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Sonoran Shade Trees
Found this excellent article on Ironwood trees and thought I would share. I had no idea there was another tree besides the Cottonwood that grew so high. I am now thinking of two spots where I could plant Ironwood trees to significantly bring down my summer energy bill. The Ironwood habitat map link is pretty cool too, if you're a map geek like me.
http://www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/species/iw/illus.html
http://www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/species/iw/illus.html
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lindy Ross Barnes on -
Ironwoods are beautiful trees with lovely blossoms in the spring. One big problem - they take forever to grow big enough to produce any shade for anything other than ground squirrels. We planted some small Ironwoods 12 years ago and they are now about 5 - 6 feet high. You would definitely want to start with larger trees than we did . . .
Lindy
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Permalink Reply by Andi on -
Really? Great tip...thanks! How old were your saplings when you planted them?
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Permalink Reply by TCarmichael on -
I got a great booklet a few years ago at the Scottsdale Green Building Show... Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert: Guide to Growing More Than 200 Low-Water-Use Plants. It's put out by the cities of Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe in conjunction with the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association. It says on the back that the booklet is available at the city Water Conservation Office (the cities I listed above).
What I love about it is that it's really geared towards this area of AZ AND it has great guides about how fast/slow something grows and if it is a high/low litterer (hate messy trees). It also tells how much water something takes (all are low water, but it gets into detail).
I LOVE this booklet.
According to the booklet, the Velvet Mesquite is comparable to the Ironwood in size : 25x25 but is moderate-fast growing, wide crowned (vs. rounded crown Ironwood), decidious, gray-green, fine texture; flowers are pale yellow in the spring, it has seasonal litter and thorns, is a Sonoran native, and is an excellent wildlife plant.
Others to look at are the Palo Brea (native to Mexico in to South America) - 25x25; the Desert Willow 25x20 and native to the southwest US and Mexico; the Blue Palo Verde 30x30 and native to the Sonoran Desert. All are fast growing!
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Permalink Reply by Ericka Cero Wood on -
These are great tips on other native trees. We have a Palo Brea and just love it.
But, I see value in planting trees like the ironwood. If everyone wanted fast growing trees, none of the hardier slow growing ones would ever get planted. And, fast growing trees do tend to have branches knocked off during monsoon, or blown over. Fast growing usually means a softer wood, slower growers stronger wood.
Our neighbor just planted a Chilean Mesquite last year. He waters the dickens out of it and it has quadrupled in size, and it is impressive. But, one of the things mentioned in the booklet you referenced is that if you over-water a Chilean Mesquite it makes it prone to being blown over in high winds.
I wish he had planted a Velvet. Chileans make chalky flour. Velvet flour is so sweet, and it is a SW native. But, he went for the "no thorns, fast growing, low litter import" instead. But, I really can't complain as now his front yard is alive with 2 tress where once were none!
Ericka
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