Had to choose between a shade tree and a flower bed in my new backyard

I moved into a house last spring with a bare backyard and had $800 to spend on landscaping. I had to pick between planting a big red maple for future shade or putting in a perennial flower bed with coneflowers and black-eyed Susans. I went with the flower bed because I wanted color the first year, and man it was beautiful all summer. But now I'm kicking myself because this August my patio hits 95 degrees by noon and I have zero relief. Anyone else regret skipping a tree for instant curb appeal?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_patricia1d ago

I planted a red oak sapling my first year so I hear you on the delayed payoff. That tree is fifteen years old now and the shade it throws covers half my driveway, but I remember sitting on my porch in July that first summer wondering if I'd made a mistake. The thing about waiting is you get to watch it grow, which is kind of satisfying in a slow way. Now my neighbor's flower bed looks great from April to June but by August everything is fried and they're running their AC nonstop. I only got about two years of full color before my tree canopy started killing the grass underneath anyway, so the flowers eventually had to move to pots on the sunny side.

nathanking1d ago

Totally get that feeling, @the_patricia. I planted a redbud tree the first year I bought my house and it was maybe three feet tall and pathetic for like five summers. Now it's this big gnarly thing that makes the whole yard look older than it really is, but I remember staring at that stick wondering if I'd wasted my money. The grass underneath is totally toast too, I just gave up and mulched a big ring around it. There's something about knowing you put that thing in the ground though, even when the payoff takes forever.