Shade Trees for the Plains 



are in groups. The most desirable spe- 

 cies are eastern redcedar, Rocky Moun- 

 tain juniper, ponderosa pine, common 

 Douglas-fir, and some spruces. 



THE EASTERN REDCEDAR, a medium- 

 sized tree, forms a pyramidal or coni- 

 cal crown, grows 30 to 40 feet tall, 

 and reaches an age of 100 years or 

 more. Flowers are produced in small 

 cones in midspring. It prefers loamy 

 soil in open sunlight, but it will grow 

 successfully on almost any soil. It is 

 drought-resistant and frost-hardy but 

 will not stand flooding. It is some- 

 times damaged by grasshoppers and 

 hail, but it makes rapid recovery. It 

 is subject to attack by red spider. The 

 main objection to its use is that it is 

 a bridging host for a rust that also 

 attacks apple and related trees. East- 

 ern redcedar should not be grown 

 where apples are grown commercially, 

 because of the possibility of damage 

 by the rust. The rust galls cause rela- 

 tively minor damage to the cedar ex- 

 cept when infections are numerous on 

 young trees. 



Ornamental eastern redcedar is also 

 damaged by a needle blight. It is the 

 best evergreen for use on soil infested 

 with the cotton root rot because it is 

 highly resistant to the disease. Mice 

 often damage young plants. 



Rocky Mountain juniper resembles 

 eastern redcedar, but it is perhaps even 

 more drought-hardy. It is particularly 

 suited for the western Plains area. 



PONDEROSA PINE, a native, can be 

 used in the Black Hills and vicinity. 

 It grows slowly to a height of 50 to 

 75 feet. The broad, conical crown gives 

 moderate shade. It is long-lived. It 

 does well on various upland soils in 

 full sunlight but it will not stand per- 

 manent shading. Ponderosa pine is 

 susceptible to cotton root rot but it is 

 frost-resistant and drought-hardy. It 

 is used mainly as an ornamental and 

 occasionally in street planting. 



THE DOUGLAS-FIR: The Rocky 

 Mountain strain of the common Doug- 



las-fir makes a particularly good orna- 

 mental shade tree for the eastern part 

 of the northern Plains. It is best adap- 

 ted to a moist, deep, porous soil but it is 

 moderately drought-hardy and fairly 

 long-lived. 



Common Douglas-fir here is prac- 

 tically free of serious pests. It is not 

 recommended for use in the central 

 part of the area, but it does fairly well 

 in eastern Colorado and Wyoming. 

 The common Douglas-fir grown from 

 Pacific coast seed should not be used 

 in any part of the Plains area. 



WHITE FIR is one of the most beau- 

 tiful of the coniferous ornamentals. It is 

 about as drought-hardy as the Rocky 

 Mountain Douglas-fir and does sur- 

 prisingly well even on poor to dry, 

 shallow sites after it has become well 

 established. 



AUSTRIAN PINE is similar to pon- 

 derosa pine but less adapted to poorer 

 sites. It is subject to a fungus twig 

 blight that causes some dieback of 

 branches and is less drought-resistant 

 than ponderosa pine. 



SCOTCH PINE is a widespreading tree 

 with somewhat scant foliage. It is well 

 adapted to upland soil but less drought- 

 hardy than either ponderosa pine or 

 Austrian pine. 



Several other pines also are useful in 

 the region. Among them are jack pine, 

 in the north-central part, on the lighter 

 soils; loblolly pine and shortleaf pine, 

 which can be grown in the southern 

 parts, but are susceptible to cotton root 

 rot; and the eastern white pine, which 

 frequently makes an excellent tree in 

 the eastern central Plains. 



THE SPRUCES: Several species of 

 spruces can be grown, particularly in 

 the northern Plains. Colorado blue 

 spruce, black spruce, and western white 

 spruce are examples. As a class the 

 spruces are fairly drought-resistant and 

 frost-hardy. The spruces are somewhat 

 shorter-lived than the pines, but are 

 fine ornamental shade trees. 



