Trees

Trees are wonderful additions to any landscape. Beyond their grace and beauty, they help clean the air, screen unwanted views and provide needed privacy, protect us from severe weather, cool us during the hot summer, provide fruit, nutmeats, and flowers, increase our property value, and so much more.

As with any plant, select and place your trees carefully. Some considerations include:

• Select trees that are appropriate for our climate.
  
  
• Select trees that match your garden's particular growing conditions, such as available sun, shading from other trees, wind exposure, available moisture, etc.
  
  
• Consider the mature size of the tree prior to planting. A lovely young tree may eventually outgrow its available area, smothering everything around it.
  
  
• Plant the tree properly, provide the needed care, and protect it from damage. Give your tree a good start in the right spot, and it may live for centuries!
  
  
• Consider the impact of the tree on your other garden features. You want to avoid problems such as bare patches of lawn caused by its shade, suckering in your lawn, heaved sidewalks and patios, roots infiltrating your septic system, bushels of fall leaves in your pool or on the lawn, and the like.
  
  
• Consider the impact that the tree might have on your home, such as channeling wind in an unwanted direction, overhanging and damaging the structure, shading windows you wish to keep sunny, blocking views, and the like.

Tree Lists

The Saving Water Partnership, a consortium of 18 water utilities, publishes a list of plants which have done very well in Western Washington. Below are the trees from their publication, with both the scientific and common names.

• Wet Winter/Dry Summer Trees. The following trees are some of the best at faring well in very wet winter soils, often due to slow drainage or constant seepage, and dry summer soils.

  Acer circinatum (vine maple)
  Betula albosinensis var.septentrionalis (chinese red birch)
  Betula nigra (river birch)
  Betula utilis var. jacquemontii (himalayan white birch)
  Crataegus laevigata and cultivars (english hawthorn)
  Liquidambar styraciflua (american sweet gum)
  Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood)
  Pinus contorta var. contorta (shore pine)
  Quercus palustris (pin oak)

• Moisture-Loving Trees. Here are a variety of trees that can thrive with moist or wet conditions throughout the year, including poor drainage.

  Amelanchier canadensis (serviceberry)
  Betula albosinensis var. septentrionalis (chinese red birch)
  Betula nigra (river birch)
  Betula utilis var. jacquemontii (himalayan white birch)
  Liquidambar styraciflua (american sweet gum)
  Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood)
  Nyssa sinensis (chinese tupelo)
  Nyssa sylvatica (black gum)
  Taxodium distichum (bald cypress)

• Favorite Pacific Northwest Native Trees. These are among the most garden-worthy native trees available in local nurseries. When buying natives, ask to make sure the plants are nursery-propagated to avoid harming natural plant environments in the wild.

  Abies grandis (grand fir)
  Abies procera (noble fir)
  Acer circinatum (vine maple)
  Calocedrus decurrens (incense cedar)
  Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (weeping yellow cedar)
  Malus fusca (pacific crabapple)
  Pinus contorta var. contorta (shore pine)
  Quercus garryana (garry oak)
  Tsuga mertensiana (mountain hemlock)

• Drought-Tolerant Trees. The following trees can survive with little or no supplemental watering, besides rainfall, after they are established, a process that usually takes 2 to 3 years. As a general rule, these plants need good drainage in winter.

  Acer buergerianum (trident maple)
  Acer griseum (paperbark maple)
  Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala (amur maple)
  Acer triflorum (roughbark maple)
  Betula albosinensis var. septentrionalis (chinese red birch)
  Betula utilis var. jacquemontii (himalayan white birch)
  Calocedrus decurrens (incense cedar)
  Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata' (european hornbeam)
  Cornus mas (cornelian cherry)
  Crataegus x lavalleei (lavalle's hawthorn)
  Fagus sylvatica 'Purple Fountain' (columnar weeping copper beech)
  Fagus sylvatica var. heterophylla 'Aspleniifolia' (fernleaf beech)
  Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' (maidenhair tree)
  Koelreuteria paniculata (goldenrain tree)
  Parrotia persica (persian ironwood)
  Picea omorika (serbian spruce)
  Picea orientalis (oriental spruce)
  Pinus leucodermis (bosnian pine)
  Pinus parviflora f. glauca blue-needled (japanese white pine)
  Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula' (weeping willowleaf pear)
  Sequoiadendron giganteum and cultivars (giant sequoia)
  Trachycarpus fortunei (windmill palm)
  Tsuga mertensiana (mountain hemlock)

Resources:

Further information on trees may be found at the following links:

Urban and Community Forestry: Improving Our Quality Of Life. Southern Center for Urban Forestry Research & Information, USDA Forest Service. Discusses the important functions that trees provide in protecting and enhancing our health and property.

Trees of Washington. WSU Extension Bulletin EB0440. An extensive guide to the native evergreen and broadleaf trees of Washington. Includes an identification key and detailed descriptions of the most common native trees.

Human Dimensions of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. Center for Urban Horticulture, University of Washington. Discusses the benefits of urban forestry.

Twenty-Nine Reasons For Planting Trees. TreeLink. Compiled by Glenn Roloff, USDA Forest Service. List of reasons why we should plant and protect trees.

Tree Zone. TreeLink. A list of tree species expected to grow in particular USDA Hardiness Zones. On this list, the trees for Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, Washington, are in the "Western US" column of Zone 8.

Native Trees. WSU Extension Library. A list of native trees in Western Washington.

Construction Damage to Trees. WSU Extension Bulletin EB1157. The adverse impact on trees of construction grade changes, soil compaction, mechanical injury, and thinning.

Trees Recommended For Seattle. City of Seattle Arborist. While Seattle is not an exact match for our climate, this site has a very nice list of small, medium, and large trees that may be appropriate for urban areas of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties.

Great Plant Picks For Your Garden. Greatplantpicks.org. This site lists the Great Plant Picks for the Pacific Northwest.

The Plant List. The Saving Water Partnership. A list of ornamental plants appropriate for the temperate Pacific Northwest.