I am not a fan of ginkgo.
Yes, in maturity the can be very interesting trees and the fall color is tops. They also have some urban tolerance. But in many areas they are very slow growing, even slower to establish and grow erratically, looking very strange for a while. Once the tree does take on a symmetrical shape, it is fairly sparsely branched so shade is negligible.

Fall color on honeylocust can be very showy as well. I agree this is a very overplanted tree and like the ginkgo, is not much to look at for a while and the shade is negligible until it becomes a big tree. However these can grow rapidly in the right conditions. But along with that comes a host of disease vulnerabilities and often very bad surface rooting.

I'm not in love with the frontier elm but I don't have a lot of experience with it.

IMO, you've ruled out the choices that I would have most closely considered and those choices are red maple and greenspire linden (if you have room for it) and hackberry.
In that order.

There are a couple of disrespectful people that will probably leave rude comments due to my unpopular opinion of the ginkgo. Try not to let those comments scare you away from the forum altogether like they do to so many others.

Would you show your complete list (with cultivars) ?

Thanks,

Dax

gardingrandma you make me laugh. obviously you've been through some really tough discussions on this forum. Who would of thought . . . after all it's only trees, but I guess folks are passionate about their love/hate relationship with trees :).

I may have to revisit red maple, ruled it out because they can be chlorotic in the Chicago area. I will have to ask what cultivar.

Linden has issues with Japanese Beatles and it's so dense and big. I fear that in the future you won't be able to see the house.

Hackberry seems to have a lot of diseases and other than being a good plant for wildlife it doesn't seem to have much beauty, but I could be wrong. I'm planning for lots of native berry-producing shrubs and trees for wildlife so I feel I've got that covered.

Is there another street tree not on the list that someone might recommend?

You likely can't plant any old thing in the treelawn, as it is likely not your property. You must go with what the Arborist says you can plant. That is why you want to ask them what other choices you have.

Dan

Ok Dan, I'll talk to the Arborist when he returns my call. The complete list of trees is as follows, many of the choices listed do not include the cultivar in the description, just a brief general description after each. I'm thinking they just give you whatever they can get.

Norway Maple
Skyline Honeylocust
Greenspire linden
Red Maple
Common Hackberry
Frontier Elm
Ginkgo
Ivory Silk Tree Lilac
White Crabapples
Pink Crabapples
Chanticleer Pear

From your list, and your stated reasoning about shade and insects etc.

ArktreesJMHO

Are there any overhead wires? The smaller trees on that list are probably for those locations.

Red Maples can definitely be chlorotic in the chicagoland area. An alternate tree which is very comparable in terms of ornamental features and size, is Autumn Blaze maple. (Freemans maple). You might ask if they can plant this instead.

Such a shame they've limited you so much. That list doesn't give you much to choose from. Not even any oaks.

No overhead wires. I wish there were oaks, that would be awesome. I will check about the maple cultivar.

With such a cr*ppy list, either they are hopelessly antediluvian or have no money to maintain - so they limit choices. Surely a decent arborist will help you choose.

Dan

will plant in my parkway ..... Planting strip is about 8 feet deep

===>>>> i dont understand the terms .. plus dans treelawn term ..

are we talking about the strip between the road and the sidewalk ...??? which is theoretically NOT YOUR PROPERTY ... but a road easement ....

i hope you are all sitting down .... but this is probably the only place i would recommend a maple .... lol ... but for the roots getting into old sewer lines [a real big problem in dads 'hood .. where multiple neighbors have had to dig out the sewer lines.. but irrlelvant in newer pvc constructions].. and the darn helicopters ...

and i will yell...BUT NO NORWAY MAPLE ... in time.. it will kill the lawn.. and lift the sidewalk, if any ....

HONEYLOCUST WILL LiFT THE LAWN IN A DECADE OR SO ...opps...

ginko.. may as well paint the area green.. and watch the paint dry for 20 years.. if you want to look at a tree .. lol .. maybe they grow faster in Ark .. then they do up here in the north ...

pears ... just poke our eyes out.. what a waste ... ya i said it ..

crabs.. only if you want to spend the years digging out suckers.. since they are not named varieties ....

no experience with linden or the lilac ..

the hackberry isnt all that great a tree .. mine, free range ones arent anyway ... they seem soft wooded.. tend to break in storms ... though the bark is way cool .... mine are under 60 to 80 foot oaks and cherry.. so maybe its a cultural problem, rather than the hacks problem ....

yeah.. i just might vote for a maple in a city easement .... you will have a grand tree inside of a few years .... block out those nosey neighbors across the road ....

ken

In Chicago we call the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street the parkway.

I realize that this is city property. As I am new to this suburb, I'm not sure how much say I have as to what will be planted in my (the City's) parkway.

I won't be planting a Norway, they are terribly invasive here.

Interesting note: In Wisconsin, just over the border, they call the narrow strip of lawn between the sidewalk and street "The Carriageway". Very sweet IMO. It's a regional thing.

