Linden Trees Provide Beauty and Shade
By Jos Van Hage
Saturday, August 29, 2009 03:48 AM
Linden trees are one of my favorites when it comes to choosing a shade tree. They have beautiful foliage, nice bark and the tree itself has a very nice, uniform shape. They have a very straight trunk and good solid branches that form a rounded or pyramidal crown of green heart shaped leaves. It can grow 50 feet tall with a span of 20-40 feet across, making it an excellent shade tree. It also produces small, fragrant, ivory flowers in mid summer that perfumes the air and attracts bees and butterflies. These same flowers are often used in teas that can be found in health food stores.
Plant linden trees in a well-drained, fertile soil where they will receive enough moisture as they do not like to go very dry. They are adaptive to many conditions and are often used as street trees. They grow best in full sun to partial shade. A nice feature about the Linden tree is its clean nature making it a good choice to plant around pools and patios... It is rarely bothered by pests and disease, and requires very little to no pruning making it low maintenance.
You can choose from a few different varieties that are hardy for our Prince George zone 3 climate. In our yard at home we have an ‘American Linden’ which has been growing there for the past 15 years. The heart shaped leaves can grow 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. The tree right now has a span of 20 feet and is 25-30 feet high. It rarely suckers and occasionally I prune off a low hanging branch.
If you are looking for a smaller sized Linden then try planting the ‘Little Leaf Linden’ which grows one-third the size. Remember when planting a tree to realize how large it will grow so watch for power lines, roofs etc. before you plant the tree.
-Jos
Jos Van Hage owns and operates two Art Knapp Garden Centres in Prince George:
- Highway 16 west at Kimball Road
- Highway 97 North at northwood Pulpmill Road
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