Selected trees have been grouped by height according to the diagram on page 5, listing zones 1,2 and 3.
The list does not contain all trees suitable for street tree or home grounds planting, but includes some newer trees for planting in the urban environment. The trees included in the lists all have a service life of 20 years or more.
Service life is defined as the time after planting when half of the original plants are still living. Plants have a life span, so future replacements should be considered when planting. Older plants are possible under this concept but increasingly less likely as time progresses.
Trees for sale are labeled with their botanical (genus, species, cultivar) and common names:
| Acer rubrum | 'Franksred' | Red Sunset Red Maple |
| genus species | cultivar | common name |
The cultivar, a part of the botanical name indicated with single quotes in the above example, is a cultivated variety that represents a selection superior to the species because of outstanding foliage, flower or fruit character, branching habit, or disease or pest resistance.
Purchase trees by their botanical name; common names are often confusing. For example, 'Laurel Tree' is a common name applied to Shingle Oak, Sweetbay Magnolia, Mountain Laurel and Laurelcherry, which are vastly different plants. Also, a single plant may have multiple common names. For example, Amelanchier Grandiflora is know as Serviceberry, Shadblow, Sarvis Tree, Juneberry and Amelanchier.
The following trees are currently not recommended for general use in the landscape because they have one or more of the following limiting factors: insect and disease susceptibility, fruit or bark maintenance problems or poor structural stability. These trees should not be totally ignored because several of them have merit as street trees under harsh conditions such as dry soils and pollution. Development of improved selections of these plants may allow them to be used very effectively as street trees in the future. The plants identified as undesirable for general planting are as follows:
Box Elder (Acer negundo)
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanun)
Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Catalpa (Catalpa sp.)
Cottonwood (Populus sp.)
Poplar (Populus sp.)
Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
Willow (Salix sp.)
American Elm (Ulmus americana)
Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila)