Tree planting question.

[TNDemo]

When we bought this house it came with nasty Bradford pears. We have three in the side yard, just on the other side of the fence. I have a big landscaping bed around them. We are owed some trees through the utility company because of trees they cut down on some vacant land we own and they will give us oak or maple trees. The pear trees are 15 years old, so toward the end of their life anyway. I would like to have the replacement trees in the exact spot the pear trees are now, but was wondering if they could be planted there, even if the stumps were ground. How long after a tree is cut down can another one be put in the same spot?

[polly7]

1. I'm not sure about oak trees, but maple

trees are very tough and will grow in almost any condition as long as they have water and a bit of shelter from wind. I planted thousands of them through the PRFA (prairie farm rehabilitation) program, and you could almost place them in rocks, their roots found a way around anything. Oaks aren't native here, so I'm not sure about them. Good luck with your trees! Make sure if you plant maples, you trim the shooters in a few years to leave only one strong stem.

[femmocrat]

15. We have Norway Maples and would not recommend them.

They were planted by the previous owner. We do have a sugar maple which is lovely, but it loses its pretty red leaves very early.

Norway Maples are very pesky... Tons of seeds and you will find baby maple trees coming up all over your property. I think they were listed as a pest because of their prolific spreading, along with rosa rugosa and burning bush, in an article I read awhile ago. I also have those! :(

We also get a lot of little oaks from sprouted acorns. The chipmunks carry the acorns around.

[polly7]

29. Ours are called Manitoba Maples, they do spread too if the seeds are

near cultivated or loose dirt, but they're really beautiful trees once grown and seem to be drought-tolerant (after a few good years of initial watering). Farmers here have planted them in shelterbelts by the thousands, I planted six in my yard in different spots and they're just gorgeous, and very fast growing. Red Maples are beautiful too, I don't think they spread at all.

[Quantess]

31. Norway maples are considered invasive in most regions of the US.

There are several cultivars with different names, but the bottom line is that if it's Acer platanoides, it's a Norway maple.

[Denninmi]

2. Except for a few species that are allelopathic, you can replant immediately.

The only common species in E. N.America that is strongly allelopathic is black walnut. I guess some eucalyptus species are, so that would be an issue in California.

Pears are not. As soon as the physical work is done so you don't risk damaging the new trees with equipment, you can feel free to go ahead and plant.

[Mendocino]

3. Do you know what species

of oak and maple they are offering? If you live in a somewhat higher elevation in TN, Sugar Maples would be my preference. Sometimes called Hard or Rock Maple. Avoid Silver Maples, they are prolific seed producers and often split in storms. As for oaks, many types would be suitable in your climate. Northern Red Oaks, Post Oak, Chestnut Oak, Pin Oaks would all be good, as would Scarlet Oaks which produce a wonderful Autumn display.

Planting on old tree sites works very well. New tree roots often follow old ones, giving them a head start.

Good luck and good planting.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Forget about the pin oaks. Especially if you are

young enough to see them mature. Yikes, they are really bad about losing limbs and dead limbs hanging all over the place. It is just something that they do, and it is a pain in the ass. Take it from me---I have four pin oaks that are probably 100 years old, but they have always done this as long as I have been here.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. Plus, they hang on to last year's dead leaves with a vengeance.

I hate pin oaks- nasty buggers.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. Oh yes. I have to wait until Thanksgiving to clean gutters.

And that is because there are still too many leaves on the trees.

But I can't say that I "hate" them. With four huge mature pin oaks, I have to love them---for the shade, for the cooling effect, for the greenery, for the stature. But they have drawbacks and if I had to replace them, it would never be pin oaks again. But I would not trade these trees for anything. I just keep saying that I hope I die before these trees do, because I couldn't bear to be treeless, and with these huge trees, I will never be able to replace them.

[Mendocino]

12. Yes those leaves

are just so darn ugly. They ruin the wonderful gray drabness of winter. :)

[Mendocino]

10. I have mature Pin Oaks

and have no problem with them. Yes they drop a few limbs, but what tree doesn't have shortcomings? In a hundred more years, I won't really be concerned about their limbs.

