Fall is the Best Time To Plant Shade Trees

If suffering through another hot muggy summer seems unbearable, then plant shade trees this fall for cooling shade next year and years to come. Besides providing shade, trees produce oxygen, create sound and visual screens and add color and texture to the landscape.

It is best to plant trees now as they enter a stage of dormancy in the fall. Dormancy is somewhat similar to hibernation for animals. In the winter a hibernating animal's respiration and heart beat slows. Trees also slow their growth functions in the fall and winter. This lasts until spring when the warm weather and warm soil trigger renewed growth.

During dormancy, no growth occurs in the upper branches and attention is given to growing a stronger root system. This stronger root system will better support foliage growth in the spring.

One of the more popular shade trees is the maple. Each variety of maple has its own distinguishing characteristics, but most are rrecognized by opposite paired leaves and winged seeds, which we called "helicopters" as children.

The Norway maple has a rounded overall shape with very dark green leaves and dense foliage. It grows to about 40 feet in height and width.

The Sugar maple produces the sap from which maple syrup is derived. It grows to a height of 60 plus feet and generally appears taller than broad. In the fall it has brilliant orange foliage.

The Red maple's leaves turn a bright red in he fall while the canopy may reach 45 to 60 feet high. It should not be confused with some of the Norway maple varieties which have wine colored leaves throughout the growing season. There are many exciting new varieties of this tree.

Oaks are known for their seed, the acorn. They have a stately shape, and some grow to almost 100 feet in height. The three most common varieties of oak are the Red oak, White oak and Pin oak.

Many oaks keep their leaves even through the winter. I know of one woman who planned her entire landscape around some beautiful Pin oaks. As a young girl, a Pin oak had grown outside her bedroom window. The sound of its leaves rustling in the winter reminded her of her childhood.

Another former landscape client of mine once told me she wanted a "happy" tree. I asked her what that was, and she said, "You know, the kind where the branches curve up like uplifted arms." She was describing the ash with its characteristic upright branches.

The two most common kinds of ash in Ohio are the Green ash and the White ash. There are many other varieties. Some, like the Autumn Purple and Autumn Applause are known for their beautiful plum colored fall foliage.

Another popular shade tree is the Honey Locust which grows from 35 to 60 feet tall and has small leaflets, which give the entire tree a light, airy appearance. They are often planted in city locations because of their high tolerance to temperature extremes, crowding and pollution.

A shade tree which thrives in less congested city conditions is the linden, or bass wood, which has medium sized dark green leaves with a gray underside and dense foliage. Its branches appear dome-shaped.

Shade trees not only help beat the summer heat but add landscape pleasure year round. Plant trees now and on through the Holidays for next season's enjoyment.