I've been on a tree kick lately as I recently came across
this document regarding the El Paso greensweep initiative. It got me thinking that I really need to get some trees planted along the street in front of my house. One, it looks pretty. Two, these historic neighborhoods seem barren when devoid of plantlife. Much more so than the newer developments springing up on the outskirts of the city. So, I decided to do my part. I went to a local nursery in the upper valley and brought home some vesuvius plum trees.
I kind of went back and forth on what kind of trees to plant (and annoyed my wife in the process :) ). My biggest fear with this was planting something that would completely block the view of the house from the street. What's the point in fixing up a house if you can't see it right? :) As you can see in the pic, the retaining wall is about 3 to 4 feet off street level, then another 2 feet or so for the foundation of the house. So I figured the tree either had to grow really tall to form a canopy over the house or really small so at most it would block the first floor view. These specific plum trees grow to a max height of 18 feet by 12 feet so they should complement it well. Plus I love how they flower in the spring! This is what they'll look like when mature. A little unwieldy, but with some vigilant pruning they should look great.
I'm still thinking about what to do about the rest of the area between the sidewalk and the street. I don't know if I want grass down there. The sprinkler system isn't set up for the street level, so it would have to be manually maintained. Don't really want to do that. I'll probably use some low-lying native ground cover that doesn't need any help from me, but still looks great. That'll probably wait till next spring. The tan rock theme is a little plain.
I kind of went back and forth on what kind of trees to plant (and annoyed my wife in the process :) ). My biggest fear with this was planting something that would completely block the view of the house from the street. What's the point in fixing up a house if you can't see it right? :) As you can see in the pic, the retaining wall is about 3 to 4 feet off street level, then another 2 feet or so for the foundation of the house. So I figured the tree either had to grow really tall to form a canopy over the house or really small so at most it would block the first floor view. These specific plum trees grow to a max height of 18 feet by 12 feet so they should complement it well. Plus I love how they flower in the spring! This is what they'll look like when mature. A little unwieldy, but with some vigilant pruning they should look great.
I'm still thinking about what to do about the rest of the area between the sidewalk and the street. I don't know if I want grass down there. The sprinkler system isn't set up for the street level, so it would have to be manually maintained. Don't really want to do that. I'll probably use some low-lying native ground cover that doesn't need any help from me, but still looks great. That'll probably wait till next spring. The tan rock theme is a little plain.
4 comments:
Just make sure you plant it well away from your sewer main line....or you (like me)will have plenty of material for your blog a couple of years from now as you deal with roots in your sewer ;-) The tree looks great. Does it fruit?
Hmm, I'm completely ignorant as to where my sewer lines run. I'll just hope something like that doesn't happen.. heh.
The trees aren't supposed to fruit, but I have heard that on occassion they will give off a few. Being that they're along the sidewalk I don't want anything messy, so they should be ok. On the off chance they do bear fruit every once in a while, it should be good for the birds. :)
That is such a great contribution! Trees make a world of difference in a neighborhood. Our neighborhood is lush with 100+ year old trees, and the foliage looks amazing right now! The flowers will be gorgeous. We have a crabapple tree in our backyard that looks stunning in the spring, but now it is dropping all its rotting apples all over the place! Ew. But so worth it in the spring.
What's interesting is that at one time I hear this neighborhood was very lush with trees, etc. A few other nearby old neighborhoods still have lots of green. Unfortunately when the neighborhood went to crap back in the day alot of this died off or was removed.
The tendency to "over-xeriscape" was a problem. Since at that time a large percentage of homes were converted to rentals, I think many owners went the maintenance free route. Back then the city was in fear of its water supply. That's since been resolved and I think it's due time we replace what was once lost. :)
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