Will Chinese Elm or Gingko do OK in poor drainage?

[nanava]

I plan to plant a new tree (trees?) to take over for our declining willow tree. The willow loves the fact that the back of our yard is a low spot at the bottom of a slope that gets standing water every spring. After several days of heavy rain in the spring, we can get up to 6 inches of standing water that typically takes 2-3 weeks to drain each spring. Usually there are no long term drainage problems for the rest of the summer.

We don't want to plant another willow. The two new trees I'm considering for shade to eventually replace the willow (and possibly a silver maple we don't particularly like) are Chinese Lacebark Elm and Gingko. For Chinese Elm I have read: "Soil tolerances: clay; loam; sand; acidic; occasionally wet; alkaline; well-drained"

Ginkgo says: "Soil tolerances:clay; loam; sand; acidic; occasionally wet; alkaline; well-drained" but then the same article says, "But do not
overwater or plant in a poorly-drained area."

Would either or both of these trees do ok in such an area? I'm not sure if this would qualify as "poorly-drained" or just "occasionally wet." We are central Indiana, zone 5, some clay, but not terribly so.

Thanks!

 

[treeseer]

sycamore? tuliptree?

Better to improve the site before planting so whatever you plant will do better.

Those elms are common as dirt.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The standing water is a problem for most trees. It can be tolerated for a certain time, but the standing water limits oxygen in the soil, which roots need. If I remember correctly, after about two weeks, roots start to die.
This could explain why your willow is declining.

 

[nanava]

Yeah -- I'm already re-thinking this. I have a red maple sapling I dug out of my parents yard that might like it there but wouldn't be devastated if it didn't work out.

We've wrestled with the drainage problem for 7 years. We have a storm drain on the opposite side of the yard, but the water can't get there. Our neighbor's property, just outside our fence, is lower than the storm drain hole, so the water collects there instead, and pools in our yard. We can't really fix it without her since the problem originates in her yard, but little chance of that happening (she has no money.)

So it sounds like this is considered "poor drainage" and not just "occasionally wet." Darn!

 

[nanava]

I thought I would add....the willow is a very old, large willow. So it's not impossible to grow something in that spot. I think willows have a pretty short life span anyway, from what I understand. This one was also crowned last summer (not what I asked for) and I understand that will probably hasten its decline, unfortunately.

Just to give more background on that spot, when we bought our house, a white pine was growing in almost the lowest part in our yard, where it gets the most water. It was in between the willow, and a silver maple, was very crowded, and had flooding to contend with as well. Obviously it didn't do great in that location, but still, it had reached about 20 feet when we had it cut down.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Did the spot always have poor drainage? If there have been grade changes, maybe thing are different. The fact there are trees that have grown there does say something.

Just thinking outloud here, but what about putting in a little sump well and pump? You could just run it for those few times the water stands.

 

[Elmore]

Bald Cypress, Pond Cypress or Dawn Redwood

Plant a Bald Cypress, Pond Cypress or a Dawn Redwood. These would likely do well in a spot as you have described. Various forms of each are available...somewhere. If mature size is not an issue than a seed grown, species plant would be great.

 

[nanava]

Huh -- pump? Not a bad idea, and it made my husband think of using a hose and siphoning it to the drain hole. As long as we stick the hose far enough down the drain, it should work. We'll give that a try.

I love bald cypress -- not sure about knees, though! I'll look into the other two. Now what I'm finding is once you've researched and decided on the best tree for a spot, you can't find it for sale anywhere!

Thanks for all the ideas!

 

[DGG]

Nanava-

I'll vote for Cypress like Elmore does!

Cypress is one of my favorite trees. Don't worry too much about their knees. Knees are really only an issue when you have standing water almost all year. Then they grow knees. Cypress's don't need standing water to grow into a beautiful tree. But they have adapted to grow in standing water, ie Cypress swamps, but they don't need to. I like their "butressed" trunks also.

They are slow growers and amazingly (to me at least) they lose all their leaves, er needles, in the winter, unlike most conifers.

A really cool tree!

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FR152

 

[Thillmaine]

Agreed

Pond Cypress, or dawn redwood, also, red maple sp., sycamore, elm might no tbe a bad idea, typically they grow in disturbed sites, but grow like weeds and usually do not require a ton of drainage. You could also try a different type of willow, salix babyolonica, a bit of a different shape, and a tad smaller then your typical salix alba tristis.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

How about a Larch or Tamarack?

 

[treeseer]

nanava, instead of just cutting down trees you do not like and replanting, I hope you will consider saving money and years by getting a competent arborist to manage what you have. Sweetgums and willows and silver maples can be fine landscape trees.

 

[nanava]

Everyone,

Thanks again for the suggestions! These are very helpful. I just noticed for the first time that a neighbor has a bald cypress down the street -- how did I miss it? It is a really neat tree, and nice to see it in person instead of just looking at pictures.

Treeseer, we had an arborist out and he said the willow was already declining and the hack job it suffered last summer will hasten its decline. We had him out to advise us on a crown restoration, but he said it was a severe topping and since it's already declining, it isn't worth attempting a crown restoration. We're planning to keep it as long as it's alive, but we're planting a new one now so that when the willow is eventually dead and gone, we'll hopefully have a decent sized shade tree to take its place.

We plan on living in this house for a very long time. Unfortunately, poor decisions were made by previous owners. For ex, planting a sweet gum with its profuse prickly balls 15 feet from the front door; planting an inferior tree for quick shade; planting a blue spruce 1 foot from the deck -- it overtook 10 feet of the deck and was still growing; planting a pine in a crowded spot that regularly gets standing water where it couldn't thrive, etc. I see your point and appreciate your advice, but if you're going to be in a house for a long time and really enjoy your yard, it seems like it makes sense to understand what trees are going to work for the location in the long run, rather than try to live with poor decisions of previous owners.