Here's a 'tree-o' for Arbor Day

The first Friday in December is Arbor Day here in South Carolina. The original Arbor Day, in Nebraska in 1872, took place in spring, but fall is a better time to plant trees and shrubs here in the sunny South, so we've opted for this month.

I asked City Horticulturist Tom Rapp for some of his favorite trees, based on his experience over the years. Tom looks for the same things the rest of us do - beauty, durability, drought tolerance. Only he has 30,000 people to second-guess him if he makes a mistake. He rarely does.

One of my favorites of his choices - actually all these are favorites of mine - is the cryptomeria. It is spelled cryptomeria, by the way, not cryptomaria, as I thought. A cryptomaria is, in fact, a buried basalt lava on the moon, just so you know.

Cryptomeria is an evergreen conifer in the cypress family with interesting spirally, needle-like leaves and red-brown bark that peels in vertical strips. Grown in both China and Japan, it is sometimes called Japanese cedar, though it's really not a cedar. There, some trees are quite tall, though Yoshino, a popular cultivar in this country, grows 30 to 40 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide.

It may be used as a screen, specimen tree and is one of those "urban tolerant" trees Tom appreciates. It is also used for bonsai. Plant it in sun or part shade.

Tom also mentioned the cryptomeria as a good alternative to the Leyland cypress trees we fell in love with a few years ago. Leyland cypress trees were hybridized in England and became popular in the United States because they grew fast and had a neat pyramidal shape. Unfortunately, their shallow root structure made them poorly adapted to hot summers like ours, and they became prone to developing cypress canker disease, caused by a fungus.

You can see cryptomeria growing in the parkway at the intersection of Richland Avenue and Greenville Street across from the northeast corner of St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church.

Next on the list of good trees, and in the parkway across from St. Thaddeus, are the little magnolias. I'd seen and coveted a Little Gem magnolia for years. Little Gem is a smaller, sometimes called dwarf cultivar of our beloved Southern Magnolia grandiflora. It grows slowly in sun in a range of soil types, with the same handsome, shiny oval leaves as the big guy. Only the leaves, like the tree itself, are smaller. The tree grows to 15 to 20 feet, and the leaves are 5 to 8 inches in length. It has the same white, fragrant flowers in the summer.

Talented Aiken landscape designer Susan Kleinbub, who helps me with my garden sometimes, was excited to tell me she had planted a cultivar of the patented Teddy Bear magnolia. Teddy Bear is a federally licensed trademark of Head Ornamentals in Seneca. Like the Little Gems, they claim to stay small and be resistant to deer, drought, heat and humidity, pollution, rabbits, seashore, slope and wind.

Since I'd always wanted to write a column (or make a T-shirt) with "tree-o" on it, I asked Tom for a third favorite tree. Chinese Pistache was his immediate reply. You can't miss the spectacular display put on by these great deciduous trees planted along Laurens Street in downtown Aiken.

Related to the nut-bearing pistachio trees, these long-lived, winter-hardy shade trees have spectacular red and orange fall color. They are heat- and drought-tolerant and will grow in the tough conditions found along a city sidewalk. They are pest resistant and tolerant of many soil types.

Like the ginkgoes with whom they share the sidewalk, these pistaches come in males and females. Though they look the same otherwise, the females bear fruit that can be quite messy when it drops. Unfortunately, they're not like kittens, and you can't tell and the growers can't tell whether you've got a boy or a girl until the tree's been growing a while. Then it's probably too late to make a change. Other than that, the pistache is a fine tree.

I've seen all these trees available locally, and if I had the space, I'd be planting one myself. If you've a mind to celebrate Arbor Day tomorrow by planting a tree, get out your shovel and start digging.

Susan Elder is an Aiken resident and retired elementary school teacher who's been getting the dirt on Aiken gardens and the plants that inhabit them for more than 10 years.