Fast-growing trees or shrubbery in mild winter and hot summer climate?

[Liz CA]

Gardeners, people with green thumbs or anyone...what kind of tree or large shrubbery could we plant that would reach beyond 5-6 feet in the span of a few years?

We have mild winter climate - no snow, no real freezing, temps around F27 at its lowest point and usually no longer than a few nights; summer is hot and dry with temps around F100+ for weeks.

We are looking at a property that needs some shading because for some reason, previous owner (property was probably flipped) ripped out all the trees evidenced by the stumps that are left behind.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Liz CA

[almondbutterandjelly]

Live Oak trees grow pretty fast in that kind of climate.  You need to buy a decent size to start with, though, if you want total shading in that time frame.

[gardenmom5]

bamboo- you bury a copper cylinder spaced to the extent you are allowing the bamboo to grow - and it will say inside of it.   an acquaintance did that,, and the individual stalks of bamboo were so fat - she had offers of $50 per cut piece,

[TechWife]

Wax myrtle fits the bill. 

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/myrica-cerifera/

[prairiewindmomma]

*Not* photinia! It grows fast and makes an excellent hedge, but there is a viral disease that is wiping them out and we couldn’t fix it even with extensive spraying. We lost our beautiful 15’ hedge and had an expensive removal bill.

[ThisIsTheDay]

We planted a row of arborvitae between us and a neighbor to form a barrier. The neighbor on the other side of her used these trees, and we followed a year or two later. They are evergreens rather than shade trees. They are quick growing, 3 feet a year. They have been great.

They grow well in most of the US.

[Liz CA]

34 minutes ago, ThisIsTheDay said:

We planted a row of arborvitae between us and a neighbor to form a barrier. The neighbor on the other side of her used these trees, and we followed a year or two later. They are evergreens rather than shade trees. They are quick growing, 3 feet a year. They have been great.

They grow well in most of the US.

 

Do you have to top them or shape them regularly?

[ThisIsTheDay]

22 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

Do you have to top them or shape them regularly?

 

No. We've never done anything to them (that would have been a deal breaker.) We're on a hill above the neighbor, and the trees run alongside our properties. I'm guessing we first planted the trees six years ago. The middle two died during the first two years (drought?) and were replanted. The taller trees are about their max height, 18-20 feet.

Hopefully the picture attached fine . . .

 

 

[Kebo]

Tecoma (such as 'Orange Jubilee') grow fast and tall in my area.   They don't provide shade, per se, but they are a lot of greenery.  Also, they're pretty. 

https://www.civanonursery.com/plant-catalog/orange-jubilee-tecoma-x-orange-jubilee/

[DesertBlossom]

Do you want fruit? Mulberry trees love the heat and grow fast. Don't plant near sidewalks or driveways because the fruit is messy. I planted one this year that has already put on 4-5 feet of growth. 

Or Chinese Elm
 

[Liz CA]

1 hour ago, DesertBlossom said:

Do you want fruit? Mulberry trees love the heat and grow fast. Don't plant near sidewalks or driveways because the fruit is messy. I planted one this year that has already put on 4-5 feet of growth. 

Or Chinese Elm
 

 

The Mulberry are pretty and they seem to have fruitless ones as well. 

When I looked up Chinese Elm, I found several different ones. Some of them look like they would provide nice shade as well.

[ScoutTN]

Tulip poplars are what people put in here if they want a fast growing shade tree. 

[Liz CA]

2 minutes ago, Patty Joanna said:

Do you want large shrubbery or small trees? Do you want flowering or not?   Deciduous or evergreen?  Will fragrance be s plus, a minus, or a meh? 

Yes I am serious.  

 

Large shrubbery if it gets to about 6-7 feet. Trees can be flowering and be fragrant (nothing toxic to dogs please).  It will be either a privacy shield to neighbors or a noise barrier next to a busy road or both. One house I may consider is unfortunately located next to a busy road (the backyard is) and I don't know if I can get used to it coming from such a quiet place. But even if we go with another property at a different location we will likely encounter the bare yard phenomenon. Real estate has been crazy this summer and people have purchased homes earlier in the spring, remodeled and are flipping them, however, why this mean that they often rip out old trees I really don't know. Perhaps previous owners have neglected the yard and many trees were diseased?  We need shade in our area, especially if any part of the yard faces West. 

