Suggestions: Small Street Tree

19 years ago

Native to mid-atlantic is best, followed by native to east coast. 25 to 50 feet tall. Deciduous. Last 3-5 years have developed a pattern of droughty 3-6 weeks followed by a couple weeks of "normal" followed by more drought. The worst of summer is called 90/90, meaning 90% humidity and temps in the 90s.

We have a grant to do 50 houses worth. We're supposed to make a visual impression. Will be planted either in the tree lawn (space between sidewalk and curb) or within 4 feet of the sidewalk in the lawn. People will walk underneath. Everyone has 50 to 60 feet of sidewalk- narrow city lots. Neighborhood is 1920's small bungalows.

Street is narrow and curves. Traffic is about 3500 vehicles per day. Lots of walkers, kids, dogs, residential street. There aren't any existing patterns of residential plantings to pick up on. All clay - at least 25 feet deep. We know this for sure. The only other feature of note is the 300 acre park nearby. The park is being re-treed with redbuds being the sole flowering tree. They seem to die a lot before reaching maturity, but I have one in my back yard doing well so I don't know what to make out of that.

I don't know if this is helpful but this is more of the local flora. Cedar, cypress, cryptomeria, yews, spruce do well - pines and some forms of Chamaecyparis die - mostly from insect infestation. Oaks, Maples do well. Crab apples, apple, cherry also do well. Blue hollies, green hollies, crape myrtles and florida dogwoods also do fine as does just about any magnolia.

Have developed "Sudden Yew Death" thing lately. Yews look great and then are dead two weeks later - its certainly not all of them. Viburnum does well and grows wild in the park as does rose of sharon, azaleas not so much - you can have one, but it takes work.

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Comments (12)

Iris GW
19 years ago
For your consideration:

Oxydendrum arboreum, Sourwood
Ostrya virginiana, Hophornbeam
Cladrastis kentukea, Yellowwood (but this may not be suitable for walking underneath)
Gymnocladus dioicus 'Espresso' (this cultivar is a male tree and supposedly does not get as big as the species at maturity)
quirkyquercus
19 years ago
Nutall oak if native to the gulf coast will suffice. Its a smaller oak than usual. Readily available
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waplummer
19 years ago
Cornell has a publicatiom, "Recommended Urban Trees"
nlb2@cornell.edu for email and urbanhort@cornell.edu to order.
quercus_macrocarpa
19 years ago
Another good smaller oak is the (native) Turkey Oak (Quercus laevis).
quirkyquercus
19 years ago
Q. laevis is a nice tree too and it's smaller. It tends to be on the scrubby side though and unknown urban tolerance. Have you seen it used as a street tree or have you even seen any in the Chicago area Q.M.?
bmorepanic
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks everyone. They are all really great suggestions. We are having a meeting to pick out our plantings next Saturday - more suggestions would be greate.

I downloaded the Cornell booklet. Hours of entertainment await looking up those trees!
treeguy123
19 years ago
River Birch (Betula nigra) River Birch will tolerate urban conditions good. Native to mid-atlantic. Avoid very alkaline soils. All other things you mentioned it can handle very well. It has a nice slender graceful branches and foliage and has interesting flaking cinnamon colored bark. Has very few problems that some other birches can have. Can reach over 50 feet but this is usually near creeks and streams. It is usually disease-free and has no serious insect pests unless old or damaged.

Autumn Gold Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold') This is a very nice male Ginkgo tree. Very Tolerant of urban conditions. All other things you mentioned it can handle very well. A very hardy tree. The only thing is it is not native but it has no problems. Has very bright gold fall colors and very interesting fan shaped leaves.
quirkyquercus
19 years ago
Actually I think ginkgo was native a really long time ago. As in before all the continents broke apart. :-)

(Seriously though, Something like that)
treeguy123
19 years ago
Yes I knew it was native to Canada and some parts of the U.S. long long ago but I wasn't talking about prehistoric times. :-)
bmorepanic
Original Author
19 years ago
Well, they didn't specify an era - just native.
Carrie B
19 years ago
Thought this might be interesting...

Here's a list of the officially approved small city street trees for the city of Philadelphia (the entire list, including larger trees, is linked below).

I don't 100% agree with all of the selections on the list. Some are less urban tolerant than others, and several have shown invasive tendencies that I'm not comfortable with.

cb

Small Trees - (mature height under 30')
Acer buergeranum -- Trident Maple
Acer campestre -- Hedge Maple
Acer ginnala -- Amur Maple
Acer tataricum -- Tatarian Maple
Acer griseum -- Paperbark Maple
Amelanchier x grandiflora -- Serviceberry
Carpinus caroliniana -- American Hornbeam
Cercis canadensis -- American Red Bud
Chionanthus retusus (tree form) -- Chinese Fringetree
Chionanthus virginicus (tree form) -- Fringetree
Cornus florida -- Flowering Dogwood
Cornus kousa -- Kousa Dogwood
Cotinus obovatus (tree form) -- American Smoke Tree
Crataegus crusgalli var. inermis -- Thornless Cockspur Hawthorn
Crataegus laevigata "Superba" -- English Hawthorn
Crataegus x lavallei (tree form) -- Lavalle Hawthorn
Crataegus phaenopyrum (tree form) -- Washington Hawthorn
Crataegus viridis "Winter King" -- Winter King Green Hawthorn
Oxydendrum arboreum -- Sourwood
Prunus serrulata "Shirotae" -- Mt. Fuji Cherry
Prunus subhirtilla "Autumnalis"-- Autumn Flowering Cherry
Prunus subhirtilla "Rosy Cloud" -- Rosy Cloud Cherry
Prunus virginiana -- Common Chokecherry
Prunus virginaina "Schubert" -- Canada Red Chokecherry
Stewartia koreana -- Korean Stewartia
Stewartia monadelpha -- Tall Stewartia
Syringa reticulata "Ivory Silk"-- Japanese Tree Lilac
Syringa reticulata "Summer Snow" -- Japanese Tree Lilac

Here is a link that might be useful: (entire) Philadelphia Street Tree list
bungalow_house
19 years ago
I am trying to find a tree for a similar lot. Currently at the top of my short list is Amur Maackia.

Good luck!