Gardening

The Environmental Gardener

Greg Levine

co-executive director of Trees Atlanta, describes himself as happiest when his hands are in the dirt.

The sadness can be all-consuming when I pick up a World Wildlife Fund magazine or turn the radio to NPR. We are deluged with bad news: super storms, extreme climate events and threatened species. Even in the face of such doom and gloom, we all have some power to make an impact in our home gardens, school yards and corporate landscapes.

Trees Atlanta is introducing a new City Forest Certification Program that we have been working on for several years. This program is designed to certify properties or residences that demonstrate exceptional tree stewardship through social and environmental practices and behavior. The program’s purpose is to reach beyond the trees to grow community connections to the forest, and to increase the ecological value of urban landscapes.

A wide variety of property types and sizes are eligible for certification, both residential and commercial. One piece of this certification involves evaluating your tree coverage, then planting to reach a canopy goal. We can all help create a better future by making improvements to the land that we care for.

This fall, find some places in your garden or community, plant as many trees as you can and investigate becoming City Forest Certified.

Listed below are trees I plant in my garden (and neighbors’ gardens, when they let me). The list includes the trees I can’t live without, and they are all available this fall at plant sales, like Trees Atlanta’s Annual Tree Sale at The Carter Center on Oct. 8.

This first group includes some upland drought resistant trees.

With 33 native species to choose from, there is an oak for every situation. Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) is a great tree for full sun and drought tolerance. It will grow to 70 feet over time, but don’t let the slower growth rate deter you. When it comes to fall color, the name says it all: the deep, scarlet red out rivals the other oak species.

Oaks are the most important tree for butterflies and moths, as their leaves are food for over 500 species of caterpillars. Catch a real beauty on the Eastside BeltLine at the famous Three Tree Hill north of Ralph McGill Boulevard.

You say you have no room for an oak? I say differently! Running oak (Quercus pumila) gets just six feet tall and there are several other medium-sized oaks and shade tolerant species to consider.

The slow-growing Eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) is hard to find in nature and in the nursery trade. It grows to about 35 feet in sun or shade and has a consistent yellow fall color. It has a slightly shaggy bark with age, and unique ornamental catkins and fruit that look like hops, hence its name.

Shagbark

hickory (Carya ovata) is my favorite hickory. Endangered Indiana bats make their home in the super shaggy bark. It has a great yellow fall color and an edible nut, if you can get through the shell. Like most drought tolerant species, it is a slower grower than many other shade trees but can reach 100 feet in height. It is worth the wait, so plant this tree. ▲Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a four-season tree reaching just 30 feet tall. I planted these in the 3-foot-wide strip between the neighbors’ and our driveway, with well-drained soil and in full sun. There is so much to love about this tree. It has a beautiful winter form with twisting, billowy branches. The tree suckers lightly to create a grove of beauty.

The spring brings on Gatorade-colored flowers that look like they could glow in the dark, followed by eye-catching leaves and purple fruit with a red stem. I watch birds fight for the treats from my couch. Fall brings in every color imaginable, but in soft pastel tones. Sassafras leaves are used by many to season soups and beans, and their roots were used for teas and root beer long ago. This tree is a musthave for any garden — unless you have no sun and only wet soil.

Red buckeye

(Aesculus pavia) has an upright panicle of tubular red flowers that hummingbirds love in early spring. It only grows to 25 feet tall and wide, and a thick tap root helps with drought tolerance in its first year or two. It can drop its leaves early when stressed, but the selection ‘Splendens’ was chosen for a cleaner yellow fall color that holds on until the true fall.

If your yard is moist or wet, consider these water-loving trees: ■ Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) has sweet, two-inch white flowers with the scent of a lemon. Its semievergreen leaves are often silver backed, giving it a bit of sparkle in the evening light or under a breeze. There are many cultivars that are selected for height, evergreen quality, cold hardiness and form. ‘Moonglow’ is a tight compact form that reaches 35 feet in height, while ‘Green Shadow’ maxes at 30 feet and is a very evergreen selection.

▲ Cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda) is very tolerant of wet soils and grows pretty fast for an oak. The leaf’s shape is reminiscent of a pagoda and has a dark green color, turning to yellow and maroon in the fall. You can see a beautiful allé at Tech Parkway, but this tree also makes a beautiful single specimen.

▲ Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) has a tropical look with its large droopy leaves. I have seen this tree reach 35 feet at its happiest, in moist soils. Its unusual maroon, lantern-shaped flowers are pollinated by

flies and followed by a large oddly shaped fruit that tastes like a sweet banana: the largest native fruit in North America! The fruit doesn’t last long because possums and raccoons eat them the first night that they hit the ground, but it’s quite the treat when you get to eat one. My neighbor Shawn has been waiting to get into my backyard for a taste as she has never had one. I saw her first attempt just yesterday and she was right on time — the first few just dropped! ■ Pondcypress (Taxodium ascendens) can reach 100 feet tall. It has a softer look than its nearest relative, the bald cypress (T. distichum). I prefer it. Its leaves are more whorled, giving it a light and dainty appearance. It is a deciduous conifer and may concern a visiting northerner when its leaves turn orange and drop. It can sit in water or grow in average soils. Like most wetland trees, it can be surprisingly drought tolerant. See another allé of this beauty on the west side of the Plaza Shopping Center on Ponce De Leon. Make sure to make time to catch a movie, then grab dinner at the Righteous Room.

With so many interesting species to choose from, there’s a tree suited for every yard, and you can help save the world by planting one — but why stop there?