hey PMS... hmmm..

where are you ...

hard to believe these geniuses have norway near sidewalks ...

and pears and honey locust on this list.. [gotta love what pasting does ... lol]

now.. refresh my memory .. parkway is not a MI term.. are we talking the easement between sidewalk and road .. which theoretically is a street easement.. and not even yours to plant in???

you arent going to be gardening under it.. way out there.. so a maple will be safe for 30 to 40 years.. before it heaves the sidewalks ... if you can find one that is sterile and wont drop 50 billion helicopters every spring .... and has nice color ....

BTW ... modern pipes to sewers etc????? .. clearly let us know if old pipes ....

i dont trust elms ... no real reason.. just some gut feeling they are all going to die ... [i didnt say it was reasonable...] ...

i favor oak ... any one of them ... no real reason you cant have 2 ...

ken

Thanks for the response Ken. Hope all is well with you. We are located in a western suburb of Chicago and I am refering to the area between the sidewalk and street. The city allows us to plant trees in this area but they must be one of the ones listed above and at least 2.5" caliper. There are no utilities on this side of the driveway so that is not an issue. The only reason I shy away from an oak is that the neighbor next to us has one (three in a row) and our subdivision has a variety of the trees listed planted on the parkways.

FTR: "Easement" in nearly all cases, you still "own" the property, but whatever entity that "own" the easement has the "right" to largely as they see fit. i.e. dig it up for more lines, repair work etc. In the case of "Right of Way" then the property line is usually the same as the ROW line.

These are where I would start.
State Street Miaybe Maple - Acer miyabei Morton
'Autumn Gold' Ginkgo - Ginkgo biloba, �Autumn Gold�
'Magyar' Ginkgo - Ginkgo biloba,�Magyar'
'Princeton Sentry' Ginkgo - Ginkgo biloba
'Espresso' Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioica, 'Espresso'
'Prairie Titan' Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioica 'Prairie Titan'

There are others on that list, that certainly would work. Being that close to the road IMHO salt tolerance is very important, which would eliminate the Sugar Maples among others. If you want something less common, then the Acer miyabei and Gymnocladus dioica would seem the best choice.

Arktrees

Personally I would go with...

American Linden - Tilia americana spp.
Littleleaf Linden - Tilia cordata, spp.
Silver Linden - Tilia tomentosa, spp.
Redmond Linden - Tilia ‘Redmond’
Glenleven Linden - Tilia x flavescens ‘Glenleven’

Linden flowers in early summer are amazing. The smell is orgasmic, great nectar source for bees too. They are a common street tree to the north of you here in Sheboygan, WI. Norway maple is also a common street tree as its very resistant to salt but its not very useful. Imagine picking and drying some linden flowers at the height of potency. Makes a great anti-inflamatory tea. Good flavor and relaxing. hmmm, I hear my tea kettle now.....

I'll mention this one more time and then won't bother us with it anymore: 10-20-30 rule for tree diversity in urban forests Check down about 8 January.

Albert 135,

Funny about that 10-20-30 rule. I probably am the only one on the street with taxodium trees that I planted in the front yard. They only thing the landscapers plant are Live Oak. I have two but will eventually get rid of when taxodium plants are big enough. I live in a greenbelt community (lots of green spaces between backyards, etc) that are dominated by old Escarpment Live Oak trees and juniper/cedar. Haven't they heard of Oak Wilt?

With the fall color requirement, hands down one of these three. You'll get a nice golden color from these three. I couldn't find a red that I liked for the site.

Acer miyabei Morton
Any one of the Ginkgos
Silver Linden

Surprised they still have all those Norway maple selections on the list.

I have a Prairie Titan Coffeetree that I love. I think they should be planted more. I also have a Triumph Elm that I planted about 4 years ago and have pleasantly surprised with the form and growth rate. Can't say I really notice the fall color on the Elm but the Coffeetree is beautiful b/c of the type of leaves.

Nice to hear about 'Triumph' elm, kriss. So far, of all hybrid elms I've seen, that's my favorite. I'd certainly feel pretty good about having one of those out on my terrace.

+oM

i am in adrian MI .. nearly .. literally .... due east of you 4 hours ... [5 hours going the other way.. lol]

gingko is extremely slow for me ...

i understand it is much more aggressive as you go south of us ...

so if speed is an issue.. you might want to research how aggressive they are in your area ...

ken

I vote ‘Princeton’ Elm - Ulmus americana, spp. ‘Princeton’. Princeton Elm is highly resistant to DED and Elm Yellows plus they are the classic American street tree and they are native.