# Water sucking trees



## CarrPainting (Jun 29, 2010)

What type of trees LOVE water? (trying to avoid expensive drainage on property)


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

Aspen, Birch, Willow & Alder come to mind.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Add white cedar, white pine, hemlock, black spruce. Swamp (red) maple likes it too, but it blows over too easily in high winds. Alder and black willow don't blow over easily, and neither do the conifers. Dogwood is more of a shrub, but it likes it wet.

You can always throw some cranberries in there, too:laughing:


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## BlueRidgeGreen (Apr 21, 2012)

Sycamore's......and they grow fast.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

BlueRidgeGreen said:


> Sycamore's......and they grow fast.




You beat me to the punch on that one :thumbsup:


I thing Sycamore and willow are at the top of my list. Cypress if you lived in La.:laughing::laughing:


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## pinwheel (Dec 7, 2009)

tulip poplar & cottonwood.

Keep in mind, most trees don't like wet feet. Cypress being the exception.


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## TRMolnar (Mar 19, 2012)

Bamboo... Just plan on moving before the crop reaches 10 years old. The stuff grows like weeds and loves water


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## pritch (Nov 2, 2008)

I planted some Austrees at a home I used to own. 3 out of 5 survived, and 1 got truly huge very quickly. They are a hybrid willow and can take the extremes of Northern Utah about 5500'.


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## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

Cotton woods


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

flashheatingand said:


> Cotton woods


Haven't seen them in a Northern swamp, but they do love water.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

pinwheel said:


> tulip poplar & cottonwood.
> 
> Keep in mind, most trees don't like wet feet. Cypress being the exception.


We have quite a few up here that will do well in a swamp, but I'm not talking about a foot of standing water all year, just muck all year. I'm guessing from his location that's what he has.

Ice storms and blow downs can mess up some of them worse than others.


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## KennMacMoragh (Sep 16, 2008)

Maple, whenever you see maple trees but no evergreens, that tells you you're on a high water table.


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## chewy (May 23, 2010)

Eucaltyptus trees are used to drain swamps here, theyre dangerous as they have a shallow root system, ie nowhere near a house.

They hold so much water abos would use a stone axe to hack into them and water would flow like a tap.


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## pinwheel (Dec 7, 2009)

hdavis said:


> We have quite a few up here that will do well in a swamp, but I'm not talking about a foot of standing water all year, just muck all year. I'm guessing from his location that's what he has.
> 
> Ice storms and blow downs can mess up some of them worse than others.


A portion of my farm is along a creek bottom that has swampy areas that hold water during the wet seasons. The trees that thrive in there, are pin oak (water oak) river birch, silver maple, ash & elm.


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## TAHomeRepairs (Jun 18, 2012)

Ask the south Florida pioneers about melaleuca trees!! Beware they spread like wildfire, scientists are still formulating ways to get rid of them. Although they may not do well in your neck of the woods??


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

pinwheel said:


> A portion of my farm is along a creek bottom that has swampy areas that hold water during the wet seasons. The trees that thrive in there, are pin oak (water oak) river birch, silver maple, ash & elm.


Cool, the wildlife must love the pin oak. I didn't mention ash, since we have Emerald Ash borers up here (but maybe not in the OPs location).

The deer around here will move into the cedar swamps (these are a mix or conifers, not just cedar) during bad winter weather a lot of times. Sheltered from the winds, and they can graze the tips without moving around much.


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## pinwheel (Dec 7, 2009)

hdavis said:


> Cool, the wildlife must love the pin oak. I didn't mention ash, since we have Emerald Ash borers up here (but maybe not in the OPs location).
> 
> The deer around here will move into the cedar swamps (these are a mix or conifers, not just cedar) during bad winter weather a lot of times. Sheltered from the winds, and they can graze the tips without moving around much.



That whole creek bottom is a meca of wildlife. One other tree I'd forgotten that we have a lot of in the creek bottoms, Buckeyes.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

Depends on what you want, and how fast. Around Buffalo?

Birch are hardy enough, but you need to plant them in a large group - individual trees won't stand up to any wind. Maple will grow in boggy land, but it's not a fast grower. Cedar and spruce are the same.


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## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

hdavis said:


> Haven't seen them in a Northern swamp, but they do love water.


I think the water department purposely planted them here


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