Eastern hop-hornbeam has a nice quality to it for a lawn ornamental. The hop-like fruit are yellow-green as they mature on the tree. The fruit turns brown when mature with a nutlet inside a little paper sac. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Hophornbeam-001.jpg)
Closer view:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Hophornbeam-002.jpg)
These yard trees are still growing as the branch tips and new leaves are still reddish as they elongate.
These small native trees grow very slow, with a conical shaped canopy that can be quite dense with leaves and fine branches when open grown.
I agree, Donk. Hop-hornbeam is the most under-appreciated yard tree in this area. It's truly a rare sight to see it in a yard around here. You'd think more people would plant it in those areas where they need a shorter tree or taller shrub...judging by the neighbors it seems like lilacs have the corner on that market.
I rather like that some to many of the leaves will stay on the tree into winter along with some of the fruits. Makes for a nice looking tree when everything is bare...even under hardwoods!
It does look nice as a yard tree. When I thinned and burned some of my timber, the hophornbeam came back thick as the hair on the back of a hound dog. A real problem.
I here you WDH. It will thrive in shade. I've seen it grow in when a sugar bush was thinned. If it ain't hornbeam, it'll be beech taking over in a sugar maple stand when you thin it lightly. Generally it's not a real abundant tree. About the time you want one for a tool handle they are less visible or too small. :D
Hmm... I never thought of them as a possible yard tree, sinc I always see them growing in the understory of fairly shady woods.
John
I think Jeff drove by a rest stop some place where they had a good sized one in the middle of a manicured island of greenery. On the university campus at UNB Fredericton there is an old one planted beside the entrance to the Forestry/Geology building.
I'm not sure I've ever seen them planted in a yard, which is a shame. They are one of my favorite trees. I've been wanting to try and transplant one from the woods.
It's harder for green houses to make money on yard trees that are native. :D