I've snapped a couple of photos of some monkey puzzle trees around here. As some in the other thread pointed out they got their name because its the only tree a monkey can't climb due to its spiky branches. I'm not sure if I earned a dime for the 2 larger trees when I was a kid. Maybe one because its a couple of blocks from my father's cousin's house so its possible we drove past it. That one near my 2nd cousin's house is a house where a friend of my husband's used to live until he got divorced. I'm not sure if his ex still lives there or not. She has no problem with us so we probably could have walked into her yard to take a better photo, but if she sold and someone else lives there they might not take too kindly to early morning intruders! That monkey puzzle tree is tall. Unfortunately the tree in front of it blocks most of the view of it from the street. The 2nd photo is a tree a block from where my father lives. Its a nice looking one. The youngest tree is a couple of blocks from my home. It looks like a really weird Christmas tree. Tall monkey puzzle tree hidden by a larger tree in front of it. ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden ) Nice looking monkey puzzle tree ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden ) Young Monkey Puzzle tree ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden )
Calomaar, they are evergreens. I love the look of those trees. Lots of people have put them in their gardens around here, but I don't think they've quite realized what they've planted. The trees grow to be huge! And due to the stiff, spikey "needles" they're hard to prune too.
