Pick a xeric tree!

[Xanthoria]

OK, last week my neighbor cut down a canary island date palm (phoenix canariensis) that was about 20' tall and wide, and draped over our shared wall and really screened us from other neighbors quite well. We have a gap, giving us a wonderful view of the neighbors giant trampoline set with attendant screaming children at times...

We'd like to get a tree of some sort with the following characteristics:

Zone 10 compatible
Full sun
Not too tall or huge - perhaps 20' tall and wide at most
Evergreen so it screens the neighboring houses all year
Fast growing, ditto - we'll likely buy a 15g one
Super drought tolerant - it's going to be planted in a raised bed in sandy loam and won't get water after year 1 except winter rain
Umbrella or palm shaped so we can plant things at the base too. Could have an interesting trunk(s) etc
Might have to put up with some salty wind from the sea, a bit less than a mile away?
Doesn't drop vast quantities of leaves, fruit, seeds etc
Won't annoy the neighbors!
Works well next to a weeping bamboo that's currently about 5' high (ie not another bamboo)

Some trees we have considered:

Acacia baileyana purpurea
Acacia stenophylla
Psoralea pinnata
Psoralea fleta - weeping form next to weeping bamboo not ideal
A large Yucca - maybe variegated - if we can find a big enough specimen
An olive tree
A smaller palm tree - what kind?
Cussonias - but already got two in this particular garden
Cordylines - but we already have quite a few in this garden
A palo verde (Parkinsonia) of some sort, but they're not really screening?

Any other suggestions?

[Stan]

Always Schefflera puckleri. Fits everything but drought tolerant. Still,mine did great on average watering. In SF,even less once they root in.
Other blander choices are Pittosporums...Victoria boxes,P.undulatum, and the others. Might need more time to root in.
Then you got Grevillea's.
The no water really makes it harder. How about Silver Dollar Euc? I posted a photo of one or two here in town and they shine from blocks away a very bright silver.

[Xanthoria]

I can't be watering a tree forever - it's just not on my life goals list Also we're in perennial drought - I feel the guilt.

Now you did mention silver dollar euc and while everyone round here is against eucalyptus for many reasons, it did remind me of a plant I'd love to have: Leucadendron argenteum. Might be a bit slow to form a tree tho, but my local wholesaler has a 15 gallon one... tempted!

[Melt in the Sun]

Not much to add except that Acacia stenophylla isn't very screen-y either, much like the palo verdes.

Maybe some of the larger Caesalpinia? Not sure how fast things like cacalaco or paraguariensis are, nor how well they would do in a cooler climate like yours.

[Stan]

Well,Luecodendron wont screen a thing. Its sculptural...all I've seen were open canopys. I've posted a couple here in Hayward..check out the archives. They also are said to not be very long lived. I get the feeling they are South African Ceonothus.
Acacia baielyana is a big tree...it will pass 20' with a big brown trunk. My Aunt had one. It will outgrow the Silver dollar getting there too. Acacia's dont take to pruning..makes them weak. Mostly plant and let them be.
If you want to get fancy- Brahea 'CLARA'..Much faster growing then B.armata. I posted that in the archives too. Its said to grow in cool SF summers just fine. You would need to water for more then a year.
One you might like? Evergreen Albizia. Its all you ask. It might not be long lived- but re seeds forever. Its been moved out of the Albizia family...so you have to Google the newest name.
Oh yeah- Cassia. The C. leptophylla does fine in the bay area. Wish I had planted one.
Silk Floss tree? Dry Garden always has them.

[mcvansoest]

How about an Ironwood (sorry my brain does not supply me with the latin name). Not super fast, but from what is growing in front of my building here at work, I can say that it will act like a good screen tree, is drought tolerant (the ones here in the landscaping might get water, just because it is in a bed with lots of Aloe 'Blue Elf' that gets irrigated), and pretty much evergreen.

[Gee.S]

^ Not super fast at all. May as well plant a hedge of Bursera, which would be wicked cool, btw.

[Paul S]

Of those you list I would go with an olive as they are indestructible. Fast, unbelievably drought tolerant and can be allowed to grow naturally or shaped. Off the list how about pepper trees - either Schinus molle or terebinthifolia? Both can be cut back if they grow too tall. Or a carob tree - Ceratona siliqua? These all grow really well in the driest parts of the Mediterranean.

[Gee.S]

ASK THE EXPERTS

Q. Have fruit-bearing olive trees been banned completely in Arizona? There is disagreement over our HOA regulations regarding this tree. We are in the San Tan Valley (Pinal county area).

A. The legal status of olive (and mulberry) trees is usually set by individual cities, explains Certified Arborist Cathy Rymer. For example, Section 39.9 of the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance states that no male mulberry tree (Morus alba) or olive tree (Olea europea) shall be sold or planted in the city. This is due to the large amounts of allergenic, airborne pollens they produce, which are considered noxious and contribute to human disease and health problems. However, the olive cultivars that don’t produce pollen, ‘Swan Hill’ or ‘Wilsonii,’ are allowed. In an unincorporated area, like the San Tan Valley, you would need to determine if there is a county ordinance governing olive trees. If not, individual HOAs might be able to set their own regulations. Your HOA may need to consult its attorney to help sort this out.

[Paul S]

That is nonsensical! There are countless billions of olive trees planted throughout Mediterranean Europe and beyond and they have been cultivated for thousands of years! Hardly a health risk.

[Gee.S]

They are banned here, and have been for decades. I remember when the Valley was full of 'em. Then ten years later, all gone.

[Paul S]

If the authorities over there were serious about saving lives they should legislate guns, not olive trees!

[Gee.S]

No, they needed guns to shoot all the olive trees!

