Shade garden tree

19 years ago

Our house has a 1/8 acre shade garden behind it. While I'm a rose grower, I love this shade garden. It is full of birds - something we promote with bird feeders and bird baths. We sit on the deck and enjoy this garden almost every day of the year.

The problem is that the folks who built this house simply left in place what grew first when the land moved from pasture land to wooded. In our case that is locust, wild cherry and sweet gum. All of those trees have issues. I try to hang onto the wild cherry trees as much as possible for the birds, but they are prone to dozens of issues. If the wind blows hard from the an unusual direction, we'll get cherry tree damage. They grow multiple trunks and then almost immediately those trunks start dying off. I probably don't have describe to you the issues with locust trees and sweet gum trees.

Many of the trees in the shade garden were near death when we bought the house. We have culled and those out and now I am thinking long term of some replacements.

I want something happy in the South, attractive to birds and with a medium to light canopy.

Any suggestions?

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Comments (4)

quirkyquercus
19 years ago
Post pics and the suggestions will come.
diggingthedirt
19 years ago
The trick is establishing trees in an area that's shaded by the existing ones. I'd like to do something similar in a small woodsy section of my yard, but the existing trees in that corner are Norway maples - which makes it really difficult to get anything new started.

In my case, the answer is to bite the bullet and remove the maples before planting the new trees. Your case is different, I think, and I'm hoping some of the tree experts here will have advice for you.
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Iris GW
19 years ago
Put a serviceberry (amelanchier species) in the sunniest spot and the birds will be very thankful. There are also some very bird friendly shrubs that get as big as small trees: viburnum prunifolium, viburnum acerifolium, viburnum dentatum and viburnum nudum.

Birds also appreciate trees that provide cover: red cedar (technically a juniper), wax myrtle, and hemlock.

I have a similar situation where the predominant tree is red maple. I have removed many small red maples (inch or two in diameter) to help increase the sun level for these bird friendly shrubs and trees. The tall canopy trees are still in place, but removing some of the small ones allowed a bit more light as the sun moves across the sky during the day.
blueseatx
19 years ago
Loquat trees (Japonese plum) thrive in areas that are partly shady. The leaves are large and dense, so they make great shade when mature. Loquats get to be about 15 feet tall and 6'-8' across. Birds love them because they provide good cover and they enjoy eating the fruit (you will too). They are considered to be a tropical tree, so they would love the Ga climate.