Thank You For Your Response To My Question About The…
Sharon Asked
Thank you for your response to my question about the trees. Here are a few more facts. Our driveway is about 200 feet long, in full sun, and no power lines. Ours are belowground. The driveway slopes down from the house toward the road. I am more interested in trees rather than evergreens. I have seen several trees that are a beautiful deep blazing red with a round shape. The color seems to last forever. I will call to get my soil tested.
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello again, Sharon: It does not sound like you have many restrictions for your planting site, so the hard part will be choosing a specific tree. If you can’t settle on just one kind of tree, you can always plant a combination of different trees. It all depends on the look you are going for. Either way there are many trees to choose from. As far as the trees that have red foliage, the Norway maple ‘Crimson King’ (Acer platanoides) has nice red foliage throughout the growing season. Some of the plums and cherries have nice red new foliage as well. Some other choices would be zelkova, lacebark elm ‘Allee,’ Persian parrotia, dogwood, and crape myrtles. Pears and crabapples would provide nice spring blooms. The ‘Aristocrat’ pear is a good selection, and ‘Donald Wyman’ or ‘Sugar Tyme’ crabapples are nice choices too. Choosing the right tree for the right spot will make for a successful planting. This will be quite an investment, so it is always a good idea to buy from a reputable source. Ask around and check out some of your local nurseries and garden centers that carry disease-resistant varieties. Any garden center or nursery you want to purchase from will have a knowledgeable staff happy to help you choose the right tree(s). There are a great number of trees to choose from and I have only listed a few, but as I mentioned before, the following publication is a list of trees suitable for Kentucky plantings: www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ho/ho61/ho61.pdf
. You can request a copy of this from your Extension agent when you have your soil tested. You might also want to visit the library and see if they have copies of Hardy Trees and Shrubs or Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates written by Michael Dirr. Both have great pictures and endless information. It is hard to choose a tree without seeing it in color!
