Hello,
I'm looking into planting 3 boulevard trees this fall. I live in Southern MN, in a new subdivision with buried lines. The city forester said I could plant
Hackberry, Accolade Elms, or Ginko trees.
Anyone care to share their experience/opinion on these trees and which one I should select?

Other trees I could request would be the ones on page 2 of this document, http://www.ci.rochester.mn.us/depart...e_brochure.pdf

I know the forester won't let me plant any maple trees, but I may be able to get him to let me plant something other than the 3 listed if I ask nicely.

 

Ginko is a great cityscape tree. Leaves shrivel and there is little debris. The tree is low maintenance.

 

We have ginko trees where I live and they are beautiful. Great street tree.

Newt

 

Since you are posting in the "Green" landscaping forum I assume you want something that will have some environmental benefit? Ginko will not give you that. They are not native to America and do not provide food for wildlife.

Hackberry is actually a pretty good choice for an urban tree. They grow fairly fast but are not as likely to drop limbs as silver maples or other fast growing trees. They have interesting bark and an attractive structure. But most importantly they produce berries which are a good food source for birds, and the berries are fairly small and hard so they don't make much of a mess when they get to the ground.

 

Thanks for responding. I guess I wasn't really sure where to put this post. I was interested in Green from the point of view that the trees would shade my house and lawn to minimize AC and water usage. We live near a park and there are lots of crab apple trees around for the little birdies to eat so the berries of a hackberry were really not a consideration. I had one person from a tree nursury say that the hackberry doesn't produce any fruit. My online research told me otherwise and she said she had a degree in something and said I was wrong. Is it possible there is a female and male variety of the hackberry?

I almost went with the accolade elms because they will grow faster and provide better shade. The ginko trees that the local nusuries had looked pretty scraggy I decided just to plant some trees in my back yard this fall and wait until next year for the boulevard. If I find some nice looking ginkos I may change my mind again.

 

I'm thinking maybe we should be using botanical names here. Hackberry is known by several other names and is native to several areas of the world. Botanically hackberry is Celtis. There are 60 to 70 species of these trees. The site I'm using for reference is from the University of Florida. It doesn't have pretty pictures, but has loads of descriptive info including facts such as the berries of some can be hard and can be dangerous planted near sidewalks and driveways, surface roots that can lift sidewalks and driveways, mature size, pruning problems and more.

The native US hackberry aka common hackberry aka Celtis occidentalis has male and female flowers on the same tree. I don't know of any sterile cultivars, but there may be some out there.
http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/CELOCCA.pdf

Sugarberry aka sugar hackberry aka Celtis laevigita is also native to the US. I do not know of any fruitless ones.
http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/CELLAEA.pdf

European hackberry aka Mediterranean hackberry aka Celtis australis is not a US native. I don't know of any sterile ones.
http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/CELAUSA.pdf

Japanese hackberry aka Celtis sinensis. I don't know of any sterile cultivars.
http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/CELSINA.pdf


Nettle tree is another name for hackberry. They are related to elm trees aka Ulmus.

I hope that helps.
Newt

 

How about linden or pear many varieties and popular for blvds

 

With no disrespect to Gunguy, I don't think any of the ornamental pears would make a good street tree. They tend to have bad crotches and have brittle wood that can easily break in the wind or with ice load. This was only discovered over time as these trees were planted adnauseum.
The Pros & Cons of Bradford Pears

They have also become invasive in many areas.
Callery pear aka Bradford pear
Callery pear (Bradford pear): Pyrus calleryana (Rosales: Rosaceae)
Bradford pear, Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States

Newt