Street tree selections?

Stumpsprouts said:
They need full to part shade. Have a lot growing wild in the holler here. Such a beautiful form, but the best ones are deep in the understory.

But I have also seen them do ok in full sun. And they hedge beautifully if you’re into that kind of thing. There’s a courtyard around here I worked on once where they are shaped like ice cubes. Kind of dumb but they’re in full sun and doing great. My first official day of tree work ever was to spray horticultural oil on a tall Carpinus hedge in Manhattan, part shade as I recall. That hedge was probably 30’ tall.
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I’ve concluded a lot of those small-medium size cool natives need protection from the west and lots of soil conditioning. At least where I live now. Some older parts of town like German Village seem to have nice deep rich soils that I don’t have the pleasure to work with very often.
 
Stumpsprouts said:
They need full to part shade. Have a lot growing wild in the holler here. Such a beautiful form, but the best ones are deep in the understory.

But I have also seen them do ok in full sun. And they hedge beautifully if you’re into that kind of thing. There’s a courtyard around here I worked on once where they are shaped like ice cubes. Kind of dumb but they’re in full sun and doing great. My first official day of tree work ever was to spray horticultural oil on a tall Carpinus hedge in Manhattan, part shade as I recall. That hedge was probably 30’ tall.
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American hornbeam seem to naturally thrive on full shade but not sure I agree for European being a full shade. Pretty common landscape plant as hedging or anchoring trees and almost always planted in full sun around here. They do well until they are planted alongside a road/driveway/house. Those I see commonly plagued with scale, mites and anthracnose. But if they’re planted in the back 40, and the landscrapers dont molest them with shears, they do very well.
 
Basswood said:
American hornbeam seem to naturally thrive on full shade but not sure I agree for European being a full shade. Pretty common landscape plant as hedging or anchoring trees and almost always planted in full sun around here. They do well until they are planted alongside a road/driveway/house. Those I see commonly plagued with scale, mites and anthracnose. But if they’re planted in the back 40, and the landscrapers dont molest them with shears, they do very well.
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Agree. European hornbeam is a different animal and doesn’t seem to mind full sun. But Reflective heat can = problems like you mention.
 
macrocarpa said:
I’ve concluded a lot of those small-medium size cool natives need protection from the west and lots of soil conditioning. At least where I live now. Some older parts of town like German Village seem to have nice deep rich soils that I don’t have the pleasure to work with very often.
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More alkaline or acid soil base where you are?
 
Basswood said:
I’m not a fan of maple species as street trees.

London Plane seems to always do great.

Ginkgo is excellent especially if you can avoid co dominant leaders with included bark.

Honey locust do well but require a bit of maintenance to avoid that mess.

Hardy rubber tree is a rarity but I’ve seen them looking very happy in Brooklyn.

Carpinus seems like a good idea in theory but the ones I’ve seen used in urban and city areas around here (NY/CT/MA) don’t seem to jive well with the typical urban stressors. Can’t say I’ve pin pointed exactly what it is but they seem to get all kinds of pests and pathogens. My theory is it’s the heat refraction from pavements and buildings and/or maybe don’t do well with urban pollution.

What about sourwood? I’ve been recommending this under utilized tree left and right. But like Carpinus not a true shade tree.
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I will have to look in to sourwood more. My experience with them is just in the forest. Seems like a tree that likes some acidity? I always associate them along side sassafras and in my mind visualize pileated woodpecker holes on the trunks lol.
 
macrocarpa said:
I will have to look in to sourwood more. My experience with them is just in the forest. Seems like a tree that likes some acidity? I always associate them along side sassafras and in my mind visualize pileated woodpecker holes on the trunks lol.
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I don't know that I've seen one in the woods outside the mountains of Appalachia.
 
macrocarpa said:
I will have to look in to sourwood more. My experience with them is just in the forest. Seems like a tree that likes some acidity? I always associate them along side sassafras and in my mind visualize pileated woodpecker holes on the trunks lol.
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Can’t say I know the soil type preference. Around here in the northeast they’re mostly occasional planted trees.
 
Hey how about a columnar oak, like red spire ?

It’s funny to me to think of sourwood as a street tree. I have seen them planted a bit for pollinators and on campus lawns. I’ve not seen a nice one yet though. Lots of normal scraggly ones in the forest here and in edges. It’s a scary tree to climb usually!
 
Neill said:
Hey how about a columnar oak, like red spire ?

It’s funny to me to think of sourwood as a street tree. I have seen them planted a bit for pollinators and on campus lawns. I’ve not seen a nice one yet though. Lots of normal scraggly ones in the forest here and in edges. It’s a scary tree to climb usually!
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Interesting you mention that. Over the past several months I’ve noticed columnar oaks planted various places that look to be doing good and wonder why they rarely get brought up in these discussions.

Below are links to 2 that come up from a quick search. 45’ x 15’ fits nicely for many urban niches.

Streetspire oak


Crimsonspire oak

 
There are a couple of upright oaks on Main Cross at Main St. by the courthouse that are pretty decent sized if you want to see them in action next time you are in town.

Screen shot from Google Maps street view attached.

upright oaks.jpg

(Looks like the Google car also got a live action shot of somebody showing up for their day in court for that DUI...)
 
Basswood said:
Those columnar oaks get filthy! They seem to accumulate a lot of interior deadwood, and as it all breaks down and decomposes it seems to just build up at the base. I used to think they were great trees until I worked on them.
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I’ve seen the interiors of unpruned ones and it is a hairball mess. They would definitely need routine pruning to keep the interior branching spaced out.
 
Basswood said:
Those columnar oaks get filthy! They seem to accumulate a lot of interior deadwood, and as it all breaks down and decomposes it seems to just build up at the base. I used to think they were great trees until I worked on them.
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Good to know, I use to think they were pretty stupid trees until I saw a fairly large one at the arboretum.
Since then I’ve planted many and I’ve been impressed. They do have a silly ugly duckling phase
 
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