Tyler Kirckof
Special to The Courier
Your landscape is part of the value of your home, and the trees are the cornerstones of that investment. Do you want trees for shade, flowers, fall color, privacy, fruit, or to complement your garden’s theme? Answering this question when picking a tree out will ensure a good decision.
It is hard to visualize a large tree in an open space. Use a tablet or smart phone, take it outside, image search the trees you are interested in, and use the pictures as a visual aid. A measuring tape should be used to make sure the mature tree will fit in a specific area. Knowing the tree’s mature size and the fact that the roots roughly extend 5 feet past the farthest branches will help avoid any structural problems, like planting too close to foundations, septic system, underground lines or pipes. Always contact Arizona Blue Stake before digging, azbluestake.com.
All trees are going to have negative and positive characteristics. Taking a little time to research the trees you are interested in will help make it an easy choice. “The Sunset Western Gardens” book is something of a bible for us nursery folks. Stick with “.edu” and “.org” websites on internet searches, or just hit up your local nursery.
Here are examples of trees used in our area to help as a starting point.
- Evergreen (screening): Spartan juniper, Wichita blue juniper, Rocky Mountain juniper, Arizona cypress
- Evergreen (aesthetic): Pine, spruce, alligator juniper, Hollywood juniper
- Big shade: Ash, Bloodgood sycamore, mulberry, box elder
- Flowering trees (spring): Flowering pear, floweringpeach, flowering cherry, purple plum, crabapple
- Flowering trees (summer): Purple robe locust, chitalpa, desert willow, catalpa
- Fall color: Maple, flowering pear, redbud, crabapple, oak, raywood ash, Autumn Brilliance serviceberry
- Fruit: Apple, plum, pear, cherry, peach, nectarine, apricot
Tyler Kirckof is an Arizona-certified nursery professional at Prescott Valley Nursery, 6195 Highway 69, Prescott Valley, Arizona, (928) 772-0878.
We will be moving to Prescott Valley in the next month, to the Viewpoint
Addition. I love the Blue Spruse trees. Do you sell them? Are they expensive to buy?
We do sell Blue Spruce! We have a new shipments of Spruce that are arriving in the first part of November. These trees come in a range of sizes & prices, so you should find one that fits your budget.
Colorado blue spruce in southern Arizona? Are you crazy? This is a tree from high altitudes, requiring plenty of moisture and cool temperatures, both summer and winter. Plant an Arizona cypress or alligator juniper. You can get a nice blue color in a tree that is much better adapted to life in the desert. Why did you move to southern Arizona if you want to be surrounded by trees from somewhere else?
Mr. Taylor, this is in NORTHERN ARIZONA, elevation is roughly around 5,000 ft. It is a USDA climate zone of 7 to 8, Western Garden Zone 3A. Because of our cooler winter temperatures there are a good number of desert plants that will not make pass being an annual here. People do move here for the “Midwest of the Southwest” charm our area has, its nice. Cypress, Juniper & even Old Colorado Blue Spruce are planted here, have been for years. I agree with you on appreciating the native surrounds. When emulated in a landscape it is usually an elegant & sophisticated look. Yet, gardening at its most elemental core is taking a seed or plant from from somewhere else and planting it in one’s own garden, for whatever reason, expression, substance or just because we are free to do so. Regardless if it is Northern or Southern, here in Arizona we really, really like our freedom.
well said pvgrowers
i’m also moving to pv soon but don”t care for cypress or juniper can i plant birch or sycamore’s there ?
We have some great sycamore trees in stock. We do not have Birch in stock but we do bring it in, maybe an Aspen if Birch is not available. There are a lot of other choices besides cypress or juniper.
We are looking for 1 or several decorative trees for a circle planter in our driveway. We want something 10-16 ft. max., full sun. The circle is 20 ft. round. We are looking for something that flowers or is just a nice looking tree. We thought of birches but they get too big. We will have some small bushes in the circle as well and a horse statue in the middle so this will be a frame for the horse. Any suggestions?
Redbud, Russian Hawthorn, Desert Willow, Flowering Crabapple, & Canada Red Chokecherry for Flowering Trees. Spartan Juniper, Wichita Juniper, Blue Point Juniper, Hollywood for Evergreen choices.
Would love to plant some fruit trees we just moved up here we are now living in Groom Creek when do you plant them and what do you recommend. Thank you so much. Debbie
Between early blooming & late freezes Apples, Pears, Plums, & Cherries set fruit more consistently in this area than Peaches, Nectarines, or Apricot. All will live in this climate. We also have Jujube (taste like a airy spiced apple) that would grow & set fruit well here. I personally avoid varieties one finds in the store. If you are going to spend all that time & effort to get fruit off the tree why choose the same variety the Average Joe can get at the store? If you have to choose between sour or sweet, sour varieties usually gets less pest, produces better, keeps longer & are a more hardy tree than the sweet varieties.
What kind of cherries are you growing? I’m moving to the Prescot area soon and I would love some fruit trees in my yard.
On our “Wholesale page” we have a link to our availability list that shows the cherries we have in stock. Typically we grow: Bing, Black Tartarian, Craig’s Crimson, Royal Rainier & Montmorency.
I do bonsai. Just junipers. Like to start with character in the trunk. Do you have a selection of 5 gallon junipers. Gary
Yes and we have 1 gallons if the 5 gallons are past the point of training properly.
Are there any trees here that keep their leaves all year long?
