Botanical Bits — August 2003:
August 04, 2003
Variety of Shade Trees Thrive on Plains
Anyone living on the Plains knows the comfort provided by a shade tree on a hot summer day. Just try to imagine camping or picnicking with no trees around to provide shade. Yikes! Incredibly, it has been calculated that a large shade tree has as much cooling potential as 10 large air conditioners. Although every tree provides at least some shade, the type and quality of the shade can be quite different among species:
– Bur Oak: Perhaps the most majestic of the native trees, bur oak can grow to be over 50 feet tall and more than 70 feet wide. Just one or two of these long-lived trees could easily provide all the shade necessary for a big backyard.
– Honeylocust: Compound leaves with tiny leaflets provide a filtered or "dappled" shade making it easier to grow other landscape plants under this tree.
– Linden: Drooping branches, an upright pyramidal form and heavy shade from tightly packed leaves makes this a better choice for the background than where activity is planned. Linden is a favorite host of the cicadas and thus a major source of the summer "buzzing" sound.
– Elm/Hackberry: The architecture of these related species is one of upright when young and arching with age, making both them ideal for shade along streets and where activities are planned.
– Sugar Maple: A classic rounded form with fairly dense shade. This is one of the more beautiful shade trees when mature.
– Green Ash/White Ash: The ash species are typically oval when young and broadly vase-shaped with maturity. Although not as graceful as other species, they do make a good choice along streets and where activities may be desired underneath them.
– Cottonwood: Who hasn't enjoyed the shade of a cottonwood on a hot summer day? The soft rustling of the leaves is also an attractive feature of this native tree.
Shade trees make Nebraska communities much more livable. To learn more about what kinds of trees grow in Nebraska, visit the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum online or call (402) 472-2971.
08/04/03-KL
Justin Evertson
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
Assistant Director for Community Programs
(402) 472-5054
Karma Larsen Communications Associate Nebraska Statewide Arboretum (402)472-7923
Department: Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
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