Trees

Tough Mediterranean trees with character. These long-lived, evergreen specimen trees are moderate to slow growing, with narrow oval green leaves that are white underneath. This selection is virtually fruitless, which makes them very low maintenance. These Mediterranean symbols are very adaptable to heat and drought. They naturally develop a dense, umbrella-shaped canopy, bolstered by gnarly multiple trunks. Because they are slower growing, immature trees can look a bit gawky and awkward, however, once planted in-ground they quickly develop a handsome canopy structure. Selective pruning is necessary with any olive trees, but it is not necessary to maintain them by shearing and doing so begets more maintenance. While they tolerate shearing and being turned into fanciful topiaries, before starting this practice please recognize that once this type of intensive trimming starts it must, in most cases, continue.

Tough, long-lived native desert trees. Ironwood trees, along with mesquites and palo verdes, make up the primary tree components of our arborescent desert. These are slow-growing evergreen to semi-evergreen, medium to large sized, multi-trunk trees. The leaves are small, round, and gray green. The light gray bark on mature trees is very attractive, but they do have numerous, sharp recurved thorns. They take some time to develop, but when mature they usually have a stately or grand umbrella shaped canopy. With regular landscape irrigation they grow more quickly and tend to sucker more, which can create more pruning maintenance, which is not ideal because of their sharp thorns. When possible, trees should be given periodic deep or long watering during the growing season, rather than frequent shallow watering. Like other native desert trees, they have the capacity to thrive with natural rainfall alone, but with little water their growth rate is slower, which is not ideal, so finding a balance of watering to growth rate is important. Container grown Ironwood trees can be small in stature, but they will grow steadily once planted so respect spacing requirements avoiding overcrowding or planting them too close to structures or in tight spaces.

Dark green globular tidy shade trees. The ‘Red Push’ Pistache is so named due to the crimson-colored new growth pushing out in spring. Like other Pistachia sp. these trees can have a gawky shape and structure when young but these trees quickly grow into nearly perfect round, globular shape. The leaves are dark green giving them a dark handsome silhouette, even in full sun. In fall, with the onset of colder nighttime temperatures the leaves turn to a deep burgundy to full red color, although their individual color can be variable tree to tree the first few seasons. Be patient. They do well with regular, deep summer watering like other Pistache and they require little to no maintenance other than raking up leaves that drop during winter to early spring before new red growth appears.

Medium to large growing leafy shade tree providing fall color. These trees are gaining in popularity due to their adaptability and moderate to fast growth habit. These are ornamental trees only and not nut producing. Landscapers and clients should be made aware that immature Chinese Pistache often look gawky and awkward with widely spaced, somewhat sparse branches. They are only in this “ugly duckling” stage for a while when first planted, as they quickly develop a strong root system they will fill out nicely to form an open irregular oval canopy. During spring and summer leaves are a lustrous, dark green, but their fall color show is what makes them special. In fall/winter the leaves turn bright orange and red tones just like deciduous trees do in the Midwest or northeast. Provide moderate water to start with the first few years, then only deep summer time watering are necessary to keep them happy and healthy.

Durable, evergreen large shrubs or small accent trees. Use of Mastic trees has been growing since their durability and adaptability has become more notable in the landscape trade. They are not new, but we will say landscape designers and contractors have re-discovered them. Slow growing typically with multiple trunks they can form dense small canopy evergreen trees. They have small, leathery oval leaves with a deep, dark green color. They have a dense branch structure but the branches are forgiving and fairly flexible. They require average water and require little maintenance. Training them to single trunk tree form takes time and a bit of effort but it can be done. No pest or disease issues to be weary of.

Medium sized trees with dark green leaves. These are moderate to slow growing trees native to lowland grassy plains and swamps of S. Texas. They have short compound emerald green leaves along zig-zagged, thorny branches. In spring, they flower with cream to white colored puff-ball like flowers the set ornamental, long wide woody seed pods. Ebony trees form dense canopies, so they do work well as small to medium sized shade trees, but they take time and a bit of training to get there. They tolerate plenty of heat and hot temperatures and a surprising amount of drought suggesting that they may have once been more plentiful across the southwest than their current range suggests. Give them moderate, regular irrigation, especially during summer months until trees become established, then deep monthly watering to maintain their lush foliage and flowering ability.

The grandest thornless mesquite for desert landscapes. ‘Crown Jewel’ is a moderate to fast growing thornless hybrid of a Argentine mesquite. These trees have dark blue-green compound leaves and dark chocolate brown peeling bark. They are outstanding landscape trees with superb root anchoring, artistic multiple trunks, and an upright well-branched canopy of 30-40 ft. for pleasing summer shade. Its individual leaflets are shorter than those of Chilean mesquites, but the over-all size, shape and growth habit of ‘Crown Jewel’ is more picturesque and worry free. They are tolerant of heat and drought but more cold hardy than other south American mesquites making them the best choice from mid elevation landscapes. An AWG exclusive, please call our sales team for current available sizes.

Standard, semi-evergreen thornless mesquites. These adaptable South American desert dwelling trees have become ubiquitous in urban desert landscapes. They have a natural umbrella shaped canopy with dark green compound leaflets and milk chocolate colored bark that becomes darker with age. They are low water use, heat tolerant, thornless trees. Some training and pruning are necessary to help train trees into the most picturesque form. Immature trees are typically double staked until roots can anchor these fast growing trees. Too much water or frequent shallow watering can cause them to become weak rooted, which means they may topple over easily during summer monsoon wind storms. Deep, infrequent watering is best to encourage a stronger, more stable root system. Mesquites pair with any other desert shrubs, perennials, or accent plants. Chilean mesquites are offered as multi-trunked or as standard single trunk trees. Please call our sales team for current size availability and specs.

Southwestern adaptable native mesquite. Native from NM, through AZ, CA and Northern Mexico, these mesquites have a rich ethnobotanical history in the southwest. Their wood, pods and sap were indispensable natural commodities to indigenous peoples. For modern urban dwellers, these trees offer natural adaptability, low maintenance and wildlife havens for residential, commercial and municipal landscapes. They have bright green to blue-green compound foliage against yellowish brown bark with decent gray thorns, with the bark becoming much darker and shaggy as they mature. Typically shrubby, multi-trunked trees, they can be trained into single trunked trees to fit some smaller urban spaces more efficiently. Flowers are yellow catkins in spring that are highly attractive to bees. Once pollinated, pea-like dark brown pods develop with edible slightly sweet seeds. Staking immature trees can be beneficial.