Hey guys! I have been noticing some REALLY nice looking shade trees lately, have seen em all my life but never knew what they were. Got to reading and looked em up in my tree ID book, and they are Mimosas. Man they are nice trees! But I know NOTHING about them! Does anyone have any input on them? Specifically, how fast do they grow and are they strong against wind/weather? By the looks of them, (wide canopy, short trunk) they are most likely useless in the lumber industry, but for landscaping/shadetrees, they are perfect! I just wonder why I never hear mention of them. Seems like they are a forgotten tree or something?? ANyways, any input on these trees would be great. I am building a log home this coming spring and a few of these on the lawn would look nice! Thanks!
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-Brad
We have a Mimosa in our yard. It doesn't grow tall enough to provide a lot of shade, but I do park the pickup under it during hot weather. They are prone to storm damage and tend to have weak crotches that split easily. They are kinda exotic looking, have a pretty pink flower, and attract hummingbirds. To me, they wouldn't look right with a log house if you're going for the 'natural' look. That's just my opinion. They grow fairly fast to about 20 ft tall in our area.
I have an orange tree and a champagne tree...Hmm I wonder if I crossed em ::)
Albizia julibrissin
Common names: Silk Tree, Pink Mimosa, Pink Formosa
Noble, has given you the main structural weakness characteristic of these trees. Other characteristics are: will only survive in frost free climates, Flower remains are extracted with sticky sap making them difficult in raking, clean up.
These trees are native to China.........thus, Noble's comment of not looking natural is correct around a log house. But it would be attractive.
Boy, I've got to stop checking this board before work. I would have sworn this thread was about trees in Minnesota!
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Memosas are all over Maryland. They do look nice but they drop lots of little leaves. I also have a Fig we transplanted from Georgia which wasn't supposed to live this far north but it is dropping them sappy figs all over the yard right now. They sure are good but kinda gooey.
WS
Minnesota..... er .....uh ....Mimosa's are weeds in Florida that folks use for yard ornaments. They are pretty and are usually used at the street for prettying up the corners of a yard. They propogate heavily from root sprouts and can be difficult to control.
The seeds can remain viable for years.
Most trees are too small to produce wood products, though they have been used for paper pulp and boiler fuel.
Fast growing and short lived , very prone to wind damage, multiple branching. Hell on vehicles parked under them (sap). Draw lots of insects because of the nectar and hummers---Enjoy !!
I have worked for a company that does a lot of ecological restoration. Now I'm working on a Ph.D. project dealing with a lot of exotics. All I'm going to say is Mimosa can be invasive, and I'm asking you all to PLEASE advocate the planting of native species only. While they might be attractive, I've seen the damage that exotics can do, and I have enough experience with trying to control them. Thanks.
Woah greenman.. I understand where you are coming from but I just want to plant one in my yard. No biggie. They are all over here in southern illinois. I like them and my wife LOVES hummingbirds. Im not going to plant a grove of them or anything.
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-Brad
Sometimes it only takes one.
There are other plants for hummingbirds.