Where I am they call the thing you park on a "driveway" and the highway thing that you drive on, a "parkway."
The strip in between the sidewalk and curb that is in communities that have them, the "street lawn" or "tree lawn".

Amongst lawn and turf aficionados, that space is often referred to as the "hell strip" because it can be difficult to maintain a lawn there.

8' of space is actually very generous and could support some of the larger trees. Did you ask if you can plant something else if you pay for it and plant it yourself?

Agreed Ken, I had not though about growth and establishment rate of Ginkgo there. I was thinking more immediate impact, and handling the road salts, not dense shade (since that seemed to be a concern), insects, and general toughness. FWIW they seem to grow 12-18"/yr here at best.

Even if you can plant something else other than the list, road salt, and ability ti tolerate reflected heat from the road ways are going to be BIG concerns. Nothing you more northern persons won't know already.

Sidenote, those strips of grass are called "greenspace" here, but sometimes "landscape islands" in other circumstances. Then there are other landscape islands....Oh well, you get the picture.

Akrtees

Tangential but related, today I'm finishing my abstract submission for a transportation conference in August, and if accepted I think my presentation will have a picture of the treelawn with all the phrases used here to describe it. So keep 'em coming!

Yesyesyes, I'm posting here instead of writing...

Dan

Sidewalk median strip is what I hear most of the time...sounds pretty logical to me.

theresa2,

That is a typical list for salt tolerant trees.

Are you on a busy street? If we are talking a quiet suburbian street perhaps you can find out if you can plant your own tree and explain you don't need a salt tolerant tree.

If the area is going to get nailed with salt your likely stuck with the trees on this list.

I just got off the phone with the City Arborist. He says most people don't know a lot about trees so they just choose from the list provided. He said if there is a certain cultivar that I'm after, I can peruse the supplier's website and select whatever cultivar I want just as long as it falls into the tree types that were listed and that it is appropriate for the location. For instance, if it is a silver-red maple cross that would be ok because red maple is on the list. He specifically said no oaks because of gypsy moth and oak wilt. He was concerned about future costs of tree maintenance. I'll have to study the list and get back to you guys.

I live on a quiet residential street. There will be salt from time to time, but not too much. Mostly they salt the intersections; there are three houses between myself and the nearest intersection.

Autumn Fantasy (patented cultivar name DTR 102)is my personal favorite Freeman maple. More spreading and a bit lighter shade than Autumn Blaze, with much darker red fall foliage. Supposedly more ice resistant. Originates from a tree found in Central Indiana if I remember correctly. Large parent tree had resisted many an ice storm as per the patent. Then lastly, there are a whole lot less of them around than Autumn Blaze.

Arktrees

He says most people don't know a lot about trees so they just choose from the list provided. Sigh.

At least you can choose an alternative. Let us know what you think.

Dan

If he's worried about maintenance.... Well golly gee.
They picked some fine ones.

Tree lawn
Street lawn
hell strip
easement
swayle
R.O.W.

are all things I've heard that strip referred to as. Be them accurate or not.

I'm surprised the arborist said no oaks because of oak wilt and gypsy moth fears. There would be other reasons not to select an oak in this application but those shouldn't be the reason. Yes all oaks can be affected but the white oak group is much less suceptible to oak wilt.

Gypsy moth effects many trees...in fact one on their list is definitely effected by gypsy moth!lol!

Updated street tree list after perusing the supplier's website.

Skyline Honeylocust
Autumn Fantasy Maple
Marmo Red-Silver Maple
Autumn Flame Maple
Red Sunset Red Maple
Somerset Red Maple
Magyar Ginkgo
Accolade Elm
Triump Elm

What do you think?

ArktreesAutumn Fantasy Maple (this is a Red-Silver Hybrid)
Marmo Red-Silver Maple
Magyar Ginkgo
Somerset Red Maple
Red Sunset Red Maple
Autumn Flame Maple
Skyline Honeylocust
Accolade Elm (I'm not a big elm fan here)
Triump Elm

The Red-Silver hybrids may suit you better than the pure Red Maples due to the potential for clorosis. No way to know about potential chlorosis unless you can find some planted very near you. See above what I wrote earlier about Autumn Fantasy (we have one, and it sure does grow fast). No way to know that unless there are some already planted very nearby. Ginkgo was addressed above. Local knowledge as to how they perform there would seem advisable. Magyar is considered one of the fastest growing selections by many, and has a columnar grow habit. Then the various Red Maples for reasons discussed previously. Then I put the Elms and Honeylocust at the bottom, just because they are not a personal favorite, you may feel differently however. Your the one that will have to live with your choice, so outside of possible cultural concerns, pick what YOU like best and move on. There will be no "perfect" choice.

JMHO
Arktrees

Thanks Arktrees.

