A fact of life in the Southeast is the mid-summer drought. In recent years drought periods have ventured into spring and fall. Drought has damaged many trees and landscapes. One means of drought-proofing your landscape is selection of drought resistant plants. No landscape can be made completely free of drought problems even under intensive irrigation. With more water shortages and drought periods ahead, planting trees and other plants that are drought resistant can be beneficial.
Drought resistant tree selection is a long-term solution to low maintenance landscapes. Drought resistance requires tree leaves use water efficiently, and continue to grow and make food at relatively low water concentrations. Drought resistance involves characteristics like extensive root systems, thick leaf waxes and bark, good stomate control, and the capacity for leaf cells to function at low water contents.
There are many lists of drought resistant plants available. The basic characteristics of trees that use water efficiency and are drought resistant to some degree are given below.
Use Natives
Native trees adapted to local soil, moisture, climate and pests usually perform better over the long run than exotics.
Use Early to Mid-successional Species
Trees that colonize old fields, new soil areas, and disturbed sites use available resources, like water, much more effectively than late successional species (climax species). Late successional species can be effectively used in partially shaded understories.
Select Proper Canopy Type
Select trees for planting in full sun which will develop leaves and branches spread throughout a deep crown. These multilayered trees have many living branches with many leaf layers. Multilayered canopy trees are more water efficient in areas with greater than 60% full sun. The other type of leaf canopy concentrates leaves in a single layer along the outside of the canopy area. These single-layer trees are good in partial shade but are not water efficient in full sun.
Examples of multilayered overstory trees include: oaks, pines, soft maples, ash, hickory, gums, walnut, poplars, and birches. Mono-layered understory trees include: beech, sugar maple, hemlock, magnolia, sassafras, sourwood, and redbud.
Select Proper Crown Shape
Crown shape has a great effect on heat dissipation and water use. Ideal trees would be tall with cone or cylinder shaped crowns. Do not use flat, widely spreading species in full sun. You want a tree to maintain a tall, rather than a wide appearance. Many trees that are wide-spreading when mature have narrow, upright crowns when young.
Select Propler Leaf Size and Shape
Select small-leaved or small, deeply lobed leaved trees. These leaves are more easily cooled and have better water use efficiency than larger leaves.
Select Proper Foliage Reflection
Hardwood (broadleaved) trees reflect 25% more light than conifer trees on average. This translates into better water use efficiencies with hardwoods.
Select Upland Versus Bottomland Species
Upland species are usually more drought resistant than bottomland species. Unfortunately, upland species can be much slower growing and do not react well to site changes and soil compaction. Tree selection must be carefully made based upon disturbance, stress, and site-use expectations.
From these character you see that the ideal tree for a drought-resistant landscape is a native, early to mid-successional, upland hardwood species with a multi-layered canopy, small and/or deeply lobed leaves, and a narrow or upright crown shape.
Obviously you will never find an ideal drought resistant tree. Many trees do come close and have many fine features for a good landscape. A list of these species can be found in the following table. Remember young trees of any species must be allowed time to become fully established in a landscape before drought resistant features will be evident. Properly fit the tree to your site and local climate, and you will have a water efficient landscape.
Below is a list of drought resistant tree species.
| Scientific Name | Common Genus Name | | Acer buergeranum | maple | | Acer negundo | | | Acer platanoides | | | Acer rubrum | | | Acer saccharinum | | | Ailanthus altissima | tree-of-heaven | | Betula maximowicziana | birch | | Betula nigra | | | Carya glabra | hickory | | Carya ovata | | | Carya tomentosa | | | Catalpa bignonioides | catalpa | | Celtis occidentalis | hackberry | | Cercis canadensis | redbud | | Crataegus spp. | hawthorn | | Cupressocyparis leylandi | | | Cupressus spp. | cypress | | Diospyros virginiana | persimmon | | Elaeagnus spp. | olive | | Fraxinus pennsylvanica | ash | | Ginkgo biloba | ginkgo | | Gleditsia triacanthos | honeylocust | | Gymnocladus dioicus | coffee tree | | Ilex Decidua | holly | | Ilex vomitoria | | | Juglans nigra | black walnut | | Juniperus spp. | juniper | | Maclura pomifera | osage orange | | Morusspp. | mulberry | | Nyssaspp. | tupelo | | Ostrya virginiana | ironwood | | Pinus echinata | pines | | Pinus eliotti | | | pinus glabra | | | Pinus paulstris | | | Pinus sylvestris | | | Pinus taeda | | | Pinus virginiana | | | Platanusspp. | sycamores | | Populus alba | white poplar | | Populus deltoides | cottonwood | | Quercus acutissima | oaks | | Quercus coccinea | | | Quercus durandii | | | Quercus falcata | | | Quercus georgiana | | | Quercus imbricaria | | | Quercus laevis | | | Quercus laurifolia | | | Quercus lyrata | | | Quercus macrocarpa | | | Quercus marilandica | | | Quercus muehlenbergi | | | Quercus oglethorpensis | | | Quercus phellos | | | Quercus prinus | | | Quercus shumardii | | | Quercus stellata | | | Quercus virginiana | | | Quercus velutina | | | Robinia pseudoacacia | black locust | | Salix nigra | willow | | Sassafras albidum | sassafras | | Ulmus americana | elms | | Ulmus parvifolia | | | Ulmus pumila | | | Zelkova serrata | |
 | THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA AND FT. VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY, THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE COUNTIES OF THE STATE COOPERATING.
THE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE OFFERS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, ASSISTANCE, AND MATERIALS TO ALL PEOPLE WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN, AGE, SEX, OR DISABILITY.
|
A UNIT OF THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY / AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ORGANIZATION COMMITTED TO A DIVERSE WORK FORCE.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES
EXTENSION PUBLICATION FOR 99-007. 4/1999. |
