Albuquerque Landscaping with Trees

Have you ever driven through your Albuquerque neighborhood and seen some massive, gorgeous trees towering over the houses? Those big trees probably took many, many years to get that huge, but now they make a giant visual impact on the landscape.

When it comes to boosting your curb appeal and improving your yard, it really pays to go big. Albuquerque landscaping with trees to your yard landscaping design can make a massive postive difference to your home appeal.

Check Out Your Area Before Picking Trees

Before you sprint out to the plant store, take a good look around your neighborhood. See which trees thrive there. Also think about how much care they’ll need. Select trees that dig Albuquerque’s climate.

Trees stick around for ages and ages. So it’s crucial to choose ones that will keep looking amazing as time passes. Don’t just buy on impulse. Do your research to find trees that are a fabulous fit for your property.

Unusual Big Trees

Enormous “specimen” trees that outlive us add incredible value to a landscape. They make the most dramatic impact.

These trees are usually loved for their fall colors, toughness, or keeping their leaves year-round. Some specimen trees can reach over 40-50 feet tall. Their branches spread out 30 feet wide or even more across your property.

Because they’re so ginormous, don’t plant specimen trees within 30 feet of your casa or power lines. This gives them space to grow naturally without messing with your home.

Also think about practical stuff. Most big trees make tons of shade. Their roots spread out wide and shallow, so be careful what you plant under them. Specimen trees always deserve plenty of mulch around their trunks. They might weaken grass since barely any sunlight sneaks through.

Using unusual specimen trees adds visual variety to the area. This prevents diseases and pests from easily spreading from one tree to another.

Decide the shape, amount of shades, and color you want added by the trees in your yard. Chat with us about which specimen trees work best for your pad. Don’t be scared to pick something funky and extraordinary!

Not-So-Big Trees

For a small suburban yard, select trees that max out around 20-30 feet tall. Their “dripline” or the spread of their branches will be about the same width.

Proportion is extra important in smaller spaces. Avoid picking a tree that you’ll later have to prune like crazy to keep its branches off your casa and the power lines.

Prune Low Branches to Walk Under the Canopy

To allow peeps and lawn mowers to easily walk under some trees, chop off lower branches. This is called “high pruning.”

It makes a tall, narrow canopy on certain tree types. It also lets sunlight filter through so you can plant smaller shrubs, flowers and ground cover under the tree.

High pruning keeps a nice overhead canopy while opening up space to chill or make a shady planting bed below the tree.

Shrubs Create Year-Round Interest and “Rooms”

Shrubs planted at eye level or a little above make special spots in your yard and look fly year-round. Their shapes add definition, guide your eye around, and can even hide ugly stuff like AC units.

Select shrubs based on height, leaf look, flowers, if they change with the seasons, and if they’ll like your soil. Find kinds with natural shapes so they need minimal pruning.

Small Shrubs

Any shrub under 18 inches tall can substitute for ground cover plants. These tiny shrubs are lower maintenance than flower beds.

Little shrubs help control weeds and erosion. They reduce the need for mulch. Their presence looks fresh all year.

Trailing, creeping or cascading types are awesome for rock gardens, squeezing into stone walls, or edging flower beds. They add texture, color, winter interest, and subtle fruits or blooms.

Foundation Plantings

Boxwood shrubs are landscape superstars, working great in foundation plantings and borders. They’re an easy care choice that adapts to different conditions.

To prevent winter burn and avoid boxwoods with nasty scents, check out these excellent varieties:

Buxus microphylla ‘Winter Gem’ – a compact Korean boxwood, keeps leaves in winter. Grows 3 feet tall and wide.

Buxus sempervirens ‘Vardar Valley’ – narrow, upright growth to 5 feet by 2 feet wide.

Buxus sinica insularis ‘Justin Brouwers’ – a slow grower reaching 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide, with good winter color.

Do some planning first. Pick plants that like your area and yard conditions. Choose trees and shrubs that won’t need heavy pruning to control their size and shape later on.