Tag: oak trees
Large, Evergreen, and Native Options for Your Yard
Do you have a yard that could use a tree? Maybe you want more summertime shade or to provide a home for local wildlife. There’s nothing quite like waking up to the sound of birds.
A big part of planting a tree is deciding where to put it. As residents, our greatest opportunity to add trees to our community is at our own homes. Friends of Trees plants a lot of trees along the street in right-of-way planting strips. More and more, we’re looking for people who are excited to plant trees in their yards. It’s a lot of untapped area for trees to grow, providing all their community benefits like clean air and water, wildlife habitat, cooler summer temperatures, and more.
We are especially excited to promote large, evergreen, and native trees, because each of those qualities can really maximize the benefits a tree provides.
Big trees provide more shade, more habitat, more carbon sequestration, stormwater filtration, and air pollution reduction. It takes a while for them to grow (and some longer than others), so the time to plant them is now!
Because they keep their leaves (or needles) year round, evergreen trees are always helping clean our air. Particulates in the air are caught by (and in some cases, absorbed into) leaves and needles, then wash away into the soil where they can be broken down into something less harmful.
And of course we love native trees! Native trees are excellent choices for providing bird and wildlife habitat, and they’re suited to our specific climate and conditions, making them relatively resilient and easy to care for. While a diverse, healthy urban canopy also includes non-native species, especially those adapted to the stresses of climate change and urban settings, native species have a special sense of belonging and cultural relevance in this place.
Our staff has compiled a list of some of their favorite large, evergreen, and native trees! Especially for our Portland plantings, where our partnership is prioritizing these species, we encourage you to consider choosing some of these awesome trees!
Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa
Native to PNW | Easy to maintain | Valuable to wildlife | Drought tolerant | 90′ at maturity
Characteristics:
One of the most distinguishing features of the Ponderosa pine is its cinnamon-colored, puzzle-piece bark that smells like vanilla.This large native pine has long needles and medium-large cones. It’s a great drought-tolerant choice for windbreak or erosion control and a great wildlife tree that is popular with birds and squirrels.
Growing Conditions:
Ponderosa pine can grow well in hot, dry sites and can withstand very cold winters. It is adaptable to a variety of conditions but develops best in wet, deep, sandy gravel and clay loams. We make sure to source our ponderosa pines from the Willamette Valley subspecies, which is genetically adapted to this climate.
Douglas-Fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Native to PNW | Valuable to wildlife | 100′ at maturity
Characteristics:
Douglas-fir is a staple of Pacific Northwest forests, establishing well after fires and other disturbances. This large, fast-growing native conifer provides excellent shade. The cones, needles, and twigs of the Douglas-fir are an important food source for wildlife. This is the Oregon state tree.
Growing Conditions:
Prefers sun and moist, well-drained soils. Does best in deep moist sandy loams.
Note: We are currently sold out of Doug-firs, but are working to source more! Check back in to our online store if you don’t see them available.
Oregon White Oak
Quercus garryana
Native to PNW | Easy to maintain | Valuable to wildlife | Drought tolerant | 50′ at maturity
Characteristics:
This large Pacific Northwest native oak has a beautiful form, broadly spreading with a rounded crown. Its glossy, dark green, round-lobed leaves turn in autumn to a golden brown, occasionally tinted yellow or red. Oregon White Oak is drought-tolerant and thrives in drier environments. It supports a multitude of wildlife species such as the acorn woodpecker, slender-billed white-breasted nuthatch, and Western gray squirrel, as well as hundreds of species of insects, including pollinators. Oregon white oak and its associated habitats, such as oak savanna and prairie, are part of a diminishing ecosystem that has been actively managed by Native Americans in our region for thousands of years.
Growing Conditions:
Slower-growing. A great summer shade tree for a sunny location. Can tolerate seasonal flooding but prefers drier soil in summer.
Incense-cedar
Calocedrus decurrens
Native to PNW | Easy to maintain | Valuable to wildlife | 50’ at maturity
Characteristics:
Named for its pleasant, spicy aroma, this medium-large conifer is actually in the cypress family and not a true cedar. A dense, columnar tree that does well in narrower spaces, it’s a great choice for screening and privacy. It has excellent wildlife benefits. Native Americans use the plant in traditional medicine, basket making, hunting bows, and for building materials.
