Q. Could you recommend some trees to replace a tree that I think is dying? I don’t like desert plants for the most part, especially desert looking trees. So if there is something that is nice and full, that grows fairly fast and that does well here I would be interested to hear some of your recommendations.
A. I do not give recommendations regarding specific plant materials. The list of plants can be long and tedious. You and I could go back and forth a dozen times and still not find the tree that suits you. The only person who can do this is you.
If you narrow your search down to five plants, then I can help you or at least give you characteristics of those plants and how they grow here to help you make the right decision. Sorry if you were looking to shorten your selection time down to a few but plant selection can and should be a very personal thing if you are serious about your landscape.
Some places you can try for some non desert plant selections include
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/ Monrovia searchable plant database
http://www.hineshort.com/Gardener/GardenerHome.aspx Hines Nursery database
http://davesgarden.com/ Daves Garden searchable plant database
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/picturepages/ Texas A and M’s database
http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/#hortiplex Hortiplex database
http://www.amwua.org/plants_index.html AMWUA’s database for desert landscaping
http://www.horticopia.com/ Horticopia can be fee based
http://plantfinder.sunset.com/sunset/plant-home.jsp Sunset Magazines Plant Finder
This is a good source –
http://www.lvsnag.org/pdf/trees.pdf