And why do you like it so much?
Balanced binary tree
Real answer: Japanese maple and willows
I don’t think its very common in the US but The pōhutukawa tree
The pōhutukawa tree is a special part of New Zealand culture, often called the “New Zealand Christmas tree” because of its bright red flowers that bloom in December. It’s seen as a symbol of strength and resilience, especially since it grows along rugged coastlines. For Māori, it has deep spiritual meaning—there’s even an ancient pōhutukawa at Cape Reinga where spirits are believed to begin their journey to the afterlife. Plus, it’s great for the environment, providing food and shelter for native birds and insects.
I’ve got three and I’ve been trying to grow each from seed:
- Dawn Redwood because it has an incredible backstory, it is a true redwood contrary to popular belief, and It easily grows where I’m at.
- Giant Sequoia because they are massive, it is also a true redwood, and it can allegedly grow where I’m at.
- Cedar of Lebanon because I grew up in one of the many U.S. towns of Lebanon named for the trees as referenced in that religious book and I remember the original Cedar of Lebanon referenced in that story I linked.
Unfortunately, I can’t get the Giant Sequoias past a few inches tall while even acknowledging their infamous 20% germination rate. The Cedar of Lebanon seeds I can’t even get to germinate but I also haven’t found as much academic literature on cultivating them from seeds.
Shoutout to the Ginkgo Biloba for being one of the OG trees, also.
Dogwood. Hidden away under the canopy, reaching out and up to find sunshine in the PNW rain forest. Beautiful white spring flowers.
After leaving my beloved PNW when I was 12 to move to smoggy searing Los Angeles and missing the green and rain for 45 years, I’m back. We just bought a dogwood for the backyard. So excited for spring.
Scots pine
Love me a magnolia tree
Weeping Willow!
Fiddy.
Not too expensive.
About three fiddy?
*tree fiddy
Being the most common tree in America doesn’t make the sycamore any less awesome.
They’re big and their canopy is lush. Their limbs are all twisty and knobbly. They’ve got huge leaves that sound amazing blowing in the wind or crunching underfoot. The colloquialism for their seedpods is hilarious and the pods themselves are almost as cool as sweetgum seed pods.
Just some great trees all around.
Weeping willow trees. We had one at my childhood home. When it was sold, the new owners tore it out. I was very sad.
Don’t worry, it’s back. Those things refuse to die.
I am fairly certain there are no trees on the property anymore. I don’t know what they had against trees, but they tore out everything!
Red maple, the colour and shape of the leaves are so pretty!
Love those too!
Ipê (common name), both the Handroanthus and Tabebuia kinds
you think cherry blossons are pretty? you ain’t seen nothing yet
There was a HUGE oak tree at my grandma’s house. I mean it was MASSIVE covering like the whole yard and was like 5 feet in diameter.
I grew up playing under it climbing limbs and swinging on a tire swing and a funner branch-seat swing which was lighter so it would go higher. Heres kinda how it looked:
Anyways, in a hurricane a few years ago a large branch snapped off and it got infected and had to be chopped down :(
Mango tree!! 🥭🌳
It’s big, it provides plenty of shades, it’s unassuming, and most importantly it has mangoes!!
This is a really great answer. Concise, listed, and checks all the boxes. Kudos.
I’m going to go with white oak. The wood is very versatile; it’s strong enough for load bearing furniture, it’s hard enough for tabletops, it steam bends quite nicely, it’s just a joy to work with, looks wonderful under an oil finish, and it lends a nice flavor to whiskey.
