and also does not cost an arm and a leg :-) i can start from a young tree or seedlings .

We love our Chilean mesquites. There is some fine litter over the winter but nothing like one gets from "real" large leaved deciduous trees such as those growing back East. Besides, although you want shade for summer, you also want the sun to hit your house in winter when it will warm it up ;)

These are fast growers but you must thin the growth canopy to keep them from being blown over. This is a real problem with the desert trees set into the civilized landscape - we water far more than they get naturally so they develop faster and far too many branches making them top heavy, like a sail when the big monsoon winds come.

The flip side of that is that once established and grown to a good size, you can just about quit watering them altogether and they will survive on the rainfall. Supplementing with a dripping hose for 8 hours once every 4-6 weeks during the heat of the summer is a good thing though....

You just described the Carob tree.

If you want 4-season mess, plant a carob. Our tree is probably 40 years old and came with the house when we bought it in 2004. Very nice shade tree. Deep shade even. But man oh man is this tree messy. All on its own without the birds that roost and poop.

The tree drops a different mess each season. Leaves, of course, carob pods, the little fuzzies that precede the pods. It's a messy tree for sure.

what's your say about a chinese elm tree(ulnus parvifolia), sissso tree/indian rosewood(dalbergia sisso), chitalpa tree (hybrid of a desert willow(chilopsis linearis)and catalpa and a fire tree(delonix regia)/royal poinciana ?

I have no problems with my carob. What little it drops in leaves the mower gets, very little leaves.

You don't get those fuzzies around Christmas time? And the carob pods?

I just planted a young chinese elm, I love the shape of that tree. Not clear on the others you listed. I lost 2 Royal Poinciana's in the big freeze before this last one. But they were very young, just in the ground that fall.

I do not get any type of fuzzies. Excellent shade tree with low water requirement and very strong body. Beautiful tree.

Carob trees have male and female trees ... the male trees are much tidier. No pods, none of those stinking flowers.

No need for genetic testing on this tree. It's definately a female. I do agree it's a beautiful tree though!

carob tree(ceratonia siliqua)how many inches/year is the growth rate? i think its a slow growing tree ! Again, i need something that is a fast growing tree that provides lots of shade with big leaves not ity bity leaves like a desert tree, less litter or no litter, no thorns, not poisonous, bark does not break easily or has easy uproot,not a water hog=less water use, not prone to a cold snap/frost, can survive the 120 plus AZ oven heat and does not cost an arm and a leg ? what Tree ??????

Chinese elm is your best bet.

"chitalpa tree (hybrid of a desert willow(chilopsis linearis)and catalpa and a fire tree(delonix regia)/royal poinciana"

All are pretty, but deciduous. The Delonix Regia is frost sensitive.

CAROB

Don't plant a sissoo! Mine has been a nightmare. Raised the concrete patio. I have new tress coming up from the underground root system as far as 20 feet away. The darn thing just won't die. So sad. Thought it was going to be a great tree.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/trees/msg0720181911657.html

trying to add the link agin

Here is a link that might be useful: Indian Rosewood - Sissoo

Can you grow a carob tree in zone 8? bart

After 40 years of frustration the conclusion is Shamel Ash is the only tree to plant. They are not exactly fast, but other qualities are worth the wait. They are clean and hardy. If you must have fast use Tipuana Tipu. They have yellow flowers at various times, but are very clean and hardy otherwise. Any fast growing tree will be more subject to wind damage. Chinese elms are incredibly dirty. My neighbor had several (which he cut down due to wife's allergies) that consistently plugged up my pool filter with tiny little seed pods,

Thanks for reviving this zombie Bart, instead of starting your own thread!

This post was edited by Fascist_Nation on Sat, Mar 1, 14 at 12:05

Interesting thread. We have two Chilean mesquites on the west side of our house. Love their shade, hate the mess this time of year. Each spring we fill up a minimum of one trash container (the big, roll out kind the city provides) per tree of dropped leaf litter. That said, at 13 years old, they require little supplemental water and no fertilization. They do require branch thinning/trimming once a year to prevent branches breaking in the wind. We also have sissoos and like someone else said, they have leaf drop, roots that can heave sidewalks (even with deep watering), and suckers that spring up everywhere. There are Chinese elms planted behind us and we curse the winter leaf litter and they cause allergic reactions with some people. Our shoe string acacias (on the south side of the house) are cool trees and provide great shade, but are messy. Sorry to be of no help suggesting a tree that fits your criteria, however wanted to add more information to trees suggested by others. Based on these posts, I wish a had a place to try out a male carob!

The fastest tree I've ever seen is African sumac. Eucalyptus is fast but can lose branches so not good near the house. Fruitless mulberry is good if you have some water.

How about a Fantex ash. Beautiful symmetric tree. No suckers and not invasive. Clean, great shade. It loses all it's leaves at once in the fall but very pretty autumn leaves. Relatively not as fast as palo verde but fast enough.

I planted two sisso trees 3 years ago in my lawn with a sprinkler system. Thus far I really like them. They've grown fast and create a nice shade/canopy. I did however have to stake them a few times to get their trunks growing straight. They're relatively clean- they lose a few of their leaves in the winter but that's about all.

I attached a pic of one of the trees I planted three years ago. It was just a twig when I put it in. It's now probably close to 30 feet tall.

This post was edited by nickw252 on Mon, Mar 24, 14 at 0:12