NEO Native Trees

I was pretty bummed after coming to terms that my two shagbark hickories planted last fall didn't make it through the winter (actually one technically did but it died back to the ground). I know hickories can be hard to transplant with such a long taproot, and they are definitely slow growers. But I like hickories too much to give up that easily.  So I decided to "take two" with shellbark hickories instead. As more of a lowland native species, I believe they'll be better suited to my wetter clay soil than shagbarks. June 2023: Shellbark number one. It may seem small but it has a two-foot taproot underneath. June 2023: Shellbark number two. Two trees are needed for hickory nuts, although it could be up to 15 years before these trees produce any. Just as with the shagbarks, these little guys are a foot tall with a two-foot taproot, and I had to use a post-hole-digger to dig the hole for planting. While I used much of the clay soil I dug up as backfill, I also mixed in s...

The Tupelo (aka Blackgum or Pepperidge) was the first of many trees I added to the yard in 2023. I chose a Tupelo for many reasons:  It's native to my area but not very common, especially as an ornamental. This is likely because it's a slow grower and can have a long taproot making it hard to transplant. So it will add some native diversity to the landscape.  It should have vibrant red leaves in autumn so it will also add some great color to the yard.  It can tolerate my clay soil and poor draining conditions on the north side of a fence along my yard. Also, it's a narrow tree (20'-30' wide at maturity) so I'm not too concerned about it growing much into my neighbor's yard despite planting it only 10 feet away from the fence. June 2023: Nice new shoots and green leaves on my Tupelo planted two months prior. I planted this tree in early April and after more than two months, it has done very well. While it hasn't really added any height, it's grown sev...

My birthday present to myself last November was a two-hour trip down to Riverside Native Tree Nursery in Delaware, OH, to pick up a swamp white oak and a sugar maple.  Their website has some really great info not just about native trees, but also about planting, pruning, site selection, and especially on fertilization. They tout that, given the right fertilization regimen (and other basic factors such as site selection), a 5' tall container grown tree can catch up to a 2"-3" caliper balled and burlap tree within five years. I think the argument makes sense and we'll certainly put it to the test with these two trees. The swamp white oak is one of my favorites. While native to my area, I really don't see many of them so it will add some native diversity. They have a beautiful fall color, interesting exfoliating bark when young, and can tolerate my clay soil.  I really love the leaf shape and fall color of this swamp white oak. We planted this one in our backyard ce...

In 2021, my wife and I were having lunch beneath a big beautiful tree at a county fair. A passerby noticed us admiring the tree, and kindly informed us that it was a bald cypress and was one of the only conifers to lose its needles each year. Less than a year later, we decided to plant one in our backyard. The original bald cypress that inspired us to plant one in our backyard. 2022 I planted this 6-foot tall / 2-inch diameter ball and burlap bald cypress on 9/18/22. I watered daily (about 3 gallons) with a water bag for the first two weeks, then transitioned to watering every two to three days for the rest of the autumn.  Our bald cypress, planted on 9/18/22 at about 6' tall and 2" in diameter. Since we have deer in our backyard on a daily basis, I put up some fencing shortly after planting. However, while I've seen some nipped branches, they mostly ignore it. 10/19/22: Showing its russet autumn colors about one month after planting (and the makeshift fence to protect fro...

The Eastern Redbud was the first tree we had planted on our property, right in the middle of the front yard. It was planted on 5/13/22 and has done very well in its first year.  Our Eastern Redbud tree the day after it was planted (5/14/22). Top half starting to leaf out and bottom half still showing those beautiful buds. We chose this tree because it's native and can tolerate our clay soil, it seems less common than other front yard ornamentals such as dogwoods and magnolias, and it adds some really nice late winter / early spring color with its purplish-pink buds. At 10' - 12' tall with a 3" diameter trunk, it was also well developed so it could provide immediate interest to our otherwise bare front yard (we were re-doing the landscaping at the time). Location : As the only tree in our east-facing front yard, it definitely receives a full share of sun. While many sources say it prefers full sun, I think it could probably benefit from a little less especially since it...