How to Buy the Perfect Tree
By Sonya Welter
Trees provide shade in the summer and a windbreak in the winter, and mature trees make the biggest impact for beautifying your neighborhood or boosting your property value.
It’s true that trees are an investment in the future, but many trees grow faster than you might think, and that skinny little sapling you plant today will look lush and established in just a few years.
So how do you choose the perfect tree for your yard?
First, decide what you want the tree for. Conifers like spruce, pine and fir are good for windbreaks or for privacy hedges, since they stay bushy year round. If you want a tall boulevard tree, consider maples, oaks, elms or basswoods.
If you’ve got a tiny urban lot, look for smaller trees or shrubs like juneberry, chokecherry or hazel. Many fruit trees, like apples, pears and cherries, are also relatively small, or can be trained to dwarf proportions.
Think about your climate, too. Here in Duluth, I’m not going to have much luck growing date palms, while a gardener in Orlando would similarly struggle growing paper birch. Make sure that the species you have in mind is hardy for your region, and consider going an extra step and purchasing a tree that was grown as locally as possible, or at least in a similar climate.
For example, St. Lawrence Nursery in Potsdam, New York, specializes in growing cold-climate fruit trees. Their trees have already survived several zone 3 winters before they are sold. Whereas the tree you pick up at Home Depot may have been grown in zone 6 and then shipped north, and it may not survive the shock of cold temps in its first winter. Locally owned garden centers are also much more likely to stock regionally hardy trees.
Trees are sold either bare root or potted, and if given the choice you should always buy bare root. Bare root trees are sold dormant and look like a stick with roots, but they transplant much better than potted or balled and burlapped (B&B’ed) trees.
Look for trees with pliable limbs, moist root balls, and no green buds or leaves. Bare root trees are usually sold in the very early spring and should be planted as soon as the ground is workable; frost and snow will not hurt a dormant tree. To make the job a little easier for yourself, you could dig the hole the autumn before when the ground is still soft, and then come spring you can plant your tree as soon as you can push the dirt back in the hole.