[Stan]

They ban Olive trees....but golf courses and the zillions of blades of grass that go with them all is fine? I have read they most of the allergy problems are that and the higher humidity. Desert Tortoises cant take living near Phoenix...they get respiratory fungal problems from the no longer bone dry air.
Carob is a good idea for SF. Its used as a street tree..and is almost like the Pepper tree trunks as they age in their own way. They grow like huge braided rope trunks.

[Xanthoria]

Well hilarious that this has taken a political turn but for the record I agree with banning guns but not olive trees.

I hit up Flora Grubb today and they are having a 20% off sale! Didn’t make it to the Dry Garden today, but did spend some $

I ended up dithering between a 5g Acacia baileyana purpurea, a 5g Cussonia spicata, 24” box pygmy palm and a 24” box Butia capitata.

While I was trying to decide I got a 5g Opuntia sulphurea because it’s ridiculous, and as I’m a fan of massive tropical looking palmate leaves I got a 5g Trevesia palmata which will live in a pot and bring me spiny-trunked jungly joy.

I saw a gorgeous Ceiba speciosa with just the right shape and everything I wanted except... no leaves. And they told me less than a mile from the ocean it might always be sparse looking. So I went back and compared a 5g Acacia baileyana for $48 to a 15g $140 and only 2” taller and was about to get the 5g as I know they grow fast.... when I spied a 15g Dodonea viscosa purpurea, over 8’ tall and pruned into a tree shape. Instant screen, super tough, evergreen and a great background for all the stuff in front. Boring but in some ways smart as it won’t cause me any headaches.

Got that home and planted it, and really feel there’s room for the acacia too so probably going back for that and a Psoralea pinnata tomorrow. Love a good Psoralea: great screen, v drought tolerant.

Wish I could trade my Cussonia paniculata var sinuata for the Butia but limited on space. Next garden tho...

[Stan]

Plant the Trevesia. It will just be a skinny trunk with 3 leaves in a pot eventually. I had one about 10' sturdy trunk and lots of leaves in ground here in Hayward'...flowered too ( Dave's Garden,bayareatropics photo). Then I lost it when rodents girdled the trunk. There went 8 or 9 years of growing. I got that at the Dry Garden in a gallon.
Me? I went to HD yesterday...bought an Agave tintora. Ok..I get home and start to look in my little planting spaces in the front yard. I ALREADY HAVE ONE...exact same burgundy tips. So,I guess I must really like them Today,I will return. The plant.

[Xanthoria]

I hate when that happens! Between that and mislabeled plants, that's how I ended up with two Cussonia spicata at one garden, and two Cussonia paniculata at another. Versus the nice variety I was expecting...

Anyway, went back to FG and got the 5g Acacia baileyana purpurea, a 1g Psoralea pinnata and a 5g Bocconia frutescens which is something I've never seen!

[Stan]

You bought MY bocconia? I have a ficus I want to remove and had been thinking of the Dry Gardens who always has them. I had one years ago. Then,I moved it. They dont take being moved.
I once saw a garden show that was California centric. They showed a San Diego Garden and besides the great C&S..this yard had a large Bocconia in bloom. wow. Like many of the Mexican tree daisy plants- they need to be kept rejuvenated ever few years..but in between Bocconia looks like a tan Breadfruit tree.

[Paul S]

I grow Bocconia here. In my climate it tends to get very tatty over winter so I cut it back hard every year - result of that is much more vigorous growth with leaves maybe 15" long and 10 ft of stem.

[Xanthoria]

Stan there's another 5g Bocconia waiting there for you! Sale ends today I think!

I've no idea where to put it. Will it be OK in a pot for a few months? I'm going to try and keep the Psoralea in a pot and grow it on too, but we'll see.

[Stan]

Another tree? Brachychiton rupestris. Its grown for the fat bottle trunk. Oh,that is one plant to be noticed in 5 years.In 20,its spectacularly showy. For you,maybe one year of summer rain. That's a hard requirement to fill for a recommendation unless we include common freeway plants. Taking so little water..and thriving are two separate things.

I would pot up the Bocconia for now..you dont want to it to be so rootbound,it goes dry. I see it as one of those plants that takes that drought as a reason to drop leafs.
I might stop by...take a look. I have permission to copy?

[Xanthoria]

Stan, sounds like I'm the one copying you with the Trevisia and now Bocconia!

And Brachychiton rupestris - awesome! I see there's one in Cupertino that's outstanding: https://californiabigtrees.calpoly.edu/ ... estris/428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Can you imagine a whole median on a street with a line of these?

Paul where do you live and why does your Bocconia get ratty?

[Paul S]

I live in southeast England. Imagine you are in London - jump into the River Thames, swim about 25 miles east until the river becomes an estuary near the coast. If you knew where to look you'd see my house from the water! It is pretty dry here by English standards, which explains why I tune into the forum*.

Once the temperatures start to do down below freezing the leaves get tatty and start to drop. I have a good friend who lives over the other side of England in the extreme southwest where winters are a lot milder and the climate overall is a lot wetter - he also grows it (these are possibly the only 2 in England?) and it stays evergreen so he leaves it alone. But I don't think it looks as impressive as without cutting back the leaves remain a lot smaller. Then again it is there all the time which is what you want it to do.

*I had someone here taking some photos of my garden last year - she has put up a page on her website: https://www.thegardenpictorial.com/the- ... rden-essex

[Xanthoria]

Nice Paul! I'm originally from Wales and my brother lives in Surrey, so I know where Essex is

I live in California now and the weather is... well lets just say it's a lot better than Wales, if you like xeric plants

[Paul S]

Nice! How long have you been 'over there'?