Quote:
Originally Posted by Michread
Which small trees do you recommend for shade and low maintenance? We are in a new home south of 44.
This is for our backyard in full sun most of the day. The Villages has taken care to plant native plants and trees in our front.
I would like one or two fruit trees with the understanding that I would have to prune and harvest often.
Yes, I have done a forum search already.
Thank you.
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Plants mentioned that I am growing. Bottle brush. There are many different varieties.
Not what I have but what is sold as bottle brush trees are actually created as a graft to a root stock. They tend to be blown over in stormed. Mine was multi stemmed, I pruned it into more of a tree. It is now at ten years roughly 12 feet high. I seems to be tough as nails. Only issue, it drops viable seeds. Easy enough to pull them out.
I have what I think is a nachez crape myrtle. It too was put in by the builder, no labels.
It has been in about 10 years and is now ????? about 20 feet high. Mine is bigger than most I see. For me a great tree. I prune mine to keep it open. The trunk sheds bark which is white and exposes reddish brown new bark below. I don't know why, weather?
This year it has far more of the white crape myrtle type blooms on it. Another tough as nails plant.
Native plants? They do plant plants suitable for our climate. They are not necessarily native. The bottle brush I think is native to India. Fruits, almost all are hybrids and grafts. Grapefruits. What we grow, what we buy are far sweeter and pretty colors than what used to be-really sour and loaded with seeds.