Medium Size Trees For Beach Conditions
Question from Nancy:
Pat, it was so nice to meet you at the City’s lovely reception last week! A gorgeous sunset, great food, and wonderful neighbors – what more could one ask for?
As we discussed, I’m interested in finding potential trees to put in the front yard 5 ft landscape strip that will:
- tolerate the asphalt roadway
- tolerate the salt air on the E side of Ocean Front
- tolerate the winds that come off the ocean between the houses on the sand in front of us
- tolerate the many dogs who will water the trees
- not tear up the driveway with their roots
- shade the house in the summer and let the sun shine in in the winter
- not drop too many dirty berries that stain
- not get significantly higher than 25 ft which is the top of the 2nd story
- stand up to dampness & diseases that tend to be at the beach
- not require too much TLC
- be attractive/flowering/fragrant
I know this is an impossible list; the trees will need to be trimmed and the leaves will need to be swept and they’ll need to be fed. I understand that there is no perfect tree, but to find one that meets many of these wishes would be nice. We had 5 trees that were along the front property line and were planted probably in the mid-80s and only one remains in the back corner away from the street. The biggest complaint was the small purple berries that would get everywhere! The trees became covered by black mold and disease and were hit by a truck and just never recovered. I wish I knew the name of what we had; I can probably take some of the tip of the remaining tree and show it to you or take it to Armstrong’s to identify, if that would be helpful.
Thank you for your help with my search. And thank you too for all of the terrific info on your lovely website! It is a wealth of information, and I now know to go get earthworm castings to help my potted Meyer lemon tree. I’m going to put the same on my bouganvillas and hope it will help to mitigate all of the nasty little worms that keep eating away the leaves. Everyone/thing loves living in our beach community!
Answer from Pat:
It sounds as if the trees you had with purple berries and foliage that got sooty mould was California laurel (Umbellaria californica.)
A tree that fulfills all your requirements would be constructed out of artificial materials: i.e.: concrete, plastic, metal etc and you could wash it off occasionally with the hose and forget it. Trees are living entities and like human beings, they come with good qualities and bad. You have to take the whole package, including good and bad because none are perfect. However, I can easily give you a list of trees that would thrive close to the ocean and not get sick. I suggest you purchase a copy of Sunset Western Garden Book (not the new edition but an older one, easy to find on Amazon.com and look up the characteristics of each of these trees so you can make an educated choice: Here are some trees that fulfill most, but not all of your requirements, listed according to how they came to mind:
- Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum)This virtuous tree starts as a shrub and gradually becomes a beautifully twisted tree needing careful pruning. I love this and have several, which my gardener shears on top twice a year spring and fall when I tell him to do the job. These need little water once established. But you won’t be happy I fear with the long wait from shrub to tree.
- Pink melaleuca: (Melaleuca nesophila): Pink fluffy blooms on top in summer. This too takes a while to mature. I have mine near the road, all sheared once or twice a year spring and again in fall after summer bloom. I have seen this made into a hedge.
- Cageput tree (Melaleuca quinquinervia). I hate this tree but it’s easy and it works. Who knows? You might love it.
- New Zealand Christmas tree (Metrosideros excelsus) Nice flowers in summer. Perhaps your best choice but needs ample root space.
- Rustyleaf fig (Ficus rubiginosa) A messy tree since it drops fruit, but it works near the beach.
- Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) Good near the beach. Needs adequte irrigation in summer, early fall to stay healthy. Constant needle drip and drips sap when pruned. Can be trimmed into an interesting shape in windy areas. Don’t cut out natural grafts. These strengthen the tree.
Regarding worms on bougainvillea: earthworm castings won’t help with that. What will help is carefully spraying under and over leaves with Spinosad but please promise me you won’t use this product anywhere where there are bees. It kills bees.
Pat, thanks so very much for your great info and advice. I truly appreciate it! In lieu of trees I have thought of steel forms trained with bouganvilla but that seemed a bit too cold and I was afraid the hot steel would burn the bush. I much prefer your tree suggestions! And I’ll carefully use the spray for the worms, and promise to save the bees.
Hi,
I am getting ready to purchase and plant two new trees in our old privacy hedge. (The melaleuca nesophila that was there had grown out of control.) Someone at a local nursery told me that we must be very careful to dig up (not grind out) all the melaleuca roots before planting anything else there. They said that if we left them in the area they would prevent anything else from growing there. What do you think?
Thanks so much,
Jennifer
I am sorry to hear that Melaleuca nesophila grew out of control. This plant can be kept to the desired size indefinitely by shearing once or twice a year. See if pruning can correct this problem. I have several 30-or 40-year old M. nesophila’s between tall Monterey cypress trees next to a road as a screen and we have kept them forever to the height we want by first by pinching back to the height we wanted and also cutting off lanky tall growth back to a side branch. After that I have had my gardener shear these trees once or twice a year and thus keep them to the same height forever. Shade will make this plant grow lanky, which is why it needs controlling when young. Regarding their roots killing other plants planted in the same place, I have never heard of this effect so I cannot answer that question, though it may be true, but I think it might be very difficult to get rid of all their roots, which is why I think it preferable to try to make the existing plants work. If they are not too old and woody you should be able to prune them successfully to lower them and then shear them indefinitely. Why not at least try?