The 3 Best Trees to Plant in North Carolina
Just about everyone loves trees, since they’re tall, stately plants which provide great beauty to the landscape, offer shade in the summer time, and even give off life-giving oxygen into the atmosphere. However, when it comes time to plant trees, it can be a pretty difficult decision on just what kind of tree you should plant in your particular region.
Everyone knows that certain trees grow much better in specific regions of the country, so which are the best trees for North Carolina? Depending on whether you are planting trees for shade, for their blooms, or for privacy, there could be a number of different trees you choose which would thrive in the benign climate of North Carolina. Below are listed some of the most beneficial tree types for each of the objectives you might have in planting.
Blooming trees
When it comes to blooming trees, probably the three best trees you can plant in North Carolina are the crape Myrtle, the Redbud, and the flowering dogwood. The flowering dogwood is of course the state flower of North Carolina, and it’s also the oldest dogwood growing anywhere. It’s excellent for shady spots and woodland gardens, and birds love making their home in it.
Redbuds are lovely trees which already add color to North Carolina woodlands with their spectacular pink spring blossoms. A version of this tree called the Carolina Sweetheart will also bloom in white, green, and pink. The crape Myrtle will grow to a maximum of 25 feet tall, and has more of a lavender bloom, as well as a deeper green leaf than most other crapes. In the fall, it has an orange-red color, and as the tree matures, you’ll notice the bark turning an attractive gray color.
Privacy screens
If you are planting trees in North Carolina for the purpose of developing a privacy screen, three of the best choices you can make are the Nellie Stevens Holly, the Chindo Viburnum, and the Green Giant Arborvitae. The Green Giant Arborvitae makes a terrific evergreen screen, and it has a great root system which allows it to thrive in the North Carolina soil.
The Chindo Viburnum is not a true evergreen, but still can provide an effective privacy screen because it has a broad evergreen leaf, as opposed to the needles supported by a number of other evergreens. This tree can grow to a maximum of about 18 feet tall, and will tolerate the cold pretty well. If you’re looking for a partly shady setting, this tree is a good choice. The Nellie Stevens Holly has a glossy green leaf, and is tolerant of shearing and pruning when you’re trying to create a hedge or a cultivated privacy screen. It grows very strongly and has dense branches, and is ideal for creating an excellent tall screen.
Shade trees
When you’re trying to grow trees to provide shade for a specific area, the three best trees you can plant in North Carolina are the sourwood, the Shagbark Hickory, and the white oak. White oaks will grow to a maximum of 100 feet tall, and when they are in a more mature stage, you’ll see some very pretty red leaves in the fall. They can actually live as long as 300 years, so you can expect continuous shade.
Shagbark Hickory trees will grow as tall as 80 feet, and they bear hickory nuts which supporters claim taste even better than pecans or walnuts. The sourwood tree has a huge canopy which is terrific at screening out the sunlight, and in autumn it has a dazzling crimson-red kind of foliage. Sourwood trees will grow as tall as 60 feet, and you’ll love the white fragrant flowers which bloom in summertime, making this a wonderful shade tree, and a very attractive one to boot.
