I am in Sunset Zone 17. Have been looking for a tree to shade a patio without much success in terms of ideas. One thought I have had is to put a tree in the center and pollard it, producing shade in the summer and open view in the winter. However, I've only seen that done with London Plane trees here. Any thoughts on the idea or plants? Not sure if it would work on Cercis occidentalis, but it probably would not be tall enough. I suspect it would work with many eucalyptus species.