Need some help

B

BostonBull

Location
North of Boston
I am donating my time to help a family friend plant a memorial tree. Her daughter committed suicide last year, and she wants a tree/large shrub that can be planted on the exact spot where her body was found. She wants this species to be able to be seen in the fall through all the other colors in the forest. The site is challenging. It is shaded from the Oak and Pine forest, is on a steep hill which is basically all ledge/rock. She wanted a Sourwood (Oxydendron), but I feel this species is NOT the right choice for this site. Although its fall color would be easy to spot from a distance, which is what she wants.

What do you think would work well here?
 
I am sorry about your friends loss. I can relate as my sister committed suicide and a year later my father did the same. I can't plant a tree in there place of death, but I do plant as many as I can in there memory.

I would say a Sugar Maple would most definitely stand out in the fall. I do like the idea of the Sourwood as it has a shallow root system, fragrant flowers in summer; greenish yellow seed pods that last into fall and a good fall color. I am for the Sourwood, sorry I wasn't much help.
 
I too can relate to this kind of loss. In that kind of area you can try a Autumn blaze (breed of sunset maple) very bright red orange leaves in fall silverish bark when young. Growth rate of Red maple.
 
Larix would really stick out in the fall, but I dont think it would do well in the shade, or the soil type. This is not much help, I will keep thinking.
 
I vote for black gum also. Brilliant fall color, would do well in the understory and if the forest canopy thinned, it would release well also.
 
Burning bush is really invasive... I have a wooded area at the end of my street that is in the process of being taken over by the stuff. Beautiful color in the Fall, but definitely on the MA invasive list!

-Tom
 
Black gum "tupelo" came to mind right away, and then I read that several others thought the same. I plan on planting some myself as I think it makes a great shade tree and adds diversity with brilliant fall foliage. Seems to only be present in the urban setting around here where existing forest trees were preserved. I don't have experience planting them and am not sure how it transplants, but it just seems like a resilient species for some reason.
 
Tupelo DOES NOT transplant well!!! They have a large taproot that often gets cut during digging... If you can find a decent sized container, you'll avoid some possible letdowns. It is also slow to establish compared to some other commercially available trees.


It is just about my favorite tree, though... Planted one a few years ago in my front yard.

-Tom

(On a side note, the wood is stringy beyond belief... Almost impossible to split, even with a logsplitter... It just shreds!)
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

This is quite the challenging site, not sure how far down I can go, maybe a couple feet im hoping. very rocky and on the side of a steep hill. The forest canopy will come into play, as will foot traffic and possible abuse from the highschool students that walk this trail, and the local kids playing at the park a couple hundred feet away.

I like the ideas so far, keep em coming!
 
Pagoda dogwood. http://blogs.middlebury.edu/middland/2009/05/29/pagoda-dogwood/ Maybe not super-bright fall color, but will certainly stand out from the forest by shape. I like to use them up against a woodline-the horizontal branching plays well against vertical tree trunks. Also a great choice for shade, and the bonus of blooms as well. And if you are into that sort of thing, it's "native"-much more pest resistant than Flowering Dogwood.

Tim
 
Cornus alternifolia totally rocks. Be sure you have the space, as this tree can get pretty wide for a typical ornamental. There is a nice specimen here in RI that is close to 30' across.

-Tom
 
Sassafras has a great fall color. It would stand out well in the area you discribe. Not a lot of problems, native and grows pretty fast. Dirr gives almost a full page description.
 
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