Shade Tree and Evergreen Planting Suggestions for Northeast Nebraska (Compiled by Kelly Feehan, Nebraska Extension, and Columbus Greenspace Advisory Group)

There are no perfect trees. Ask about the characteristics/common problems of trees. Make sure a tree’s good points are a good fit for you and your landscape needs; and a tree’s bad points are acceptable to you and fit your landscape needs. Color listed is potential fall color. *Trees 30’ or less tall.

Good to Great Shade Trees: *Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) Ginkgo (G. biloba) (male cultivars) (Yellow) Norway Maple (Acer platanoides “Emerald Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) Queen” or “Emerald luster”, ‘Deborah’, Chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) ‘Parkway’) (yellow) (could get verticillium wilt) Red Oak (Quercus rubra) Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) (Red) Shade Trees Worth Trying (untested in our English Oak (Quercus robur) area, but should do fine): White Oak (Quercus alba) (Brown to red) Lacebark Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) (yellow to State Street or Miyabei Maple (Acer miyabei reddish purple) ‘Morton’) (yellow) Black maple (Acer saccharum subsp. nigrum) Shingle Oak (Quercus impricaria) (yellow Silver Linden (Tilia tomentosa) brown to red brown) Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)(yellow, brown) Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii) Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) Black Oak (Quercus veluntina) (Yellow) Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis) Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) Turkish Filbert (Corylus colurna) *Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) (Reddish) Katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) (yellow to red) Common Alder (Alnus glutinosa) *Japanese Tree Lilac (Syringa reticulate ‘Ivory *Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum) (bronzy) Silk’) *Japanese Pagodatree (Sophora japonica) *Amur maackie (Maackia amurensis) (none) *American Hophornbeam (Ironwood) (Ostrya Shade Trees to Use in Protected Locations: virginiana) Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) (yellow, orange) Good Shade Trees: (Includes trees that are Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) overplanted, untried, or have an environmental, Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) (yellow) disease or insect issue.) American Beech (Fagus grandiflora) (Bronze) *Goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) Hybrid Elms (‘Accolade’, ‘Frontier’ (burgundy (yellow) fall color), ‘New Horizon’; ‘Pioneer’; *Saucer Magnolia (M. x soulangiana) ‘Triumph’; ‘Cathedral’; ‘Vanguard’) (Yellow) Star Magnoia (M. stellata) (NOTE: Jefferson, Prairie Expedition, Princeton, Discovery noted as DED resistant) Okay Shade Trees to Plant, But….: (Includes Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) fast growing trees that tend to be brittle, have Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) surface roots, or other issues like chlorosis. Only Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) plant if a fast growing tree is a must but can be Thornless Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos) replaced with a nearby slower growing tree). (Yellowish) American Linden (Tilia Americana) Freeman Maples like ‘Autumn Blaze’, ‘Autumn Littleleaf Linden (Tilia cordata) (yellowish) Fantasy’, ‘Celebration’ (Acer X freemanii) Northern Pin Oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis) (red) Green Vase Zelkova (Zelkova serrarata) American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) Plains Cottonwood (Populus sargentii) Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) White Poplar (Populus alba) Hedge maple (Acer campestres) (yellowish) Willows (Salix) ‘Red Sunset’ red maple (Acer rubrum) Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa) Trees to AVOID Planting (Have many *River Birch (Betula nigra) (Yellow) undesirable characteristics and/or serious pest *Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides “Prairie issues and/or hardiness issues): Gold” only) Yellow *European Mountain-ash (Sorbus aucuparia) Austrees (Salix alba x matsudana) (yellow to reddish) Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) OVER Shade Trees to AVOID Planting Continued: Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) Caanan fir (Abies balsamea var. phanerolepsis) Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) Korean fir (Abies koreana) Pin oak (Quercus palustris) (red) Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis) Green or White ash (including purple which is white ash) Fraxinus species (yellow) Evergreens to Use in Protected Locations: Sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) (great tree, but seems to die frequently - hardiness?) White pine (Pinus strobus) Royal Pawlonia (Empress Tree) *’Techny’ Eastern Arborvitae (Thuja *Aspen (most Populus tremuloides) (yellow) occidentalis ‘Techny’) Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis) (shady *Ornamental/Callery pears (Pyrus species) locations) (invasive issues beginning) *Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidate) (shade) *European White Birch (Betula pendula) “Autumn Blaze” Maple Evergreens to AVOID Planting:

Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) EVERGREEN CONIFERS:

Good to Great Evergreens: Deciduous Conifers to Plant

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) Southwestern white pine (Pinus reflexus American Larch (Larix laricina) (strobiformis) Japanese Larch (Larix kaempferi) Concolor fir (Abies concolor) Norway spruce (Picea abies) White Spruce (Picea glauca) *‘Fat Albert’ Spruce (Picea pungens ‘Fat Albert’) Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. Glauca)

Okay to Good Evergreens: (Includes trees that are overplanted, untried, or have an environmental, disease or insect issue.)

Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca var. densata) Jack pine (sandy soils only) (Pinus banksiana) Austrian pine (Pinus australis) *Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis) *Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Evergreens Worth Trying (untested in our area, but could do fine):

Siberian Spruce (Picea obovate) Serbian Spruce (Picea omorika) Meyer Spruce (Picea meyeri) Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra) Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) Bosnian Pine (Pinus heldreichii var. leucodermis)