Post By: spicyhombre Posted: 4/24/2015 8:01:42 PMPoints: 6186
Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? They just planted probably around 100 of them at Tom Frost. It seems a little crazy how close together they are. Many are about 2' - 3' apart. It will be shady in a couple of years. I am wondering what they are to figure what it will be like as they mature.
Austree (hybrid willow) seems like a possibility. I thought it might bill some sort of willow. The suggested spacing on that quick growing tree is 8 - 15 feet to make a wind break. This might make this pond almost impossible I see or fish in a few years.
Reply by: brookieflyfisher Posted: 4/25/2015 12:37:31 AM Points: 6196
Pretty much impossible to tell from the pics.
Leaf shape and habitat suggest narrowleaf cottonwood, or, more likely, a type of Salix (willow). Could also be chokecherry. Again, there's just not enough in these pics for me to make a good ID, sorry! Hopefully someone else can give you a good answer!
To ID most plants you need at least the physical leaf in hand. Vein pattern, texture, and shape is pretty important and is hard to tell from a picture. Knowing the bark, leaf pattern on the branch, habitat, and growth pattern helps too.
Went to the kids fishing derby this morning and spoke with a woman from Broomfield Open Space and she said they are cottonwoods but it looks like 2 different types of trees to me. She said there is lots of controversy over it whatever that means. I didn't have enough time to ask more questions. I did mention it is wierd that they are only a few feet apart and she agreed.
I did see that they removed a lot of trees which is good. The south shore that had great fishing access is now completely cleared again (20 trees removed in that stretch alone).
Reply by: The Fast Forester Posted: 5/2/2015 9:43:45 PM Points: 503
The one on the left looks like a willow (genus Salix), the others look like they may be narrowleaf cottonwood (genus Populus). Both cottonwoods and willows are members of the Salicacae (willow) family. Good native, wetland plants...maybe replacing an invasive that was removed such as Russian-olive? Native wetland plantings are often spaced close together to form dense cover/habitat. There are usually quite a few trees lost in these types of plantings due to a number of factors (wildlife damage, lack of irrigation, etc.) so this could be the reason for the closer spacing as well.
