade trees which are ideal for planting around your home, or on your sidewalk. Every variety has its own unique gifts, but to make sure you find the one that suits you and your home perfectly, choose carefully. Trees are an ideal way to make your home, your street, even your neighborhood more attractive. Besides the beautiful ambiance created by a grove of shade trees or a tree lined street, trees provide shade and protect us and our pets from the heat and rays of the sun. You will want to choose a tree that will give you pleasure all year long. You can do this be being aware of the color of the tree, its foliage, flowers if any, its bark, shape, texture and eventual size.

You can find shade trees that will fit perfectly in their surroundings by adding the right shape to an empty spot, since they can be oval, columnar, pyramidal, conical or weeping in shape. You must look at a tree for each and every one of its qualities. Important considerations are the rate of growth, how much shade it provides, colors throughout the year, hardiness, maintenance requirements and whether you can use herbicides with it. You also need to make sure your land can provide the proper soil and aeration conditions and that your lot and house is suited for the branching habit of the particular tree. You want to be careful not to plant trees that can be easily damaged by storms, or that produce messy fruit or seeds. As a rule, fruit trees are not used as shade trees, but planted in groves or orchards for the purpose of producing fruit.

There are many trees that are planted because they produce beautiful flowers, but may not serve the purpose of shade trees because they do not reach the proper height. Common trees used as shade trees are: oak, maple, ash, birch, beech, sycamore, larch, linden and chestnut. There are some lesser known varieties that also serve well as shade trees: hackberry,ginko, Chinese chestnut, katsura, Kentucky coffee and hop hornbeam. The type and amount of shade provided by a shade tree can vary greatly. A Norway maple, for example, gives a such a heavy shade that grass cannot grow under it. The honey locust and the larch, because of the shapes of their leaves, give a light, speckled shade. If you are looking for shade trees to add autumn color to your landscape, choose your tree when it is young, and choose it in the fall. This way you can see in the sapling the color the leaves will turn year after year. In order to have the most brilliant foliage. remember that you have to have cool nights and warm sunny days such as exist in the New England states. The brighter the days in the fall, the more intense the reds and purples of the tree colors will be, while a lot of cloudy days will result in more orange or yellow tones being produced.