Fan-Tex Ash tree

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Art Vega - 11 Dec 2003 21:11 GMT

Hi,

Are you familiar with this tree?
Does it catch disease often?

I planted one of these trees in my front yard
here in Dallas a couple of years ago.

I'm not sure if its worth it to replace it with
another tree like a pecan tree or an oak tree
now that it is still small.

Please post any information,

Thanks,
Art

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Rusty Mase - 12 Dec 2003 02:00 GMT

>I planted one of these trees in my front yard
>here in Dallas a couple of years ago.

This is (I think) a cultivar of Texas Ash (Fraxinus texanus) and a
western variant of White Ash. So it should be fairly drought
resistent and possibly slow growing.

Fan Tex (Texas) Ash is supposed to be more columnar and faster growing
than the native species and may be a hybrid with the the more eastern
White Ash. So I would recommend you baby this tree a little to see how
it will do. Maybe a little deep root fertilization around the outer
canopy line along with some soil aeration. The ones I see around
Austin tend to be in well drained soils so it is not a real bottomland
tree like White Ash can be.

Rusty Mase

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Brian Clifton - 12 Dec 2003 05:40 GMT

This tree is a hybrid that will grow fast, and has a supposed life span of
about 15-20 yrs max.

> >I planted one of these trees in my front yard
> >here in Dallas a couple of years ago.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
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Rusty Mase - 12 Dec 2003 17:25 GMT

>This tree is a hybrid that will grow fast, and has a supposed life span of
>about 15-20 yrs max.

Sounds as if they crossed a Texas Ash with an Arizona Ash. Might be
interesting to see what they really combined for the hybrid.

Does anyone have one growing they can post some information about? I
went to BSN to get a Texas Ash and they recommended a Fan-Tex instead.
I got confused and got neither.

Rusty Mase

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Waynne - 12 Dec 2003 18:26 GMT

Rusty
I don't have one of these but my neighbor has one about eight years old that
is about 20 feet in height. I believe it was a hybrid produced by Mr.
Fanick, at Fanick's Nursery in San Antonio. You can contact them at
www.growise.com/fanick.htm

Waynne Cox

> >This tree is a hybrid that will grow fast, and has a supposed life span of
> >about 15-20 yrs max.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
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> ---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

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Babberney - 12 Dec 2003 17:27 GMT

>>I planted one of these trees in my front yard
>>here in Dallas a couple of years ago.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
>Rusty Mase

Googling contradicts this--I turned up that the fan-tex is a cultivar
of F. velutina, always grafted onto F. velutina root stock. It was
described as broader/more spreading than it's progenitors.

To answer the original question, I don't know a lot about this tree
specifically (thus the googling) but generally I vote yes for any
attempts to kill an ash and plant an oak or other long-lived tree. In
general, ash trees are sprawling, brittle, short-lived trees that
often have poor branch structure. You may enjoy it for many years but
in the next half-century or so it will begin to decline and the corpse
will cost a fortune to remove.

k
For more info about the International Society of Arboriculture, please visit http://www.isa-arbor.com/home.asp.
For consumer info about tree care, visit http://www.treesaregood.com/

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Rusty Mase - 12 Dec 2003 18:34 GMT

>>The ones I see around Austin tend to be in well drained
>>soils so it is not a real bottomland
>>tree like White Ash can be.

>Googling contradicts this--I turned up that the fan-tex is a cultivar
>of F. velutina, always grafted onto F. velutina root stock.

Excellent! There are some naturally occuring ashes in the lot next to
mine (Bee Caves Rd/Loop 360) and I might move one to see how it does.
I have always assumed they are Texas ashes, though. White or American
ash seems to be a pretty nice tree, although they may not grow well in
the Austin area. I have contemplated that Texas ash might be a better
alternative around here.

Rusty Mase

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Art Vega - 12 Dec 2003 18:54 GMT

Please let me add a few more details:

On the label of my tree it said Fan-Tex Ash (Fraxinus Velutina).
The Arizona Ash tree has the exact same name, so I'm not
sure if its the same tree with different names, the label
is not accurate (I bought it from Home Depot), or actually
a hybrid like you propose.

I have read that the Arizona ash is not recomended to be
planted in this area because of its problems, mainly the
root roth disease. If my Fan-Tex is actually the same as
the Arizona Ash its probably going to have the same kind
of problems. On the other hand, the White Ash is supposed to
do well. In a park near my home there are several of these
at least 50ft tall.

I'm also considering planting the pecan tree next to it anyway,
and decide in a year or two which one do I keep.

Art

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jcksprtt - 31 May 2008 00:13 GMT

>>I planted one of these trees in my front yard
>>here in Dallas a couple of years ago.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
>Rusty Mase

I know this may be late for a post, but I planted two Fan-Tex-ash trees in my
back yard 4 summers ago. They have grown to nearly 40 ft high and twenty or
more wide and still growing. I did not treat them with anything except tree
root starter when I first planted them, They are beautiful shade trees and
are perfroming as I had hoped, fast growth. I also have had to trim them
often just to keep them from pushing the fence over. I reccommend the Fan Tex
Ash for anyone in Texas, as that is where I live.

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Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / May 2008

Fan-Tex Ash tree