[Arid_gardener] Ficus replacement

[Tyler Storey]

Louis,
The Sissoo tree (also called Indian Rosewood, Dalbergia sissoo) is an
excellent choice for a shade tree in Arizona and I often recommend it as a
replacement for ficus trees. It has all their good qualities and none of
their bad ones.  It has medium green fluttery leaves, and provides dense but
not total shade, and it's an excellent choice for shading the East or West
sides of your house.  
The Sissoo is evergreen, so it will have leaves year-round.  In a frost or
freeze, as we had this January, it may lose some or all of its leaves
briefly, but they'll be back in a matter of a few days.  The Sissoos I saw
this January were re-leafing within 3 days of the freeze.  
Sissoos are fast growers, but, unlike many fast trees they're also strong
and not prone to breakage.  Also, I recommend planting small Sissoos, no
larger than 15 gallon -- at the most.  Sissoos have kind of "wiggly" trunks
when they're young, and if you buy a large one with a tall bare trunk, you
may find it very difficult to stake upright.  I've seen Sissoos kind of
twist about and end up leaning even when very well staked.  Your better
course is to buy a small one, preferably with branches down to the ground,
that won't ever need staked.  Leave all the branches on it until it becomes
well-established and is growing vigorously upright and then slowly, over a
period of several years, begin pruning the branches up the main trunk,
clearing no more than 12 inches a year.  
Because Sissoos are fast growers you won't need to wait very long until
they're a decent size, and starting small will ensure you have a strong and
well-shaped tree.  I put in some 18" tall Sissoos last fall, they survived
the freeze just fine, and they're now each over 6 feet tall.  
The upcoming fall season is the perfect time to get them in the ground. For
the first year be sure you give them deep but infrequent water.  Water to a
depth of three feet every time you water, water widely so the roots will
spread out and anchor the tree, and water only when the soil has somewhat
dried out.  After the first Summer you can back off the frequency of
watering, but still water to a depth of three feet and as wide as the canopy
drip line every time you water.
I think you'll find them to be an excellent replacement for your Ficus.
Tyler

tyler at tylerstorey.com
http://tylerstorey.com
602-738-2978

-----Original Message-----
From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of
lseletos at qwest.net
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 1:13 PM
To: arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

Louis
85308
lseletos at qwest.net

I planted a ficus tree for shade but the frosts hit it so bad I had to take
it out. I am told that they are not native to Arizona though the nurseries
sell them.  Can you recommend a shade tree? I would like varieties that do
not require a lot of cleaning up.


_______________________________________________
Arid_gardener mailing list
Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener