Tree Tips

In the nursery, small trees (6 to 8 feet high) may be your better investment, since they recover more quickly from transplant shock than larger specimens. Container-grown stock is generally the quickest to re-establish, followed by trees that are sold balled-and-burlapped and trees that are bare-rooted.

It's best to avoid the really fast growing trees, since most are quite prone to pest problems. Included are willows (borers, cotton root rot, heat stress), cottonwood (borers, heat stress, cotton root rot), Arizona ash (anthracnose, borers), sycamore (lace bugs, heat stress, anthracnose), mimosas (mimosa webworm, mimosa wilt), and fruitless mulberry (borers, cotton root rot, heat stress). These trees are noted for their rapid growth, not necessarily their attractive growth habits.