Where to plant a shade tree in Arizona

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If I could go back to when this house was built, and plant a tree in the backyard, I would put it right where mine is. Yeah, I'm lucky. The tree that I have in the back yard, an olive, is planted in the southern half of my backyard. When I bought this house years ago, and the tree was small, it really didn't give much shade. But now it does!

I'm no astrophysicist, but I know where the sun is here in the northern hemisphere. It's in the south. It's never really overhead, and even in the middle of summer, it's still a little bit in the south. So, naturally, the shade from a big tree falls to the north. So, if you are trying to get shade in your yard, plant your shade tree in the southern part of your yard. Well, not too close, as you don't want the branches hanging over into your neighbor's yard. Say about 15 feet away from your property line.

On the other hand, if you plant a shade tree in the northern part of your backyard, it will shade your neighbor's yard, to the north. They may appreciate this, or not. As you can see in the picture as right, my backyard gets a lot of shade from the tree. As the year goes on, of course, the shadow will get shorter and shorter, until the summer solstice, and then it will lengthen again. And I will always have some nice shade!

By the way, the number one plant that causes allergies here in the Phoenix area is bermuda grass, and I have none. The turf is artificial. Olive trees are not to blame! - but don't get me started on that again!

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