Re: Street trees
- Subject: Re: Street trees
- From: d* f*
- Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:03:04 -0700 (PDT)
> --- Liz Runciman <lizr@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> > I would really appreciate the thoughts of listers
> on
> > this topic. The alternatives
> > they have offered us are Callistemon viminalis,
> > Hymenosporum flavum or
> > Gleditsia 'Shademaster'. The street runs
> > north/south, and is a narrow
> > cul-de-sac. The street trees get minimal water.
> > Their letter includes the
> > information: 'The Council has selected small
> narrow
> > growing trees in
> > light of the amount of traffic both pedestrian and
> > vehicular and the existing
> > road and footpath width.' Any ideas?
> >
> > Liz
Liz,
Not sure what part of Australia you are from, so
whether you get rain all year, in summer, or in winter
would affect the drought hardiness. Hymenosporum
flavum works very well as a street tree here in San
Francisco, and begging to differ with Joe, can have a
uniform appearance with just some early training. It
is not very drought tolerant in a summer dry medit
climate, and also doesn't do well with strong winds,
being equally as brittle as a Hakea. Callistemon
viminalis is also widely used as a street tree in San
Francisco, and can look beautiful if well maintained,
but again prefers some regular irrigation and pruning
to shape.
Joe's suggestion of Tristaniaopsis laurina is another
good small tree, but it is not as narrow growing as
the first two, and would require some shaping to have
branching clear the height of large trucks. This is a
common problem with smaller growing street trees, they
are much more prone to vehicular damage to branches if
not limbed up to minimize this.
I suspect that your council is also looking to keep
the trees relatively small, but the Sweetshade and
Gleditzia can get tall, and the Gleditzia can also get
quite wide.
Some other fairly small growing trees that are also
used in San Francisco as street trees might include
Eribotrya deflexa, Maytenus boaria, Schinus
terebinthifolius, Prunus blieriaiana, Pyrus kawakamii,
Rhaphiolepis 'Majestic Beauty' Syagrus romanzoffianum,
Trachycarpus fortunei, and sometimes Archontophoenix
cunninghamiana. Palms would certainly be narrow and
upright, and handle the wind. Another larger growing
evergreen that is starting to become more popular in
San Francisco is Arbutus 'Marina', which eventually
will get 40 foot tall by wide, but starts out as
fairly narrow and columnar. Not sure if this is
available in Australia, although they have it in
Britain and Europe.
I wonder why your council hasn't recommended more
Australian native trees as choices? Would
Buckinghamia celsissima or Xanthostemon
chrysanthus/Golden Penda work in your area, or are you
in Adelaide/Melbourne and therefore too cold in
winter?
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