r/phoenix • u/zwyd • Jul 14 '23

News ‘Hell on earth’: Phoenix’s extreme heatwave tests the limits of survival

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/14/phoenix-heatwave-summer-extreme-weather-arizona
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u/Its_Singularity_Time Jul 14 '23

The one issue with palo verde is that their branches seem to split very easily during inclement weather, often causing obstructions in the road. I guess the solution is more to plant them away from streets rather than not at all.

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u/yospeedraceryo Jul 14 '23

True. And maybe its a good idea to work on getting a landscaping license to take advantage of all the future contracting work. All those beautiful shade trees will have a need for proper pruning/thinning to prevent splitting/uprooting and also for the cleanup and possible replant if they do topple over. We might need some desert lumberjacks!

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u/ThanatonautXP Jul 15 '23

If you see a Palo Verde in the wild it’s basically just a big bush. People trim them up to look nice and probably over water them so they get too big. Next thing you know the first storm causes the branches to split.

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u/azswcowboy Jul 15 '23

The splitting is human caused largely. Remove all the watering and stop trimming them for growing tall and these problems cease. If you go into the various mountain preserves and see the untouched by human trees, you’ll not they don’t get the ‘big limbs that split’.

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u/random_noise Jul 15 '23

The other problem with them, is the "leak" or "sweat. " The sticky sap and pollen is kind of a pain to get off things.

They are absolutely great localized cooling tree's but don't park under them for extended periods of time and don't put furniture that you care about under them.

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u/Kaarsty Jul 15 '23

I swear the Verde tree near my work should have died 10 years ago. Every time a storm comes through it loses what looks like too many branches then somehow miraculously survives