[Curmudgeoness]

14. Don't get me wrong. I love my trees.

But I love them because they are there and they are huge. They provide shade enough that my back yard is always cool. I would never give them up. With that said, they would not be a choice if I had a choice. In fact, the dead limbs were how I was taught to identify a Pin Oak because that is a characteristic of them, so this is a shortcoming I know. Which is why suggest not going with the Pin Oak---I know this problem.

Still.....These trees were here before my house was built in 1944, and were a good size at that time. I love them.

[Mendocino]

16. I saw a bumpersticker

"I don't just hug trees, I kiss them too."

[Shagbark Hickory]

20. That would be a good bumpersticker for me.

[Curmudgeoness]

32. I do believe that you are right. Anyone with the moniker Shagbark Hickory

must be quite a tree lover. Or.....I could be wrong and there is some sick joke there.

Any way it goes, I love Shagbark Hickory trees. :loveya:

[barb162]

21. I have one about 25 yrs old and I'm sick of the acorns

or am I sick of the squirrels who dig up the entire yard burying them. I had an arborist by last week to get a quote for trimming it or cutting it down, it takes up a fourth of the back yard. It never should have been planted there by the previous owners.

[elleng]

4. Dunno; check Gardening Group.

[XemaSab]

5. I planted a sycamore

about 3 feet away from where a weeping birch was. It was about three months later.

Digging through the bark chips left when they grind the stump would probably be no fun, but if you can tolerate a 2-foot offset, you can plant immediately.

[BiggJawn]

8. Stay away from Silver Maples

Urban forester told me that they were popular back in the 60's as street trees in housing developments because they grew fast.
Unfortunately, they hit their peak and start to decline about 40-50 years of age, they're brittle and the older they are, the more prone to rot they are.

I had one in my front yard, it was a wreck after an ice storm, was starting to rot, and shut the sewer line off with its roots about every third year.

Oh, and the seeds... BUSHELS of them most years!

[barb162]

24. Those seeds are terrible to rake.

IMO they're impossible to rake.

[BiggJawn]

25. They sure are.

They don't sweep with a broom all that well, either.
And in the spring, you have a maple forest growing in your rain gutters.

[barb162]

26. I know, I know. Did you call them helicopters?

I remember raking the same square foot of the grass twenty times and they'd pop up out of the grass and plunk right back down. I was lucky to get 20% of them.

[BiggJawn]

27. Yes, "helicopters" N/T

[TNDemo]

11. The options are Shumard Oak and Sugar Maple.

That's all on the list this year.

[Mendocino]

13. Both Shumard Oak and Sugar

Maple are relatively fast growers, if you stay at your location for 20 years or so, you will see some very fine trees.

[Shagbark Hickory]

19. Sugar maple is actually a comparatively slow grower.

[Mendocino]

23. From The Complete Trees of North America,

Field Guide and Natural History by Thomas S. Elias

"These trees (Sugar Maple) grow rapidly for the first 35 to 40 years."

On edit Thomas S. Elias is the former Director of the US National Arboretum.

[Shagbark Hickory]

28. Before I say that quote isn't true, I'd have to read the context but generally speaking,

sugar maple is a slow grower compared to shumard oak.

Sugar maple grows about 1 foot per year

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/trees.htm
http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?id=14

Shumard Oak...
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/trees/oak_shumard/tabid/5399/Default.aspx
http://hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/queshua.pdf


I'll also just point out that you're quoting the former director of the organization that introduced callery pears claiming they were sterile.

[Mendocino]

30. Shumards are slow compared to say Yellow Poplars,

which can grow up to six feet a year. It's all relative.

I'll point out that Dr. Elias has a doctorate in Botany and has taught at Harvard and Vassar. He was also a member of the graduate faculty at CUNY and the SUNY at Syracuse.

[Shagbark Hickory]

18. Sugar maple is a beautiful tree but I learned my lesson about trying to grow them in the south.

I'd pick the shumard oak if you've got room for it. They grow to be very large trees .

[Shagbark Hickory]

17. Good for you for removing the invasive callery pears. And also for replanting with something better.

As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today.

If you can dig in the soil and there aren't a bunch of roots that you can't dig through, then go for it. But if you don't get it out mechanically, expect it to sent up sprouts for some time to come.

[barb162]

22. I've planted trees the same day the previous tree was ground out.

The new trees did fine.