What type of TREE should I plant?

[Carol]

Hi everyone!

I have a spot in my backyard that I want to plant a tree in..It's a fairly good size yard so my options are pretty much open I would think...The thing is I have outdoor squirrel friends that come and visit me daily...(sometimes multiple times a day:) )...so I'd like to plant a tree that would not only be safe for them, but also would be of benefit to them!:D I already have a type of willow tree and an evergreen tree and lots of shrubs, but I would really like to find a nut -bearing tree or at least a tree that the fuzzer-butts would love...:)

I live in Ontario, but it would be in the same climate area as say.....Michigan, Ohio, New York, etc...

Any ideas? We've heard that fall is a good time to plant trees and we've wanted one for this spot for quite a while...

Carol

[foxsquirrels]

I would check with an area nursery and find out what type of oak tree would grow good in your soil. Squirrels love acorns and the trees are usually hardy.

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

I would say Oak or Dogwood.

[acorniv]

Lots of wildlife love willow, so it's nice you have one.

My squirrel LOVES dogwood berries which come around every year. She also loves maple seed pods - in fact among our wild squirrels maple 'helicopters' are by far the most popular food. Oak trees are lovely but take a long time to grow and only bear acorns every two years.

I'd plant maple, if you can only plant one. This is the favorite tree for dreys by our yard squirrels. The trees are beautiful and provide good shade, but not too much. If you have room for a second small tree and your region will support it, consider a dogwood, which is another beautiful tree. Ours bear fruit most of the year ( I'm in Georgia).


Hi everyone!

I have a spot in my backyard that I want to plant a tree in..It's a fairly good size yard so my options are pretty much open I would think...The thing is I have outdoor squirrel friends that come and visit me daily...(sometimes multiple times a day:) )...so I'd like to plant a tree that would not only be safe for them, but also would be of benefit to them!:D I already have a type of willow tree and an evergreen tree and lots of shrubs, but I would really like to find a nut -bearing tree or at least a tree that the fuzzer-butts would love...:)

I live in Ontario, but it would be in the same climate area as say.....Michigan, Ohio, New York, etc...

Any ideas? We've heard that fall is a good time to plant trees and we've wanted one for this spot for quite a while...

Carol

[Carol]

Thank you so much for all the advice!! I see that Dogwood has come up a lot..so I'll look into that one for sure and also perhaps the Maple as I know it'll grow nicely here. Never thought about those helicopter thingies, but I'm sure fuzzers would love those!

I'd love a nice big oak tree though too....too bad it takes a long time to produce the nuts...we'll see though!

Thanks again!:thankyou
Carol

[Mrs. Jack]

my wild guys LOVE the helicoptor thingies.

[lookmomchickens]

Helicopter thingies??

What are those?

[Sarabi]

Is this what you are talking about??
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/witt1189/maplepod.jpg

[acorniv]

Yes!

In our wooded subdivision with three different varieties of oak, dogwood, hickory, apple, cherry peach, pear, magnolia, tulip ( a magnolia variety) camelia, rose, poplar, various pine, willow, and who knows what else, our large squirrel population likes nothing so much as those maple helicopters. I've got four very large maples in my yard but I still have to compete with the wild population to get enough for my girl. I find them all right, but the seed is almost always removed. Maples are also one of the most beautiful trees you can have in a yard, and the number one choice for nests by our wilds. It would be my first recommendation. Dogwood would be second, and you may be able to do both. Dogwoods are small and share space well - we have three dogwoods that are all tucked under our maples. Ours are all close to the end of their lives ( Dogwoods live about 20 years) and have taken on lovely personalities. One bends over our walkway and makes a lovely arbor - and pathway for our feeder loving squirrels :-).

We've got four oaks on our property, (one huge pair that share a footprint, one medium that has never produced an acorn, and one we planted just a few years ago that is now about 35 feet tall and produced last year) and two huge ones across the street. They only take a few years to produce acorns, but they require a great deal of space and they are sun and water hogs.

Having once planted fruit trees (which are small) that ended up being too close together to thrive ( they were about 20' apart) I would recommend you decide based on what your individual yard can best provide for, so whatever you plant thrives. A tree is usually for life, so it's a big decision. A huge spreading oak is just the nicest thing a yard can have and will raise property values, but it takes 2 decades to get anything approaching an impressive tree. I've never planted a maple and don't know how long they take to grow, but the ones in our yard have grown much more than the big oak has since we moved here 14 years ago.


Is this what you are talking about??
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/witt1189/maplepod.jpg