Our City Forest

Hello, There are a different variety of good shade trees for the backyard and that would also depend on how big your backyard is. A few examples are the Fern Pine (Afrocarpus gracilior), Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), and the Blue Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), just to name a few. The shade tree would also depend on your preference on whether you would like a deciduous or evergreen, a flowering or non-flowering tree. If you would like to figure out the best recommendation for a shade tree in the backyard, feel free to drop by our Community Nursery, located at 1000 Spring St, San Jose, CA 95110 and open from Fridays-Saturdays from 9AM - 12 PM. We have staff available to help pick out a good shade tree, so we hope to see you there!

Hello Tatiana. We had some late frost this season, however, by now there should be visibility in the buds. To test if the tree is alive, you could do a scratch test. On a branch high up, preferably one that will eventually need to be pruned off, scratch the bark layer. If it is green and soft it is alive. If it is difficult (nearly impossible to scratch) or no green on the cambium layer (just beneath the bark), then sadly the tree may be dead.