Growing Conditions:
Incense-cedar is a great choice for drier sites. It is fire-resistant and drought-tolerant once established. Make sure to plant incense-cedars at least 15 feet apart to prevent overcrowding.
Bur Oak
Quercus macrocarpa
Valuable to wildlife | Drought tolerant | 60′ at maturity
Characteristics:
This magnificent, stately oak develops a large trunk and stout branches and makes for a great shade tree. Macrocarpa means large fruit, referring to this tree’s large acorns. Its dark green leaves resemble a fiddle in shape and have a lighter-colored underside that creates a subtle double-color effect in the breeze.
Growing Conditions:
Grows best in full sun to partial sun. Is tolerant of urban conditions including drought, pollution and poor soil.
Also consider: swamp white oak, pin oak, or any other oak. We love oaks!
Cascara
Frangula purshiana
Native to PNW | Easy to maintain | Valuable to wildlife | 30′ at maturity.
Characteristics:
This small, deciduous native tree has graceful, sparse branching that holds umbrella-shaped clusters of small, green to yellow flowers in summer—a favorite nectar source for bumblebees. The tree’s elliptical green leaves become yellow, orange, red, or purple in fall, and its small berries attract birds and other wildlife. Its bark has important medicinal properties, including a powerful laxative effect, and is used by many native coastal tribes.
Growing Conditions:
Cascara grows best in shade or partial shade, and thrives in moist, well-drained soils. With our summers lasting longer and getting hotter, we recommend planting this tree where it is protected from west and/or south-facing sun. Young cascaras are showing signs of stress when they are planted in locations that receive all-day sun, especially at the hottest times of the day.
Tulip Tree
Liriodendron tulipifera
Interesting flowers | 80’ at maturity
Characteristics:
This magnificent, fast-growing deciduous tree has striped bark, unique leaves, and a stately form.. Its tulip-shaped flowers have yellow-green petals and an orange corolla. Its glossy, four-lobed leaves are bright green and turn yellow in fall. This is one of the most effective trees for filtering out air pollutants.
Growing Conditions:
Prefers partial shade when young and well-drained soil; best with summer water.
Espresso Kentucky Coffeetree
Gymnocladus dioicus ‘Espresso’
Interesting flowers | Easy to maintain | 50’ at maturity
Characteristics:
Medium to large open, round-crowned deciduous tree. This seedless cultivar exhibits an upward, arching form, and has attractive hanging clusters of fragrant white flowers in spring.
Growing Conditions:
Prefers full sun, humus-rich, moist soil, but adapts well to urban conditions. Tolerates drought and occasional flooding.
About Our Millionth Tree
Why we chose a silverleaf oak
This climate resilient oak will serve as a milestone of what we’ve accomplished and a vision for the future
Planting our millionth tree is quite the milestone, so we wanted to make sure to be thoughtful about selecting a tree that would benefit the community, and just as important, be intentional with choosing a tree that could thrive in our parking lot next to such a busy street. We are facing a future of increasingly long hot summers, and more extreme storms, and there are a lot of unknowns about what trees will thrive in our western cities. The silverleaf oak seems like it could be one of those trees.
The silverleaf oak (Quercus hypoleucoides) is native to the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, and is adapted to hot, dry conditions, cold temperature, can handle snow and poor, limited soil. Sean Hogan, owner of Cistus Nursery, recently spoke at the Our Trees in Oregon workshop and touted the silverleaf oak as an excellent tree for our current and future climate challenges, specifically within the urban environment of the Portland Metro area. He spoke of seeing individuals growing from rocks with little soil in Mexico, while also seeing how the specimens around Portland can bounce back from being covered in snow and ice.
Friends of Trees strongly believes in the concept of right tree, right place. That means selecting a tree species that suits the conditions of the location, taking into consideration the available sunlight, soil, water, and space. In the urban environment, and in the face of climate change, sometimes we look to hardy non-native species that will do well in tough conditions. The environment along MLK Jr Blvd is an incredibly harsh environment for trees, with full sun exposure and radiant heat in the summer, pollution from vehicle exhaust, poor soil quality, and moderate foot traffic next to a bus stop. In addition, while the tree well is much larger than average, it still presents a limited soil volume for a tree to grow and thrive in.
What this tree can do for the community.
We love oaks! They are particularly good at providing benefits to people and wildlife alike, and the silverleaf oak is no exception.
