dealing with messy trees
Every homeowner has their own idea of what a messy tree is, and that can largely depend on the location of the tree. If we understand the “mess” we may learn to live with it and continue to enjoy species diversity. It is critical that we continue to increase our urban (and suburban!) forest diversity to protect against invasive pests that are destroying our canopies. Of course we do want to avoid susceptible cultivars of afflicted species, but we need to be more open to trees that have gained a reputation for being messy.
So what designates a tree as messy? Generally any tree that drops large amounts of anything, or drops things that may be difficult to clean up, will be labeled as a messy tree. Large seed pods, acorns, nuts, fruits, seeds, enormous leaves, tiny leaves, even trees that attract wildlife are often considered messy. That list does not leave much to pick from when selecting trees for your property. So the best thing to do is understand the “mess” and determine how to deal with it depending on where you locate the tree.
So let’s take a look at what these wonderful messy trees have to offer as well as the perceived problems:
Black Walnut
Native to the U.S.
Walnuts look like limes on the tree as they ripen.
Fallen walnuts are quickly scooped up by squirrels.
Buckeye
Native to the U.S.
Showy clusters of butter yellow blooms precede the buckeye fruits.
Golf ball sized fruits in summer add interest. In fall they split open to expose beautiful glossy brown seeds.
Sterile varieties do not produce the nuts.
Butternut
Native to the U.S.
Large bright green butternuts add bright interest in summer.
Catalpa
Native to the U.S.
Beautiful clusters or fragrant white orchid like blooms precede seed pods.
Gorgeous heart shaped leaves.
Foot long seed pods are striking.
The seed pods can be home to the catalpa worm/caterpillar.
Try the dwarf cultivar “Nana” for beautiful flowers and less mess.
Cottonwood
Foliage is vibrant green and lovely brilliant yellow in fall.
Cottonwood are prone to disease and have weak wood.
Cottonwood have a notoriously bad reputation because they cause a snowstorm of seeds born on cotton like puffs that get stuck in window screens, condenser filters, and clog rain gutters.
Male trees do not produce seeds and cotton.
Ginkgo (female)
No serious pests or disease
Very tolerant of urban pollution and easy to maintain.
Large bright leaves are very cheery in the landscape.
Female varieties drop smelly messy fruit.
There are many lovely male varieties to choose from.
Hickory
Native to the U.S.
May be susceptible to the hickory bark beetle
Hickory are great shade tree
Wood is strong and flexible
Nut and twig drop may be a problem from these enormous trees
Horsechestnut
Produces showy red flowers and interesting fruits (nuts)
Nuts are produced in abundance and may be a nuisance
Sterile varieties do not produce nuts
Kentucky Coffee
No serious pests
Native to the U.S.
Large seed pods add interest all winter
Oak
Native to the U.S.
Oak trees are majestic and typically sturdy.
Oak are excellent shade trees.
Even in a big year for acorns, the squirrels scoop them up off the ground as fast as they can. You might not be able to walk barefoot across your driveway some days.
Southern Magnolia
One of the most beautiful, sweetly scented tree in the world.
Cheerful red seeds
Uniquely textured bark
Large waxy leaves a bit difficult to rake up
Large tough flower petals are wet and clog up the lawn mower
Very tough hard cones are large and need to be picked up by hand before mowing
There are many cultivars and hybrids of Magnolia that do not present such difficult maintenance issues. Select one carefully, or plant in a mulched or meadow like area.
Sweet Gum
Let’s just say be sure to get a sterile variety. The Sweet Gum Seeds are in fact large, spiky, difficult to rake or pick up and numerous and the sticky sap is, well, sticky and damaging. But it does display beautiful fall color if you have a good place for one.
Weeping Willow
There is no tree more graceful and calming than a weeping willow.
Long slender leaves may be difficult to rake up.
Realistically any nut tree will have the issue of nuts dropping. All trees drop leaves with varying ease of raking up and many produce copious amounts of sticky, messy and even damaging sap. Where the “mess” drops is important. Dropping in your gutters to clog and create roof leaks is a serious problem. Dropping seeds on your deck furniture is annoying but dropping sap on furniture cushions may ruin them. Evaluate the needs in your landscape and locate whatever “mess” you deem to be too much to deal with to the outer regions of your property in order to achieve diversity.
Alternatives
Linden trees an ideal, sturdy shade trees. They make a perfect boulevard tree as they are quite tolerant of adverse conditions.
Many varieties of Maple Trees are wonderfully colorful in autumn and are generally considered to be among the cleanest trees. Maple seeds can be a little bit of a problem, look for the newer seedless hybrids. And Silver Maples are weak with far reaching shallow root systems that seem to be much stronger busting through sidewalk than the weak limbs.
Many new hybrids have been developed to retain the beautiful qualities of tree species without some of the issues that many homeowners perceive to be messy problems or even susceptible to pests and disease. New hybrid elms are resistant to Dutch Elm Disease. Certain Honey Locusts are podless. And of course the seedless Maple hybrids have become enormously popular.