Re: Best fastigiate trees and shrubs
- To: woodyplants@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: Best fastigiate trees and shrubs
- From: C* P* L*
- Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 17:52:50 -0600 (CST)
> Here in Milwaukee, (Zone 5) friend of mine has built a 4 story apartment
> building that only has about 15 ft between it and the public sidewalk. The
> building faces south. Does anyone have any experience with tree cultivars
> that are fastigiate (i.e. tall and narrow) in nature. I have eliminated
> populars because of their weak-wooded and relative short lived nature.
> Minimum mature height should be at least 15-20 ft.
If you're looking for something similar to Lombardy poplars in terms
of overall habit and size, you might want to check out Alnus glutinosa
'Pyramidalis'. Like its parent, it will grow pretty quickly when
young (and as an added bonus, fix nitrogen for other plants around it).
I particularly like the deep green leaf color on this cultivar; very
cooling in the summer. Ultimate height is about 40' or so (probably
achieved in 20 years) and it is cold hardy through USDA zone 3.
Other possiblities might include Acer saccharum 'Goldspire' (very
columnar habit; there's a row of them on campus here that's been
progressing nicely. Acer saccharum 'Temple's Upright' is also a
decent choice and should fit into your 15' space limitation pretty
well. Most of the other maples tend to be wider (around 25' or so).
If you want something really slow-growing, one of the Dawyck European
beech cultivars might do. They tend to be really needle-like, but you
have to be careful; a lot of nurseries sell 'Fastigiata' under the
Dawyck name (and thus tend to spread a lot more).
Liriodendron tulipifera 'Fastigiatum' could also be an interesting choice
if you can find it anywhere.
That's about all that I can think of, but my first vote is for Alnus
glutinosa 'Pyramidalis'.
Chris
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