re: Best trees to plant in south La for fall color

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Been looking at adding 1-2 of these to my yard, but was hoping to plant in March. Think this will be an issue, or should I go ahead and try to find one now?

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Though “now” is preferable, March is fine particularly if it is a container grown plant, as opposed to ball & burlap.

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Reason I'm hedging between 1 or 2 is the yard is only 60'x100' and we have a pool. Cannot find anything that recommends how far to plant from the pool.

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Of course the simple answer is as far away from the pool as practical but I’m guessing leaves in the pool won’t be a major issue until 15-20+ years (?) down the road.

I get neighbors leaves in my pool from mature Nutall and Willow oaks 50 to 150 ft away, but only during heavy winds. I have a mature bald cypress in my yard about 35 ft from the edge of the pool, but fortunately their leaves, by and large, drop straight down and stay put in the lawn, except during very heavy winds in which case I get some cypress needles in the pool.

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ginko tree

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I don't know how they fare down y'all's way, but here in North MS, they're an amazing yellow right now.

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Say what?

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They don't spread.

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Southern Sugar Maple - native

Been looking at adding 1-2 of these to my yard, but was hoping to plant in March. Think this will be an issue, or should I go ahead and try to find one now?

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Just an FYI, but I searched high and low for one of these a couple of months ago and couldn't find one that I was happy with. I found a few at a nursery in Forest Hill, but they hadn't been taken care of and were super leggy/young. I heard from a nursery owner that the main guy that propagates those trees stopped doing it, so they have been hard to come by. I went with Florida Flame maples instead.

So someone planted every one I see?

I’ve pulled/killed no less than 4 dozen volunteer tallows in my garden this year alone, and I don’t think there’s a mature tree within 300 yards. It is universally understood that they are horribly invasive in the SE.

Red Maple.
photo taken this week.

(Sawtooth Oak is the yellow color behind the red maple)

There are some pretty Chinese Pistache in my neighborhood. I planted one based on recommendation here.

There is a ginkgo near us, and it is such a pretty gold that you’d think it was artificial. Really stands out.

So do you still have shummard oaks available?

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Are Chinese tallow trees good?

Why are these trees bad? Chinese tallow (popcorn) trees are non-native invasive species that grow and spread incredibly fast; they have the potential to overgrow entire forests, altering light availability for native species and changing the native ecosystem.

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Cut it down and burn it out.

And since no one else has mentioned it...I see the roots of these lifting sidewalks in pretty short time periods.

The Royal Purple Smoke Tree has been mentioned on here in the past:

LINK