[KrissiK]

8 hours ago, Liz CA said:

 

Large shrubbery if it gets to about 6-7 feet. Trees can be flowering and be fragrant (nothing toxic to dogs please).  It will be either a privacy shield to neighbors or a noise barrier next to a busy road or both. One house I may consider is unfortunately located next to a busy road (the backyard is) and I don't know if I can get used to it coming from such a quiet place. But even if we go with another property at a different location we will likely encounter the bare yard phenomenon. Real estate has been crazy this summer and people have purchased homes earlier in the spring, remodeled and are flipping them, however, why this mean that they often rip out old trees I really don't know. Perhaps previous owners have neglected the yard and many trees were diseased?  We need shade in our area, especially if any part of the yard faces West. 

Plant redwoods. I live in California, too, and in our neighborhood, everyone has redwoods. They grow fairly quickly and will provide a good privacy shield.

[Liz CA]

9 hours ago, Patty Joanna said:

It sounds more like small trees to me.  

Disclosure:   I detest some things other people like.  Like walls of evergreen shrubs, trees.  There are many interesting plants for this kind of climate, things that can be interesting to look at in all seasons and not just a wall of green stuff.  Like laurel.  Ugh.  Or what we call primadalis not that I can spell it.  

Look at Monrovia online and use their filters to find a way to do this in an interesting and non “wall” way.  Give some deoth in layers, some seasonal interest mixed with evergreen stability of color.  Interesting bark or gnarled trunks are so much more interesting than a wall of green you just give a haircut every six months.  Different colors of green, plants that flower at different times.  If you get a redbud crabapple I will come and sit on your lawn just to admire it for a week every spring.  ?

 

This does sound really nice. I could mix up a few suggestions and I definitely need to look at redbud crabapple so I can get you down here!

9 hours ago, Patty Joanna said:

I just went to monrovia’s site and now I have all kinds of things I want to plant.  This thread is so expensive!!!

Monrobias filters are terrific and you get lots of great information.  

 

Oops, sorry. It will be difficult to not spend all the decorating dollar outside.

2 hours ago, KrissiK said:

Plant redwoods. I live in California, too, and in our neighborhood, everyone has redwoods. They grow fairly quickly and will provide a good privacy shield.

 

I had never thought of it. When I think of Redwoods, I think more of coastal climate. I have to research this.

Just checked out Monrovia and found out we are USDA Zone 9.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Liz CA

[KrissiK]

19 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

This does sound really nice. I could mix up a few suggestions and I definitely need to look at redbud crabapple so I can get you down here!

 

Oops, sorry. It will be difficult to not spend all the decorating dollar outside.

 

I had never thought of it. When I think of Redwoods, I think more of coastal climate. I have to research this.

Just checked out Monrovia and found out we are USDA Zone 9.

I’m zone 9,too. I’m not sure the variety of redwood, but they aren’t the big coastal ones. They are very popular in landscaping here.

[Carol in Cal.]

Sequoias.  They don't need fog like the coastal redwoods do.

Personally I would alternate apricots with dwarf citrus.  I would have apricot varieties that vary in harvest dates, and I would give them plenty of room to grow tall and wide.  I would put different dwarf citrus varieties in between them and top prune them as bushes to keep them short, like 4 feet tall.  That would be for a more continuous visual barrier than just the apricot trunks.  If you're ever down my way give me a holler and I'll show you mine--they look great, I have the best fruit and plenty to share, and excellent 2 1/2 season shade.  (The apricot loses its leaves for a few months.  The citrus are evergreen.)

 

[Liz CA]

13 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Sequoias.  They don't need fog like the coastal redwoods do.

Personally I would alternate apricots with dwarf citrus.  I would have apricot varieties that vary in harvest dates, and I would give them plenty of room to grow tall and wide.  I would put different dwarf citrus varieties in between them and top prune them as bushes to keep them short, like 4 feet tall.  That would be for a more continuous visual barrier than just the apricot trunks.  If you're ever down my way give me a holler and I'll show you mine--they look great, I have the best fruit and plenty to share, and excellent 2 1/2 season shade.  (The apricot loses its leaves for a few months.  The citrus are evergreen.)

 

 

I could definitely mix those in as citrus does well here and apricots would be yummy.

[aggie96]

Zone 8b-9. We currently have clumping bamboo (Green Hedge, lots of maintenance to keep it pruned up-4x per year cutting tops/crooked stalks/branches from bottom third to highlight stalks, no problems spreading where we don't want it, my favorite in the yard, best screening), bottle brush (tons of butterflies and hummingbirds, extreme low maintenance, super fast growing), oleander (fast growing, freeze took it to the ground but didn't kill it, no maintenance), wax myrtle (super fast growing, extreme low maintenance, goes really well with bottle brush).

Edited November 9, 2018 by aggie96