Monday, October 5, 2009

Trees--a long term decision

Like many other NW residents, our front yard (Birch) tree suffered too much damage to survive as a result of the snow and ice last winter.  We still haven't made a decision what to replace it with.  So many things to consider: size (power lines), messiness, seasonal beauty, hardiness.  Another criteria occurred to me after I noticed some of the street trees planted on Kuebler near Kaiser Permanente--timing of the leaf drop .

Our huge backyard Maple tree begins to drop leaves near the end of September and doesn't quit until the first week of December.  Which is why I noticed that the Kuebler trees turn a beautiful color and then, "boom!", their leaves fall all at once around mid October.  I couldn't help but think about all the weekend hours that would save N.  Plus, the lack of exposure to the cold and rain.

And so we've been paying attention to street trees whenever we're out and about.  Trees we've considered: the Ginkgo Tree (until I read this article in the SJ this morning); ornamental flowering cherry trees; smaller varieties of acer/maple; dogwood; pin oak; sweetgum; and whatever those trees on Kuebler are (wish the city kept that info online). 

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