While this oak is of medium stature, it is evergreen, which is a bonus for intercepting rain water in our region, where we predominantly receive all of our rainfall during the fall and winter months. Many trees planted in the Metro area are deciduous and are not able to intercept nearly as much rainwater as evergreen trees. These fuzzy leaves that stick around will also capture more particulate pollution from vehicle exhaust, year round.
Additionally, the silverleaf oak is pretty fast growing when it’s young and can help to provide shade much sooner than an Oregon white oak. As extreme summer heat becomes more common, and even expected, we need all the shade we can get.
The new silverleaf oak being planted at our office is our millionth, yes, but it is also just one of the million. Thousands of volunteer have come together to plant a million trees and native plants, and together we’re building a community forest for the future.
Physical characteristics
- Mature size: 30-50 ft high, 20-30 ft wide
- Evergreen
- Leaves are gray-green on top, silver-white on the bottom; fuzzy
- Smooth, gray-green bark when young
More resources
Thank you for your support!
This is an amazing opportunity to consider a special gift to Friends of Trees. Given the increasing severity of the impacts of climate change, getting started on our next million trees is more important than ever—and we need your help more than ever. Your gift to Friends of Trees will play a key role in ensuring our long term ability to grow our community forest where and when we need it most, and to make sure the community is involved in the process.
Leaflet: Why We Love Oaks
We love oaks and you should too!
At Friends of Trees, we are particularly fond of oak trees, so much so that our mascot is Garry Oak. For our tree experts, it’s a go-to tree for reasons that go beyond its iconic nature.
“We got a lot of oaks this season,” says Neighborhood Trees Senior Specialist Drew Land. “As a species, they are an effective resource against climate change. And I want people to know that!”
A recent study published in Tree Physiology found that when mature oak trees were bathed in levels of CO2 equivalent to what is expected in 2050, the trees increased their rate of photosynthesis up to a third in response.
Some folks are reluctant to plant oak trees because they drop a lot of leaves. But we have learned that it’s healthier for your yard to leave the leaves, so that shouldn’t discourage you. Oak leaves are high in tannic acid and don’t decompose as immediately as other species, so they make for particularly good mulch.
Oak trees are particularly good providers to their ecological community, from contributing to the food web to managing the watershed to storing carbon. In those regards, it’s one of the most productive things you can put in your own yard.
“You plant an oak in your yard, you’re planting a zoo,” says Douglas W. Tallamy, author of The Nature of Oaks. “It’s your chance to create life that didn’t exist in that space.”
Oaks are the backbone of our local food chains and are crucial to feeding native insects, which feed the native and migratory birds and small mammals. The Willamette Valley was an Oregon White Oak savannah for 10,000 years. It doesn’t get any more native than that!
“Thankfully, we do plant loads of Oregon white oaks, which is the most important oak species locally,” Drew says. “But the more we plant, the better.”
Trees for sale – at a great price!
We have some trees for sale – at prices far below retail!
Most of the trees for sale are in containers and are a good size. Conifer trees are at least 5 feet tall; all other trees for sale are 8.5 feet tall with 1.5 inch caliper trunks.
Trees are $75 each, less than wholesale and far less than retail pricing.
Selection is limited and includes a few bigleaf maples, a few types of dogwoods, Persian ironwoods, elms, hornbeams, crabapples, and five different types of oaks. We cannot guarantee this selection so act fast if you’re interested.
Due to social distancing do not come to the office before contacting Gustavo about the purchase process.
Here are the steps to purchase a tree:
- Email Gustavo at [email protected] and put Tree Sale in your subject line.
- Gustavo will let you know what is available, will take your order, and give you payment instructions. Please note: payment must be with a credit card through our website, Gustavo will let you know how to make the purchase.
- Trees will be available for pick up beginning Monday, May 11. We cannot reserve a tree for you until you connect with Gustavo and payment is confirmed.
- Once your payment is confirmed Gustavo will let you know when you can pick up your tree at our office at 3117 NE MLK Blvd, Portland, and what that process will be. Delivery is not available.
Please direct all questions to Gustavo. And please note that the above and left photos are not of the actual trees for sale, but they are similar in size and will actually have leaves.
You can find tree care information here.
Thanks for planting trees and be sure to water your new tree 15 gallons a week through October!