Adding plants to enclosure need ideas

[waterboy]

I just re did my sulcatas outdoor enclosure this spring and i want to add 1 to 2 trees that i can pull leaves off of to feed to them and also for some extra shade and bring up the appearance a bit. I live in Northern California so they will need to be able to grow here and be hardy.My enclosure is about 40 feet long and 10 feet wide but i have a huge yard so the tree can hang over.I have a general idea of want i want but i have herd tons of different ideas of what is best.Here are my ideas please let me know if any sound better or worse or are bad for my sulcatas. Mulberry tree: fruit or no fruit that is the questions and all i worry about is if it will get to big? Hibiscus: but what color flower and are any types bad for them? Banana tree: will it grow ok where i live and how big do they get? Fig tree: are leaves and fruit ok for them i would think the fruit is bad.If any of these are bad let me know or if any one has any other ideas please list them. Thanks

 

[Len B]

Mulberry trees are great, I hear some complain about the ones with fruit but the fruit bearing ones I have are my favorite and the fruit doesn't cause a mess, the birds must take it away.And for growing big you can always cut them back each winter to keep them small, cutting back will make them bushy which means more leaves. I have 2 gingko trees that are 8 years old, started from seed that I cut back to about 30 inches every year and they fill out very nice the next year. Hibiscus and rose a sharon any color bloom are also good I don't have much luck with the true hibiscus because of the winter temps but the rose a sharon and the hardy hibiscus do fine here I am in Virginia about an hours drive to DC, I also grow a lot of banana trees and they do fine here so they should do great where you live.my banana trees get about 12 to 14 feet tall each year so far, I just planted a brown turkey fig tree that was started(cutting) from a friends tree that has grown in the area for many years without any special care during winter, the figs make great treats for the tortoises. Grape vines are a good leaf source also.

 

[Jacqui]

Len made some great comments and I do love how green his thumb is. Me, I tried Figs and had bad luck, but am working on starting another round with them. Same for the banana, but then I could not get any in this area so another set back.

As for you with a sulcata, I would not want a fruit bearing tree like a fig. The mulberries are too small to really create an issue with them, but your neighbors may not like the bird leaving purple staining mulberry dropping all over their cars and clothing. Plus in some areas they are against the law to plant so check that. If allowed, I can think of no finer tree for you then the mulberry. As to the hibiscus any color is usually about the same as the next as far as a sulcata goes. My boyz can not get enough of them.

 

[waterboy]

Thanks for the help. are banana leaves ok for them and also i have grape vines on my land is it ok to feed the the leaves. Also are fruit oor fruitless mulberry trees different sizes or do the all get big if u dont trim them

 

[Len B]

Banana leaves are fine but, Walker my adult sulcata shows no interest in eating them until about Jan when they are all slimy from being stacked on top of each other being used as mulch, it amazing how long they stay green after being cut from the tree to get them ready for winter, and he will eat the trunks of banana trees if cut into bite size pieces.The eaves from the grape vine are what you want to feed. I am not sure about the size of mulberry trees, Yvonne G, has the biggest one I have ever seen, all of mine are small and scraggly but can make replacement leaves quick.