i am hesitant to knock your post down .. since i have no experience with linden ...

but if you need an answer ASAP ... before the tree experts roll thru ...

just take what they offer... ITS FREE ....

we can replace it later if linden is not the best choice ...

if you have any dream of gardening under your trees in the future .... oak is the way to go .. and it is an old witches tale.. that they are slow growing ....

ken

Since we don't know where you are, it is hard to make a recommendation.

If you are in the semiarid part of zone 5b, you'll get leaf scorch in the summer. Ask the forestry dept what else they have if you are semiarid and go from there by consulting your state ag extension service and the city street tree/recommended tree list. If you in the perhumid part of z5b, you are fine with that plant.

Dan

I wonder if she lives in Japanese Beetle territory. Sadly, that's the first thing I think of when asked about lindens.

Sorry on the lack of additional details. I live in midwest (Milwaukee) - great lakes region and close to zone 4. DefinitelyNot arid.

We do have Japanese Beetles and that was a concern of mine with the linden, particularly when young. I also have roses and don't need any more attractants.

I have clay soil, which may be why the city chooses lindens. They didn't have other options when I asked. My biggest concern is will it effect our sewer lateral and sewer pipe. If it is not a water loving tree like a maple, I think the chances would go down. Maybe allowing them to plant it and removing it if it is a issue is the best choice. However, I don't know if I can remove it once planted and don't want to waste tax money.

Are your sewer pipes leaking? If not then the trees don't know there's water in there. They're smart but not that smart.

Redmond Linden is a popular cultivar ofthe American Basswood/Linden and not the European/Littleleaf Linden.
I gather they are popular as street trees in that region. One possible negative is they attract bees when in bloom and one possible positive is that they have a fast growth rate but doesn't have the bad reputation of being weak wooded.

I suggest that you take a look at some mature basswoods and see if they are to your liking. They are a bit course textured and grow to be extremely large trees. Then you can decide if you want that in front of your house. There's no need to chicken out and plant a small tree. There are good trees you can use so it one day becomes a nice shaded yard again. This time plant two.

Lindens are much better behaved than silver maple (isn't everything??) & if more than 2m away from pavement will be OK; if your sewer and water are substandard any tree will find the holes in the seals. I'm not sure why the city cutting down a declining tree and offering a new one is an issue. I'm also not sure why the forestry dept says the only choice you have is linden. Maybe you need to ask 3-4-5 people in forestry....

Dan

We had a blockage at one point and pulled out tree roots when cleaning. The maple was only feet from the sewer line and it is a old house, so it is not surprising. The new tree will be planted further away from the pipe.

I think the other trees on my street are lindens, but I'm so bad at identifying trees. From the bark, it looks like lindens from the pictures I looked at online. Also, I don't jump over these trees, but don't frown either if that makes sense.

It isn't an issue the city is offering a tree and I'm happy they ripped out the maple (it scared me with constantly falling large limbs). I'm just going to use the tree as the base for designing the front yard and don't want to find out I based my plan off a horrible tree. Hope that makes sense. I'm just a little confused as some sites classify the these trees as medium trees and others indicate large. Maybe they stay smaller when planted as street trees?

If all the other trees on the street are Lindens, you might want to consider a change just to avoid adding to the monoculture. And let's face it, the same tree as everyone else is just not that interesting.

Can you plant what you want there?

We had a blockage at one point and pulled out tree roots when cleaning. The maple was only feet from the sewer line and it is a old house, so it is not surprising.

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may we then presume that your old rope packed ceramic sewage tiles/pipes were replaced with solidly glued PVC pipes which do not leak.. and will NOT allow a root inside???

the old pipe issue may be moot if state of the art plumbing was installed in place of 100 year old technology

a few more facts please

ken

I find it hard to believe Forestry only has lindens in their yard. Simply call enough people to get to the City Forester to get a choice of trees.

Dan

Why not contact some folks with your Urban and Community Forestry Council? I'll attach a link. You might find some very helpful folks if you persist. Professionals involved in Urban Forestry love people who want their trees to be successful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check this out!

Good street tree for our area but over planted. Most communities (Milwaukee suburbs) aren't planting lindens anymore.

Peronally I'd ask for an alternative..too many pest and disease possibilities.

If you can't get an alternative and you don't have the option to plant your own just let em plant it...its free after all.

In my area, Lindens are small-medium (30'-50') sized, deep green beautiful trees. They grow with a very pyramidal shape and produce a smooth, manicured looking canopy, unlike the coarse appearance we get from cottonwood and green ash. They bloom in early summer and release a spreading fragrance from small, nondescript yellowish flowers. Later, they produce ribbon-like leaves (or samaras?)which have a whitish appearance and give the entire tree a variegated appearance. In the winter, the smaller branches tend to be a reddish brown color and the trunk is a relatively smooth greyish shade. As you can tell, I really like them. However, they are not that common around here which makes them more noticeable. If you have too many around you or have pests that require treatment, then it may not be the best tree due to lack of interest or care requirements.

Yep, beyond Maple, I think Linden is one of the most common street tree in the Milwaukee and Chicago area.

'Sterling Silver' is my favorite Linden.

European Lindens (tilia tomentosa), also known as little leaf lindens are much more commonly used for street trees. The native American Linden, also known as basswood, gets larger, coarse textured and larger leaves kind of like cottonwoods. They grow to 100' tall. Redmond is the latter.

Both have the conical shape in youth. American linden gets rounded with age.