What to prioritize when selecting street trees
As leaf peeping season officially ends, I find myself searching for those last beautiful trees every time I turn a corner.
If you’re in a jurisdiction that has sidewalks, there is likely a process to apply to plant a new street tree. Most cities have a list of tree species that are approved to be planted between a sidewalk and a property (which is considered the public right-of-way). What’s the point of a approved list? Planners and public works agencies want to make sure a street tree that’s planted today:
Won’t grow to be too close to any utilities line
Will resist pests and disease
Has a long lifespan
Offers a variety of colors, shapes and sizes so that rights-of-way are visually interesting
You can pick any tree on the list (here’s Bellingham’s Approved Street Tree List). Plop it on on your (simple) site plan, submit, and get approved. But when you go to purchase the tree at a nursery, you may not be able to find the one you’d picked. Or it may be more expensive than you anticipated. This can make a big difference at the end of a project when planting a tree can be the last barrier between you and your occupancy permit (been there, done that).
For this reason, I prefer to ask experienced, local landscape architects like Max Wolf of Project Landworks, “Which tree species should I go for?” The beautiful part about working with professionals like Max: He’s thinking way beyond mere price and availability.
“Maples are a great choice since there are smaller growing varieties if space is limited and larger ones for more open areas that provide ample shade,“ Max said. “They are an excellent source of early spring nectar for bees, fast growing, have nice fall color, are disease resistant and commonly available in the Pacific Northwest.”
"Dogwoods and Serviceberry have beautiful flowers, good for small spaces and also readily available. Oaks offer great benefits to wildlife, have excellent fall color and certain varieties can be columnar in shape for really tight spaces.”
Beyond cities’ concern about survivability and utility impacts, Max said street trees are meant to provide shade and soften a building’s appearance.
“Good street tree selection will adequately fit the space, be locally grown and provide the most habitat, biodiversity, stormwater infiltration and erosion control benefits, while requiring the least amount of long term maintenance.”
You can find most of these at local nurseries Urban Forest Nursery, Wiggin’s Nursery and deWilde’s Nursery.
Need help picking the right street tree? Reach out to the team at Project Landworks for a local landscape architect’s recommedendation.
