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Discover the top drought-tolerant trees for your garden and embrace nature’s resilience
During scorching summer days, a cooling shady tree becomes a perfect spot for picnics, playdates, or unwinding with a great book. However, in yards prone to drought, the key is to choose a tree with deep roots that can endure dry weather. While drought-tolerant trees take longer to establish their root system, these hardy trees require minimal to no supplemental water except during severe drought periods. We have listed the best drought-tolerant trees to plant in your garden.
Bur Oak
- With its robust branches, deep-reaching roots, and a lush, shade-protective canopy, the Bur Oak is your lawn’s superhero. It is native to the Great Lakes region and has impressive attributes, making it a rewarding addition to any landscape.
It is known for its winter hardiness, resistance to insects and deer, and ability to thrive in less-than-ideal soil conditions. In addition, the Bur Oak grows rapidly and reaches great sizes. Once firmly established, these trees can last 200 to 300 years. Moreover, this tree provides bird nesting spots, and its pollen becomes food for butterflies, moths, and bees.
Notable Traits
- Hardiness Zones: Suitable for zones 3-8
- Sun Exposure: Thrives in full sun and partial shade
- Soil needs: Adaptable to sandy, loamy, and clay soil types; requires well-draining conditions
- Foliage Type: Deciduous, shedding leaves in the fall
- Mature Size: Reaches an impressive height and width of 70-80 feet.
Maidenhair Tree
- Maidenhair trees, also known as ginkgos, are the oldest surviving tree species on the planet. The perfectly adapted ginkgos have survived through prehistoric eras to make it to today. They have beautiful, fan-shaped leaves that turn golden in the fall, making them a stunning addition to gardens, spacious backyards, and expansive walkways. Although the ginkgo species may be over 200 million years old, they excel as city trees, displaying remarkable tolerance to car exhaust, smog, and road salt.
Like the Eastern Red Cedar, Ginkgos are dioecious, meaning they have separate male and female plants. While they don’t produce conventional flowers, female ginkgos bear yellow-orange plum-sized fruits if germinated. These fruit trees can create a mess and give an unpleasant odor. Therefore, it is advisable to opt for male ginkgos.
Notable Traits
- Hardiness Zones: Suitable for zones 3-9
- Sun Exposure: Flourishes in Full sun
- Soil Needs: Adaptable to Sandy, Loamy, and Clay soils; requires excellent drainage
- Foliage Type: Deciduous, shedding leaves in the fall
- Mature Size: Grows to an impressive height of 40-80 feet and a width of 30-40 feet.
Eastern Red Cedar
- If you live in a dry region along the East Coast, the Eastern Red Cedar is a must-have tree in your garden. This evergreen beauty exhibits exceptional drought resistance among all the conifers native to the eastern United States. With its captivating pyramidal structure and dark green to blue needles, the Eastern Red Cedar makes a stunning specimen plant to show off in your garden or yard. They have remarkable hardiness, allowing them to flourish in salty, nutrient-poor soils.
Moreover, they attract native butterflies, songbirds, and buzzing bees, enhancing the natural beauty of your landscape. It has separate male and female trees. Planting male and female trees together is advisable to ensure pollination and produce lovely seed cones resembling frosty blueberries in fall.
Notable Traits
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Hardiness Zones: Thrives in zones 2-9
Sun Exposure: Flourishes in full sun and partial shade
Soil Needs: Adaptable to sandy, loamy, clay, and rocky soils; requires excellent drainage
Foliage Type: Evergreen, retaining its lush foliage year-round
Mature Size: Grows to an impressive height of 30-40 feet and a width of 10-20 feet.
If you are looking for the best pruning and tree removal services for your trees, contact American Tree Experts Inc. today. We are a group of tree experts working in Montclair, New Jersey. Call us today at (973) 744-6091 with your pruning and other queries, and we will give you a fantastic quote for free.