The bright yellow leaves of many of them in the spring and again in the fall will cheer you up. If dappled shade and a medium sized tree is what you need, look for Honeylocust. This luscious tree will actually gather nitrogen from the air and fix it to the roots, and then ‘feeds’ the nearby plants as the roots naturally break down. Although this tree may steal your heart, it won’t steal nitrogen because it is a ‘nitrogen fixer’ (member of the legume family like peas and beans). This is a wonderful understory tree, decked out in purple tiny flowers before the leaves appear, then sporting heart shaped large leaves all summer. Google it, fall in love, then call your local garden center and request it.Įastern Redbud. This is a beautiful tree, although I don’t ever see it for sale at the garden centers. And as you can imagine with Dakota in the name (North Dakota to be specific), it is quite hardy.Īmur Maakia.
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This birch is resistant to many birch pests it is a smaller tree and has a narrow profile. I am transported to those cool wonderful woods every time I see a healthy birch tree. I grew up in the north woods and birch was everywhere. Here are some suggestions for some small to medium trees that will work well in most of our urban forest.ĭakota Pinnacle Birch. So go ahead and plant that maple if you must, but first consider some other trees. The more we diversify our urban forest the healthier all of the trees will be. What is a homeowner to do? Well of course as a Master Gardener, I say diversify! There are numerous trees, large and small, that can be planted instead of maples. The Asian Longhorned beetle prefers maples!Īdd to this the stresses on our current maple population such as often being planted too deeply, droughts, heat, pollution, root zone compaction and competition with turf grass and it is a wonder any maples are left! Oh and don’t forget the Asian Longhorned beetle, currently only as close as Chicago, but able to hitch a ride easily on transported wood and firewood. Yes the very same maple trees of maple syrup fame.
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It prefers oaks, but its second choice is our beloved maple tree. Have you heard of any maple tree pests yet? Well allow me to be the bearer of bad news. Johnson, Extension Professor for Urban and Community Forestry at the University of Minnesota, we would be well advised to look beyond planting just maples in the Midwest. Since maples make up even more of our urban landscape, imagine the devastation if a pest or disease strikes!Īccording to Gary R. Just see how people are reacting to losing their precious Ash trees to the Emerald Ash Borer, or their Elm trees to Dutch Elm Disease. Unfortunately, this can be frightening should a pest or disease strike our maple trees. In fact, according to the 2010 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Community Tree Survey, maples make up over 20% of our urban forests.
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Maples are only one tree, but they do make up a large part of our ‘urban forest’. By Theresa Rooney, Hennepin County Master Gardenerĭid you hear about the scarcity of maple syrup this past year? Pancakes without maple syrup? I can’t believe this! What about a fall with no maple trees- screaming out their foliage colors of crimson, gold and orange? Oh it would be a sad world.