Can you make recommendations for what type of tree can be planted in the middle of a road?
I live on a cul-de-sac street with a large circular planting bed about 20 feet across in the center of the circle.
Do you have a recommendation for a tree the will grow successfully in full sun in this type of situation? We are planning on planting a tree this fall. Either deciduous or evergreen, but an evergreen would not burden us with leaf cleanup in the fall.
I should mention that snow plows will sometimes push snow up onto the bed, so I don’t know how much salt has accumulated in the soil. I know it’s not recommended to amend the soil when planting a tree, but should we have the soil tested anyway because of the salt? Would we need to replace the soil? Currently some grass and weeds are the only thing growing in the bed.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Answer
It's never a bad idea to have the soil tested. Salt will kill anything so if the grass survived it must not have been too salty. Also check to see how deep the layer of topsoil is. Sometimes it is only deep enough to grow grass and not much else. Consider what you want the tree to do for you (provide a canopy of shade in Spring, Summer and Fall and change in leaf color or an evergreen which has an unchanging, constant green appearance). Some deciduous trees that would work are as follows; Acer rubrum (red maple), Zelkova serrata (Zelkova), Ginko biloba (male plant only), Parrotia persica would work well for deciduous trees and Picea omorika (serbian spruce). Picea orientalis (oriental spruce), Ilex x `Nellie R. Stevens' holly are some of the evergreens you might consider.