Let ornamental trees add fall colors to your yard
It won’t be long now: Nature will again be painting her most spectacular Georgia landscapes in the coming weeks.
The brilliant hues of fall foliage splashed onto Georgia this fall will make many homeowners wish they could capture more of the annual color show in their own yards.
But most people don’t relish the idea of marking trees in the woods, hunting landowners for permission to take the trees and then coming back in January or February to dig them up and move them to their yards.
Polk County landowners can have brilliant fall leaves in their yards an easier and more reliable way: just buy any of the many terrific ornamental shade trees that provide rich fall colors and can be bought in Polk County.
Many shade trees give us excellent fall color. Some are more commonly known while others are lesser known but deserve wider attention.
Bare-root and balled-and-bur-lapped trees can be bought for transplanting into your yards in February. Container trees, because they have virtually no transplant shock, can be planted any time.
Here are some of the trees you can buy from Georgia nurseries and garden centers that can fill your yard with fall colors:
Maidenhair tree (ginkgo) is unsurpassed in the fall for the clear yellow color of its fan-shaped leaves.
Scarlet Oak is usually the last tree in Georgia to develop fall color. The foliage becomes a brilliant red in late October or in November.
Sourwood, a native in the northern half of Georgia is seldom planted in yards. But it has almost every desirable trait as an ornamental tree, including picturesque shape, excellent green foliage, attractive flowers and seed pods and brilliant red fall leaves.
Sugar maple is well known for its brilliant yellow, orange and scarlet fall colors.
Southern sugar maple, a native tree which produces bright colors, is not very common in Georgia nurseries. But ask for it.
Trident maple is another somewhat new maple. It is a small, handsome and durable tree with potentially outstanding fall color.
Japanese maple is one of the most spectacular of the small trees that can be grown in Georgia.