Q. I just stumbled by your blog and it is very informative! I
am trying to get my front and backyard landscaped, and I live in the southwest
area of Las Vegas. I want to add a tree in my front yard to provide shade as
well as a privacy screen, since our backyard wall is pretty low. I would prefer
to get a tree that doesn’t litter so much, since I live in a community that has
HoA, however I’ve read that deciduous trees would be best since it will help
with cooling during summer and heating my home during winter. My front yard
faces west, and it has a space of 17 feet across, so a medium size tree would
be ideal. So, I’m not so sure what to choose, given all this information!
A. You want to shade the wall or walls of
the home, not the roof. Size depends on the height of the home. Single story
homes should have trees that are below 20ft or so. At 17 ft you could get two
trees on that side if they are smaller trees. Shading the West and South walls is important for energy conservation and comfort.
Plant them a distance of half
their mature height from the wall. You can plant closer to the wall than this
but it will take some pruning as they get larger to keep them from growing into
the walls. If two trees are used then thwy can be put a little closer together
than half their mature height.
Two story homes should have 35 ft. smaller trees
use less water than larger trees. Personally, I like the smaller trees more
since they will get shade on the house faster.
will forward this to Andrea Meckley since she LOVES to make plant
recommendations and is a Certified Horticulturist,with the American Society For Horticultural Science where I am an Associate Editor.
on trees all year (evergreen) and some like the “seasonal”
look. You mentioned low debris, so you may want to stay with an evergreen
so you do not have fall leaves. For an evergreen small to medium size
tree in full afternoon sun with a west exposure I suggest you look at
Mastic Tree (Pistache lentiscus) (15’w x 20′ h), or Xylosma (Xylosma
congestum) maturing at around 15’w x 12′ h. Another couple
of evergreen choices are Sweet Acacia (Acicia farnesciana)a
hardy tree maturing around 20′ x 20′ andBay Laurel (Laurel nobilis) trees also
stay small maturing around 12′ x 12′. For a deciduous (loses leaves in
winter) tree look at Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) and hybrids with
different color flowers maturing around 25’h x 20’w.
different characteristics of plants is the ‘Regional Plant List’ by the
Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition which can be found at https://wrrc.arizona.edu/
Very informative.
further questions or comments.