Under the Jamaican cherry tree...

Gardening

The Jamaican cherry tree and tropical almond tree are two fast-growing,  shade-giving varieties that you can plant in front of your house, writes Rashmi Shrinivas.

How about planting a couple of fast growing, low height, shade giving, pest-resistant trees in front of your home? Muntingia calabura and tropical almond tree are ideal in such a scenario.

Muntingia calabura, commonly known as Jamaican cherry in English and gasagase gida in Kannada, is a fast growing tree reaching a height of about 12-15 ft and spreads its branches like an umbrella. Though a native of Mexico, it is grown as a road lining tree in Indian cities both for shade and ornamental purpose. What makes it popular is the fact that it can grow well in both acidic and alkaline soil and that it is also drought resistant to some extent.

Its flower, white in colour and about an inch in diameter, reminds us of the flower of guava from a distance. Its small green fruits are sought after by children for its sweet taste. This tree has been a popular border tree of many garden restaurants, on highways where it is used as a shade-giving tree.

This tree is ideal for planting in front of the house so that your car can be parked under its shade. In fact, the tree planted recently by a neighbour of mine has grown so fast that it has already started serving as eco friendly garage for his car. Inspired by his success, two more neighbours have already planted saplings of this tree in front of their respective houses.

One additional advantage of this tree is that it does not grow too tall and therefore does not touch the electric wires even if an electric wire is running in front your house. There is little chance of authorities cutting the tree and its beauty remains intact. This tree also attracts birds that are fast diminishing in cities.

Tropical almond tree

Another equally suitable tree to plant in front of your house is the tropical almond tree. Botanically known as terminalia catappa, it belongs to the family, combretaceae. The term terminalia comes from the Latin word terminus meaning the end, because the leaves are borne at the tip of each branch. Its specific name catappa is a Malayan name of this tree.

This is a native of Asia, Africa and Australia. This too grows in any type of well drained soil. Though in its natural habitat, it can reach a height of 100 ft, when planted on the road side, one can notice the height of the tree being restricted to about 20-30 ft. It is therefore well suited to grow in front of your house for shade.

Many branches, almost horizontal, appear at a single nodal point on the upright main shoot, with leaves appearing in clusters at the tip of each branch. Its broad leathery leaves, unlike most other leaves, are narrow at the bottom and broad at the tip, approximately of the size of four inches in width and six inches in length. They are deciduous and just before falling, turn reddish in colour.

After a while, it branches again at a single point on the main shoot, thus giving the shape of umbrellas spread on one another to the tree.

The tree seldom grows tall on the road sides. This tree is fast growing and easy to maintain.

By planting these two shade trees in front of your house, you are not only providing a green garage for your car, but also lending an aesthetic appearance to your house. In addition to this, you are also contributing towards purifying the air.