Weekly Garden Tip

July 23, 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

If you’ve been outside lately and been exposed to the heat for very long, you start looking around for some welcome shade from a nice big tree. Many landscapes have shade trees, but if you’re one of these individuals that has new property or a landscape for whatever reason was not planted with trees you should consider adding some trees which can help cool the property and your home and reduce your air conditioning costs.

Some people worry that if they put trees in the landscape these will be a danger during hurricanes and there’s always that possibility, but that shouldn’t scare you away from adding trees because the likelihood of getting hurricanes on a frequent basis here has historically not been that high even though we’ve had two years in a row that we did have them.

There are many types of shade trees that are well suited for our area and, of course, many of our native shade trees are close to the top of the list. Things such as live oak provide large spreading canopies often at maturity reaching 90 feet or wider or they can grow to 70 feet or higher vertically.

Many people think of oaks as slow growing, but in my own landscape I have a giant oak started from an acorn in 1968, 90 feet wide and 75 feet tall with a trunk 4 feet wide. This has weathered all of our hurricanes in those years very well with minimal limb breakage and supports a wide population of vines, orchids, ferns, bromeliads and other things which add to the attractiveness of the tree.

Another good native is pigeon plum. Pigeon plums do not grow as wide as oak trees at maturity, but can reach heights of 60 feet or more when full grown. They also provide purple fruits which birds enjoy so it helps to attract wildlife in your landscape and many native trees provide cover, food, or nesting areas.

West Indian mahogany had mixed results in some people’s landscapes with some people having very minimal damage from hurricanes while others had large limbs broken out. A lot of that probably had to do with the location in the landscape and also the care that the tree had received through the years. Out in natural areas mahogany trees in park areas came through very well from last year’s storms and in some parking areas they came through well, too. Some cities have used them for years as street trees and they have weathered many years of severe storms.

Even some fruit trees make excellent shade trees. Good examples in landscapes would include sapodilla, which is very wind resistant and provides fruit over much of the year and mango trees. Lychee, which has strawberry colored red fruit in the summer is another favorite and these can all reach high enough heights to provide good shade, but as with any type of tree avoid planting them right up against the house.

Trees that are too close to buildings in severe storms could have branches ripped off and go through roofs or provide other structural damage. Keeping trees out at least 20 to 30 feet away from structures is also the best policy then limbs that might fall off and break will fall on the ground rather than on the structure. Also if the whole tree tips over there’s probably going to be less damage if it strikes the structure.

As with any types of plants there’s no one type that will withstand anything in all types of situations, but the averages are there that suggest that there are many types of trees that do well in storms. If you drive around your own neighborhood and look at what survived the recent years of hurricanes as well, that should give you a good idea in your location and neighborhood of some ideas on the best choices.

If you want some additional advice on selection of shade trees for your landscape, pick up some of the free literature available at the Palm Beach County Extension office and you can also call the Extension office for free advice. Dial 233-1750 in the north and central county area or 276-1260 in the south county area.