Bright pink flowers of redbud - a good choice for planting as a Connecticut street tree
In a recent post about the devastating impact trees have had recently on the lives of many Connecticut residents , Re-Thinking Connecticut’s Street Trees, I mentioned that work was being done on revising an outdated list of appropriate street trees for Connecticut.
The new list, which would include trees with smaller mature statures, would be one facet of the state’s long term plan to begin to mitigate the effects of street trees falling on power lines during storms.
The problem with the outdated list was that it was used by many as a trusted reference for trees that were supposed to be beneficial and worthy of planting here in Connecticut. As it turns out, many of the those trees were simply inappropriate to plant so close to utility lines and some were even on the Connecticut invasive plant list.
New Guidance and Inspiration
Connecticut homeowners, and our towns and cities, now have an update list of trees and shrubs that are appropriate for planting near the street and utility wires. This is a timely resource for anyone who is thinking about replacing a tree(s) lost in the recent storms.
The new list of Connecticut street trees, Trees with Short Mature Heights, is a collaboration by Connecticut College and the Connecticut Agriculture Station. It includes over 40 trees and shrubs that are appropriate choices for planting near the street or power lines since they should not grow to more than 30′ tall.
Golden Shadows pagoda dogwood is another colorful option for Connecticut homeowners.
I’m pleased to see that so many trees and shrubs native to eastern North America are included on the list.
I’m hoping this means some of the more difficult to find native trees, like fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) and pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) will become much more readily available in Connecticut garden centers.
That would be nice if those rare natives were lining the streets…
I understand the need for this. However, I question some of the trees on the list due to how wide they get. Yes, they can be pruned but doesn’t that ruin the beauty? In addition, the list gives heights, but no widths.
Here are some that stood out to me.
Eastern Redbud – I had this tree on my property in Virginia and it must have been 25 feet wide.
Saucer Magnolia – 15 to 25′ wide
Flowering Dogwood – 20′ + wide
These trees are quite wide to be planted as street trees in my opinion. Trees listed such as Star Magnolia (some varieties are quite narrow…8 – 10′W) are better choices. Why not keep the list to trees like this? I can only imagine what these other trees will look like over time with continuous trimming and chopping.
Hi Susan, The purpose of the revised list is to identify trees with shorter mature heights, not necessarily those that are narrow, too. Planting tall trees near the street without any regard for their mature size is a real issue here that has had devastating consequences so any guidance for homeowners, and cities and towns, is quite welcome.
Glad to see small tree and even shrubs are being recommended now. I always wondered why shrubs weren’t planted on the street sides. They grow to an appropriate height and usually have flowers making them a more colourful option.
Marguerite, I’ve wondered the same thing about shrubs myself. Perhaps because you need to be more careful with their siting since they can block views of traffic more with their low,dense foliage.