Small sized trees:
American hornbeam Hardiness Zone (HZ): 3-9 Lifespan (LS): 50-150 (years)
Serviceberry HZ: 2-8 LS: 30-40
Redbud HZ: 4-9 LS: 20-30
Hawthorn HZ: 4-8 LS: 175-400
Trident Maple HZ: 5-9 LS: 50-100
Sourwood HZ: 5-9 LS: 125-175
Sassafras HZ: 4-9 LS: 20-30
Medium sized trees:
Lacebark Elm HZ: 4-9 LS: 50-150
Pagoda tree HZ: 4-8 LS: 30-40
Black gum, Tupelo HZ: 3-9 LS: 150-300
Goldenrain tree HZ: 5-9 LS: 50
Hophornbeam HZ: 3-9 LS: 100-150
Miyabe Maple HZ: 3-7/8 LS: 80
Red Buckeye HZ: 4-8 LS: 250-300
Large sized trees:
Giant Sequoia HZ: 3-9 LS: >3,000
Coastal Redwood HZ：7-9 LS: >2,000
Dawn redwood HZ: 3-8 LS: 100-400
Bald Cyprus HZ: 4-9/10 LS: 600-1200
Ginkgo biloba (Male) HZ: 2-8 LS: >1,000
Sweetgum HZ: 5-9 LS: 100-400
Tulip tree HZ: 4-9 LS: 100-300
Oaks:
Burr Oak HZ: 3-8 LS: 100-1,000
White Oak HZ: 3-9 LS: 200-600
Southern Red Oak HZ: 6-10 LS: 150-350
Sawtooth Oak HZ: 5-9 LS: 80-120
Hackberry HZ: 2-9 LS: 150-200
Red maple HZ: 3-9 LS: 150
Atlas Cedar HZ: 6-9 LS: 150-500
Eastern White Pine HZ: 3-8 LS: 200-450
Southern Magnolia HZ: 6-10 LS: 80-120
London Planetree HZ: 5-9 LS: 300
American Linden HZ: 4-8 LS: 100-200
Honey locust HZ: 3-8 LS: 120-125
Black walnut HZ: 4-9 LS: >200
The American Hornbeam is a small native hardwood tree in the beech family. American Hornbeams grow well in shade and have an interesting bark texture.
The Serviceberry is a small tree which grows well in zones two through eight.
The Redbud is a native tree which grows well in zones four through nine.
The Lacebark Elm (Chinese Elm) is my number one choice for a medium sized plot. This deciduous tree grows 30-60 ft tall and equally wide- is hardy: tolerates salt, sand, air pollution, damage to branches in urban settings, and drought and heat (zones 4-9). A very pretty tree, the Lacebark elm has interesting and colorful bark texture year round as well as iconic Elm leaves (figure 1). There are several varieties all of which are unaffected by the Dutch Elm disease (no spraying required, more resistant than the Zelkova Elm).
Figure 1. Lacebark Elm profile and closeup of leaves.
The Pagoda tree is originates from Japan. It is a long lived tree with bean-like fruit. New Haven plants them as shade trees and there is one on the Yale Nature Walk. Pagoda trees reach fifty to seventy five feet tall and is categorized by the Urban Resource Initiative as a medium sized tree (figure 2).
Figure 5. Japanese Pagoda tree.
The Blackgum (Tupelo) is long lived, native, grows well in zones three through nine, and has a tap root. The Blackgum’s fruit supports many animal species and the tree itself is a habitat for birds.
Giant Sequoia: the largest tree on earth. It’s native range is exclusively in small groves in the Western United states, but careful seed collection and cultivation has lead to individual specimens all over the globe (figure 2). Needle Evergreen tree through zone 8.
Figure 2. Giant Sequoia (Yale Nature Walk photo).
Dawn Redwoods are extremely easy and low maintenance trees to grow. They work well for shade, wind, and noise screening (figure 3).
Figure 3. Dawn Redwoods planted on a city street in Baltimore MD.
The ginkgo (figure 4) is the only tree with fan shaped leaves and is extremely drought tolerant. The leaves turn yellow in Autumn and can be stepped for tea. Male ginkgo fruit is a round seed pod similar to the Sycamore and London Plane trees. Ginkgos live a very long time and have a recognisable bark pattern.
Figure 4. Ginkgo trees.
The Bald Cypress is a distant relative to the Redwood (figure 6) and native to the East coast. It is a deciduous conifer with pyramidal shape. The main differences from the Redwood are that Balding Cyprus reach one hundred twenty feet verses one hundred sixty feet or more. Bald Cypress have alternating groups of needles which are .75in in length. Zones 4-9 great for wildlife too.
Figure 6. Bald Cypress tree.
The sweetgum is a native tree with star shaped leaves and develops seeds in spiky round pods (figure 7).
Figure 7. Sweetgum leaves and pods.
The Burr Oak is my number one choice for a large deciduous tree because it is extremely heat and drought resistant (figure 8). Burr Oaks can grow up to eighty feet tall and produce the largest acorns of any oak species. Burr Oaks are now being planted in New Haven as street trees through the Urban Resource Initiative.
Figure 8. Burr Oak.
The White Oak is the state tree of Connecticut and the premier hardwood which was used in boat building. Bark of the white oak is a light gray color and the leaves have rounded edges. White Oaks are also very drought resistant through hardiness zone 9; the native range encompasses the entire east coast figure 9.
Figure 9. White Oak, Union College’s West Beach.
The Red Oak is another native oak species to the East Coast (figure 10). Southern Red Oaks have a slightly larger range into zones 9 and 10.
Figure 10. Southern Red Oak.
The Atlas cedar, native to Morocco but is planted worldwide as a tree in ornamental landscapes (figure 11). An evergreen, the blue-green needles add distinctive color to outdoor spaces year round. Zones six through nine.
Figure 11. Atlas cedar.
The Eastern White Pine can grow to eighty feet tall in zones three through eight (figure 1).
Figure . Eastern white pines reach an impressive height and branch all around the trunk.
The Southern Magnolia is an evergreen with glossy leaves (Figure ).