Only pines, spruce, and cedars.
i was looking up what to put in our front yard which faces the sunrise and I was wanting to plant Provence lavender 4 bushes and a fruiting producing cherry tree, what is your thought and what kind of cherry tree do you suggest
The lavender will be just fine. If you only want to plant one cherry tree, you will need one that is self-fruitful. Stella or Lapins are both self-fertile trees that you could use if you do only want a single tree.
Having a new home built in Pronghorn Ranch and will have zero landscaping in my backyard. Would like to plant an evergreen that is fast growing and will help with privacy and road noise. Any suggestions?
We would recommend the Austrian Black Pine or the Oregon Green Austrian Pine. They do well here and grow quickly.
I live in flagstaff and I am looking for fast growing shade tree that will get full sun in the late morning and early afternoon. What would you suggest?
We would suggest a maple or aspen as both like the cooler weather you have in Flagstaff.
I noticed that lime trees were not on your list for this area. Can you grow them here? I was really wanting one because both the fruit and the leaves are edible.
Also, what would be a good nitrogen fixating tree to plant near my fruit trees? One that produces edibles or that grape vines could climb would be great. Please advise. Thank you!
Hi Shellie,
Unfortunately, citrus trees are not cold hardy and cannot survive here.
As for the nitrogen fixing, we would recommend you use a nitrogen fixing crop rather than a tree. Though there are a few that can survive here, eventually they would shade out your fruit trees, and would not produce edibles. We don’t recommend training a grape vine to climb a tree as after time, it will shade out and kill the tree it has climbed.
We recently purchased a home in Pronghorn Ranch and there are two willow trees out front on opposite sides of the house planted by the previous owner. Knowing how large and evasive they can get, we want to take them out before they begin to cause problems with our driveway, garage foundation and the neighbor’s house foundation (one is close to all three of these). We like the look of the flowering plum that many of the other neighbors have and our landscaper said we could get a non-fruit bearing variety. Is that so and would this be a good alternative to the large (and so fast growing!) willows that will soon overtake our front yard :). Any other suggestions?
I should mention, I don’t think these are desert willows, they look more like a traditional weeping willow, which I believe grows much, much bigger than the desert willow???
You certainly could replace the two willows with purple plums! We also have a good variety of other trees that stay smaller, such as the Red Push Chinese Pistache, Pink Dawn Chitalpa, or flowering crabapples. You are also welcome to come and see the trees we have in person and talk with our staff to help you decide on the replacement you like best.
My daughter and her husband have just bought a home in Prescott Valley. As it is a new home without landscaping yet, we would like to buy a fruit tree for them for Christmas. What price range and size do you have available?
Maryann,
Sorry for the late reply. But to answer your question, the majority of fruit trees (Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Nectarine, Peach, Apricot) we grow in 10 gallons. You will have to contact our retail yard for specific pricing 928-772-0878. 90% of the fruit trees we grow are semi-dwarf meaning they will have a mature size of 15ft. to 18ft. The other 10% are dwarfs which are 4 ft. to 7 ft. tall, mature size.
We just purchased property in pv and for landscaping a backyard patio area, would an olive tree do well here. And do they come in a fruitless type or do you treat them to be fruitless? Like your website and will stop by to talk to your staff about the rest of our landscaping needs.
Thank you
Olive trees are not zoned for this climate but in a patio setting it is a possibility since it is a protected area. Olives trees can effect people with asthma & allergies, as well.
How would a Silver Sheen tree do in Prescott Valley?
It is not zoned for this climate. So probably should not be making a hedge with them but one in a protected spot from the harsh winter weather might work.
I just moved to Paulden this past fall. We’re on two acres and there is very little landscaping. I would like to add some shade trees that are fast growing. So some questions…which would you recommend? Thinking ash. Also a Blue Spruce. Already have put in 2 apple trees, 2 apricot and 2 peach. There are a couple of evergreens at the front of the property. Do you deliver to Paulden? Do you do landscape design?/consultation? Do you plant trees? How much for more mature trees vs young trees? Thank you!
Ash & Sycamore are great shade trees for this area. In the grand scheme of things you shouldn’t get too caught up on growth rate because trees in general are not fast growing to us. They all take years to grow & that will seem slow to us. There is also a give & take to what we consider fast growing trees such as high water, monstrous mature size, invasive roots, or shorter life span. You may want to consider a Deodar Cedar or Juniper Tree over a Spruce but we have hybrid Spruce that keeps a rich Blue color & will not over take a yard. We do consultation, deliver & plant to Paulden.
Do you have any fruiting olive trees that will grow in williamson valley rd area. We just cure some olives we bought and would like to grow our own. Needs to be quick growing and not tiny olives on it.
Thanks
No fruiting olives, not zoned for this area, we get too cold. Would be a fun experiment to grow in this area but wouldn’t rely on it for production.
Question:
My son lives in PV up in the windy part on Poquito valley road. It’s very barren. He would like to put some privacy trees up that grow quickly. Is there anything that will grow and thrive in that nasty wind? Of course it would have to be evergreen.
Juniper Trees or AZ Cypress would be your best bet. The privacy trees will double as a windbreak as well & you can do planting behind them where the new plants will be more sheltered from the wind.
Do you have Aspen trees? We live by the Airport and I was wondering if Aspens are an option for us.
Hello Ken:
Yes we do have Aspens available in several sizes. 5 gallons for $49.99, 15 gallon multi-trunk for $179 and 20 gallon multi-trunk for $269.
Sincerely,
Prescott Valley Nursery
928 772 0878