I am looking for a shade tree here in Carlsbad, NM to shade the west
side of my home.  What trees would you suggest, both deciduous and
evergreen?

I live in the Valley of the Sun, AZ.  I have planted many Australian
Bottle Trees on both the east and west sides of my home for shade. 
I have found these trees grow quickly are are easy to shape.  They
are also very hardy during a very rare frost or freeze warning. 
Three years ago, we suffered a very unusal freeze for over a week
which killed many other tree variations.  They stay green year
round. I recommend Australina Bottle Trees for the hot, dry areas of
the southwest.

An Australian bottle tree is lovely and graceful and provides
copious shade in this climate.  The only caveat I would add to the
recommendation for the Bottle trees is that you should be aware that
they are also extremely messy.  

During leaf drop, leaves abound... but what also abounds is the thin
whiplike 'branches' that fall with the leaves and it can sometimes
make a mat that makes raking more...uh... 'interesting.'  I do use
the leaves in my compost pile and they are a great source of browns.

Mark,

As I mentioned in the article, determining the appropriate size tree
is essential, so without knowing that it's difficult to make useful
recommendations. After you figure out the maximum height and width
your landscape provides for each area where you want to add a tree,
I recommend you check out the options in these two lists: 
Shade Trees for New Mexico at
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/h-426.pdf, from Curtis Smith, New
Mexico State University. There is also an online plant brochure
called Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert at the Arizona
Municipal Water Users Association website http://www.amwua.org/.
There is overlap in appropriate plants for New Mexico and Arizona
and this brochure includes a little more detail, such as evergreen
or deciduous, mature size, sun exposure, and cold-hardiness, as well
as features (spring bloom, fall color, thorns, etc) and color
photos, so you can choose trees that suit your interests and
landscape design. Good luck!

Hi Cathy,
I live in Austin,TX and think that the area is closer to the
"Southwestern Deserts region" than to the "Low South" descriptions.
Can you help me please???  I'm a beginner gardener and kind of lost
with the subject.
Thanks,
Paty

Hi Paty,

On behalf of the National Gardening Association, welcome to
gardening! Our Lower South reporter, Skip Richter,  lives in Austin,
Texas, as you do, and I'm sure his info applies to your local
growing conditions. However, there is often overlap near borders of
geographic regions, with gardeners able to benefit from the best of
both regions, so my info from the Southwestern Deserts may be useful
to you as well. You didn't ask a specific question, so I'd suggest
since you are new to gardening that you peruse the Previous Reports
for each region for topics that are of interest to you. There's a
link to Previous Reports at the top of each regional report. To get
you started here's a link for Skip's and my reports: 
http://www.garden.org/regional/report/allreports/5
http://www.garden.org/regional/report/allreports/10
You can always input specific questions at the bottom of each
report. 

Another option is to check the National Gardening Association's Q&A
database, which has tens of thousands of questions, already
answered! Of course, if you don't find what you're looking for, feel
free to ask (be as specific as possible as gardening is a huge
topic!) and we'll be happy to guide you.

Thank you so very much for your help Cathy.
I'll check the links you mentioned.  If I get lost I'll write to you
again. Thanks a lot!!!