2022 Tree Options

Evaluate your planting site and this year's tree options. Select the tree best suited for your space.

  • Yard space? Choose the largest tree appropriate for the site to maximize the benefits to your yard and neighborhood.
  • Planting along the street? Review the minimum planting strip width requirements before selecting your tree.
  • Under power lines? Select one of the power line approved trees that reaches a maximum height of 25 feet.

The power line approved trees are the most popular species we offer. Please apply for power line approved trees only if you are planting under high voltage power lines.

Download the 2022 tree guide to help you decide which tree is best for your space or to share with your friends and neighbors. You can also click on the name of each tree below for a page with more detailed information and links. 

Yard Trees (in limited situations for streets) Height / Spread

Street Tree Planting Strip Width

Description

Incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens)

SOLD OUT
55' / 20'
12+ feet

Lovely, lush and almost fluffy in appearance, this evergreen has glossy, bright green foliage and a pyramidal growth habit. Native to northern California and Oregon, the tree is adaptable to a variety of growing conditions from wet to dry and will grow very quickly in sunny, moist areas. 

5 gallon container tree

Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii var. leucodermis)

SOLD OUT
60' / 20'
12+ feet

In youth this pine is slower growing with a dense, upright habit. With age it takes on a more open and layered habit yet keeps that pyramidal form. Some attractive details of this tree include upright bundles of dark green needles, bluish-purple young cones, and grayish-white young stems.  

7 gallon container tree

Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana)

SOLD OUT
60' / 20'
12 + feet

A lush fir with pyramidal form. The flat sprays of needles are dark green above with white bands below. This attractive feature has led to their increasing popularity as Christmas trees.

5 gallon container tree

Excelsa Western red cedar (Thuja plicata 'Excelsa')

SOLD OUT
40' / 15'
12 + feet

A smaller denser form of our native Western red cedar. Great for screening as they would not require you to get out the hedge trimmers. They are tolerant of damp soils.

7 gallon container tree

Street Trees (for yards too!)

Height / Spread Street Tree Planting Strip    Width                  Description

Yellowwood (Cladrastus kentuckea)

SOLD OUT

40' / 30'
6 + feet

This pea family tree has compound leaves (one leaf made up of 7-9 leaflets) that go from yellow green in the spring to bright green and then clear yellow in the fall. Once established, this attractive medium sized tree blooms in late spring, with beautiful fragrant white flowers resembling wisteria.

7 gallon container tree

Wildfire black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica 'Wildfire')

SOLD OUT
40' / 20'
6+ feet

A colorful tree all year long. The new growth is bronzy red before turning glossy green. Fall color is a mélange of red, orange, and yellow. Add to that the consistent form and adaptable performance and you have one remarkable tree.

7 gallon container tree

Autumn Gold ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold')

SOLD OUT
50' / 30'
6 + feet

This is a broadly pyramidal male selection of ginkgo that doesn’t produce stinky fruit. The uniquely fan shaped leaves are medium green turning to a beautiful gold in the fall. Tolerant of tough urban conditions, this a great choice for your planting strip or yard.

7 gallon container tree

Skyline honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos 'Skycole')

SOLD OUT
50' / 30'
8 + feet

A thornless and nearly seedless cultivar of a tough urban tree. The compound leaves on this tree are made up of tiny leaflets that result in a tree that casts lite shade. This fern-like foliage turns an attractive golden yellow in the fall. Pyramidal in youth with a central leader, this cultivar develops a more reliable structure than the species.

7 gallon container tree

Forest Green Italian oak (Quercus frainetto 'Schmidt')

SOLD OUT
50' / 30'
8 + feet

Also known as the Hungarian oak, it is a majestic shade tree with an upright habit that is vigorous in youth and drought resistant when established. One of its most alluring features are the glossy dark green leaves with rounded lobes that turn yellow-russet in fall. The acorns are a great food source for wildlife.

7 gallon container tree

Power Line Approved Trees Height / Spread Street Tree Planting Strip Width Description

American smoke tree
(Cotinus obovatus

SOLD OUT
25' / 20'
5+ feet

A small tree with many favorable attributes. The blue-green leaves of summer turn to riot of yellow, orange, red, and reddish purple in the fall. After the flowers are spent in mid- summer, they produce little hairs that give the tree its “smokey” appearance. Older specimens develop scaly bark that is attractive in winter. This tree performs well in tough urban conditions.

7 gallon container tree

Edith Bogue Southern magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora 'Edith Bogue')
SOLD OUT
25' / 25'
5+ feet

A beautiful street or yard tree with evergreen foliage that works well under power lines. This cultivar has strong winter hardiness and is a great performer in the Pacific Northwest. The large white flowers have an unforgettable fragrance that you will look forward to year after year.   

5 gallon container tree


Goldenrain tree
(Koelreuteria paniculata)

SOLD OUT
30' / 30'
5+ feet

This round tree makes an excellent street tree, especially under power lines. The compound leaves emerge a salmon color that becomes green in the summer and yellow in the fall. The tree's bright yellow flowers are showy and bloom in mid-summer. They give way to a lantern-like capsule that goes from yellow to pink and then brown in the winter.

7 gallon container trees

Wisconsin Red American hornbeam
(Carpinus caroliniana ‘Wisconsin Red’)

SOLD OUT
25' / 20'
5+ feet

A cultivar of a charming small deciduous tree, native to the eastern US, that works well under power lines and along the street. This tree produces an attractive dark green, wide-spreading canopy that turns red and orange in the fall. The smooth gray trunk has distinctive muscle like fluting evoking its other common name, musclewood.

7 gallon container trees

Contact us at treesforneighborhoods@seattle.gov or (206) 684-3979 with questions.