Container Grown Trees
Question from Candace:
I have an open patio area (no patio cover) on the Southwest side of my house, which I would like to shade with trees in large containers. I live in Corona, CA so it’s very hot in the summer/fall months. I would prefer something native, if possible. Any suggestions? Thank you so much.
ps) I never thought I’d use any reference more than Sunset, but your S.C. Gardening book is now my go-to guide!!
Answer from Pat:
Get the largest containers you can afford. Some clay pots are especially made for trees. (See them in shopping centers.) Place one piece of broken crockery over the drainage hole of each pot. Hollow construction pots are best or wooden barrels, since hot sun hitting the side of a solid container can burn roots. Also make sure that the bottom of the pot is slightly raised off the patio or drainage can be stopped by roots and the tree will die from lack of drainage. Fill the pots with the best-quality potting soil you can find.
The following trees are the best choices for small shade trees to grow in containers: Citrus (A top choice. Withstands high heat in containers in Italy and France), Hibiscus ‘Agnes Galt’ or ‘Angel Wing’ trained as a tree, Wisteria trained as a tree, Rhaphiolepis ‘Majestic Beauty’ (my personal top choice. Prune after bloom into an umbrella shape.), Cassia leptophylla, Edible fig, Brugmansia ‘Charles Grimaldi’ (needs lots of water and fertilizer), and Persian silk tree ‘Albizia julibrissin’. Some of these plants won’t live forever. (Cassia will live 5 or 6 years in containers and albizia about the same.) The rest can be kept alive a long time in containers. I have seen all these growing in containers. I don’t recommend any native trees for this purpose. You might try Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora) but I have no idea whether it can survive in a container. (Seeds are poisonous.) Another idea is Western hackberry (Celtis laevigata var. reticulata) it’s good on patios and in heat but I have no idea if it will do okay in a container. You could try.
Another idea would be to install a shady cover like “Shade Sail” that attaches to the house and a post away from the house and provides partial shade or build a free-standing pergola next to the house and grow wisteria over it to provide shade in summer sun in winter when leaves drop.