Lakeview Garden Center & Landscaping, Cincinnati's most dedicated team of landscaping designers and contractors, wants to talk about a few of their favorite low-maintenance shade trees. 

If you appreciate the beauty and usefulness of trees, but don't have a lot of time for finicky species, you might consider planting some of these this fall:

• Honey Locust: Honey locusts provide very light shade. They can be planted in the fall or spring, and should only be pruned while dormant over the winter in order to avoid stem cankers. Do not fret if your honey locust doesn't leaf at the same time as other trees; they are often late to bloom, but when they do, their very fragrant flowers are well worth the wait!

• Maples: One of the hardiest trees in North America, maples don't require much more than regular trimming, and you can actually grow them from cuttings. Just keep their soil moist, taking care to only use fertilizer on trees over two years old. Be sure to check out Lakeview Garden Center & Landscaping's “Inspiration” section on Japanese maples! They love including these in their designs.

• Oaks: Oaks are prone to many diseases, but you can stave them off by regularly inspecting and pruning dead, weakened, or diseased branches. When possible, make sure to keep pruning until late fall and early winter to avoid oak wilt disease.

  

• Ginkgo: These unique and wonderful shade trees are widely considered to be the oldest tree species on Earth, and are often purported to have certain medicinal benefits. Incredibly long-lived and disease-resistant, they are so hardy that many actually survived the Hiroshima bombing of 1945—and are still alive to this day. They are not very fussy and mainly only require regular watering.

Interested in incorporating shade trees into your landscape? You can reach Lakeview Garden Center & Landscaping in Fairfield for a design consultation by calling (513) 829-6624. For more gardening tips or landscaping ideas, you can also visit them online.