Don’t be fooled into planting one of these common trees.
Looking to plant a tree in your yard soon?
confirm to look before you leap.
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Some trees are nice.
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)
What’s wrong with it:
Yes, I know.
But let’s get real.
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The flowers last about two weeks.
So for two weeks of beauty, you get 50 weeks of gross.
Plus, seedlings from your tree will sprout in everyone’s yard within a quarter-mile.
(Morus alba)Why not?Talk about aggressive roots. White mulberry roots have been known to shoot out through yards, cracking pavement and upending landscaping along the way. No one wants that in their yard. Plus, white mulberry trees are known to be messy neighbors, and the species' male trees emit pollen notorious for triggering allergies. While birds love the fruit of mulberry trees—a phenomenon that will also cause unwanted messes in your yard—we must admit that we do not.Learn more about mulberry.Credit: Nastasic/Getty Images
This is one crappy tree.
Hackberry (Celtisoccidentalis)
People grow this shade tree when they can’t grow anything else.
It takes drought, heat, poor soil, air pollution, and wind.
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Hackberry is easy to recognize by its silvery-gray bark encrusted with warty ridges.
Small, blue-black fruits favored by birds spread seedlings all over.
The worst thing about hackberry is that woolly aphids feeding on the leaves drip sticky honeydew.
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Sooty mold grows on the honeydew, blackening absolutely everything under the tree.
Hack it down now.
I can’t think of a messier tree.
The only good use for this nasty tree is as firewood.
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
Folks plant silver maple for one reasonthey want quick shade.
It grows fast, upwards of three feet a year, eventually reaching 70 feet tall.
But you pay a steep price for that shade.
Its roots are infamous for clogging water lines and breaking sidewalks.
But the damage has been done.
How low should you prune a Bradford pear?
As low as you could saw.
Are there trees you despise more than these?
hey comment and let Grumpy and the whole world know!
