Street Trees for Climate Resiliency in the Northeast
For urban foresters and homeowners in the city, finding appropriate street trees can be a difficult task. Whether it is a lack of good soil, mechanical injury from people and vehicles, long periods of drought or flooding, hard frosts and baking sun with no protection, high rates of pollution and soil compaction, or other factors - most species can’t handle the innumerable stressors that street trees face.
For that very reason, however, street tree plantings are an excellent testing ground for species that will be able to succeed in worst-case climate change scenarios. Using the standards for selecting climate resilient trees in the Northeast, below is a list of large (30+ft. ) trees that are the best-suited for planting as street trees between Washington D.C. and Boston. They are mostly southern species that support native biodiversity, can handle the toughest conditions, and are hardy as far north as New England. The best strategy is to plant many of these species in any given community in order to diminish the risk of failure, and to encourage a more robust neighborhood ecosystem.
Southern Sugar Maple
Acer barbatum
(USDA hardiness zone 6-9)
Red Maple
Acer rubrum
(USDA hardiness zone 3-9)
Silver Maple
Acer saccharinum
(USDA hardiness zone 3-9)
‘Caddo’ Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum ‘Caddo’
(USDA hardiness zone 4-9)
River Birch
Betula nigra
(USDA hardiness zone 4-9)
Southern Hackberry
Celtis laevigata
(USDA hardiness zone 5-10)
Yellowwood
Cladrastis kentukea
(USDA hardiness zone 4-8)
Thornless Honeylocust
Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis, cvs. ‘Millwood’, ‘Calhoun’, ‘Hershey’
(USDA hardiness zone 3-11)
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana
(USDA hardiness zone 2-9)
Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
(USDA hardiness zone 5-10)
Southern Magnolia
Magnolia grandiflora
(USDA hardiness zone 6-10)
Blackgum
Nyssa sylvatica
(USDA hardiness zone 3-9)
American Sycamore
Platanus occidentalis
(USDA hardiness zone 4-9)
Mexican Sycamore
Platanus mexicana
(USDA hardiness zone 4-9)
Southern Red Oak
Quercus falcata
(USDA hardiness zone 5-9)
Overcup Oak
Quercus lyrata
(USDA hardiness zone 5-9)
Swamp Chestnut Oak
Quercus michauxii
(USDA hardiness zone 5-9)
Water Oak
Quercus nigra
(USDA hardiness zone 6-10)
Willow Oak
Quercus phellos
(USDA hardiness zone 5-9)
Post Oak
Quercus stellata
(USDA hardiness zone 5-9)
Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum
(USDA hardiness zone 4-11)
Pond Cypress
Taxodium ascendens
(USDA hardiness zone 5-11)
Carolina Basswood
Tilia caroliniana
(USDA hardiness zone 5-9)
American Elm
Ulmus americana cvs. ‘Hopeful’, ‘Jefferson’, ‘Princeton’
(USDA hardiness zone 2-10)