I don't think I will go with Ginkgo because of its columnar shape. There is this full grown ginkgo in my old neighborhood that I always admired. It was simply stunning, you couldn't miss it for the world when you saw it, but it was a wider variety which was one of it's best features IMO.

I had an Autumn Fantasy Maple in my previous house. I agree it is a fast grower and I loved it in the spring when the buds burst out red and the lighter green of summer and the spectacular fall color. The two problems I had with that tree were freeze cracks and training for a central leader when young.

Fortunately, the freeze cracks never peal back as they do on other trees. I usually wrapped the tree in the winter which helped a lot, but some winters I risked not doing it and sure enough a crack or two would show up. I can attest that wrapping really makes a difference. Also, when it was young, the tree has so much energy it tended to send up lots of leaders. Every year I trimmed the extras, eventually the tree finds its way and it's not a problem anymore.

So it looks likes Autumn Fantasy is the winner. Thanks so much for all your help.

Personally I would have selected AFM as well.

If you venture outside the list a few other nice choices.

Bald Cypress
Swamp White Oak
Silver Linden 'Sterling' (I'm liking this choice!)
Kentucky Coffeetree 'Expresso'
Caddo Sugar Maple

AF Maple (and the other freemanii's) are probably better choices for open lawn locations without sidewalks. They have relatively aggressive surface roots and will probably someday give you (or the next owner) sidewalk heaving issues.

Magyar ginkgo isn't narrowly columnar like Princeton Sentry, but has more of an upright pyramidal shape. You could also ask for one of the wider growers like Autumn Gold. If you're willing to put some time/effort into watering and fertilizing, you can obtain a reasonable growth rate on the ginkgos.

The silver linden that whaas suggested is relatively resistant to Japanese beetles, but it does have very dense branching. American Sentry linden is also resistant to JB, and is more open in its branching than silver or Greenspire linden.

arbordave is correct about the freeman maples roots but the same problem would occur with the elms, honeylocust and probably the pear. Ginkgo is better with roots but if it were me, I personally would prefer the faster growth and more appreciable shade that maples provide. With an 8' strip... it shouldn't be too bad of an issue.

"White crabapples" and "Pink crabapples" is about as specific as "white roses" and "pink roses", with similar potential for failure. Clear indication to me that original list, at least, is not coming from a place where successful refinement based on reliable information was part of the process.

And yet, we have three white crabs in our strip that are absolutely beautiful and flourishing with no apparent downside in the 10-12 years since they were placed. Our city arborist also just gave us general choices, so I figured I would go with a species I have always liked and hope for the best. Amazingly successful so far. Keeping my fingers crossed that they continue to thrive. Our house looks wonderful in the spring and the fruits provide the birds with food as well.

My point was, that as with roses there are many kinds of crabapples with varying regional performances. "White crabapple" is too broad a category to have any meaningful application when selectivity is supposed to be involved. You could get a winner or a complete stinker, both of them white crabapples.

How about a nice hickory, then?

Slow-growing and liable to drop large nuts if pollinated. People don't like nuts falling on streets and sidewalks.

I doubt the city forester would approve of any nut tree, as it is the city's property. Due to the litter.

Dan

Besides that, where are you going to find one?
Who has ever seen a b&b sized hickory?

theresa2, do you live in a neighborhood built since the 1960s? I live in such an area in Chicago's western suburbs, and the "soil" conditions in the parkways are dreadful: about 1-2 inches of black dirt/clay over heavily-compacted, rocky yellow clay. In these conditions, any type of tree you choose must be able to handle the extremely-challenging conditions that promote very shallow root systems--the thin "topsoil" dries very quickly, and the base clay is poorly drained. From the list provided by your city, the shade trees that perform best around here in these far-from-ideal conditions include Gingko, Honeylocust, Linden, Callery Pear (until they become large enough to start breaking apart), Hybrid Elms (Accolade & Triumph), and Freeman Maples (like Marmo & the Autumn Fantasy you selected). (Obviously, Green Ash is now off the list because of Emerald Ash Borer.) From the additional suggestions by whaas, Kentucky Coffeetree and Swamp White Oak can perform well in these parkways, too. The sidewalk-to-curb distance is an important factor to consider--6-8 ft offers you more options than 4-6 ft.

dwk001 I live in a older inner NW suburb of Chicago. Most of the houses are from the 20s and 30s. Soils seem to be loamy and deep based on the little digging I've done. Neighboring houses have nice lush abundantly diverse landscaping which is one of the things that attracted me to the neighborhood.

dan_staley, I'd like to add "parking strip" to the list of synonyms. [Not sure of the origin; it may go back to my Northern California childhood.]

theresa2, good luck with the tree.

I just heard another synonym to add to the list from Wisconsin, "terrace".

Terrace? Hadn't heard that one before. Perhaps it's regional within the state. "Sidewalk easement" is another common term I've heard.

theresa2- At least you have a choice. I tried to get a Ginkgo but was told by the forestry planner they were planting Fagus sylvatica 'Riversii'...period.

tj