Finding the best trees to plant in your yard in the northeastern United States can be a daunting task as there are so many beautiful species to choose from. In fact, it was a bit difficult to pick just the top five trees to plant on your property in the Northeast United States, but we’ve managed to come up with a list we are quite proud of. Let’s dive in.
The red maple is a great tree to include on your property as it makes wonderful shade without providing a huge mess. It presents pretty red flowers in the spring and goes relatively quickly.
This tree is very tolerant and easy to grow in almost any condition and soil. It will grow to about 50 feet tall, give or take a few feet. Some may even grow as high as 70 feet tall.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful trees you might consider for your yard is the river birch. This medium-height tree is celebrated for its visually pleasing display of peeling bark.
It is considered an ornamental tree, is fast-growing, is wind and ice resistant, and is heat and drought tolerant. The river birch does not like shade, though, so make sure it gets plenty of sunlight.
The red spruce is a native of North America, is coniferous, and can grow 60 to 130 feet high with a trunk diameter of roughly 60 centimeters. The red spruce can live 250 years or more and is very easy to grow.
With its needle-like leaves, grayish-brown bark that is red inside, and pretty cones, the red spruce will make a nice addition to your property.
The tulip poplar, we should warn, is the tallest eastern hardwood, and can reach up to 190 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 10 feet. This tree, native to the eastern United States, is recommended as a shade tree and has beautiful yellowish flowers.
If planted in full sunlight, which it loves, it will actually grow shorter, slower, and rounder and can be great for landscape planting.
We saved the best for last. Arguably the best tree to plant in your yard is the well-known and admired dogwood. This deciduous tree is famous for its showy white flowers that appear in the springtime.
It likes some shade, so it is best to plant it underneath taller trees, such as the tulip poplar or red spruce. This ornamental tree is ubiquitous in landscaping throughout the United States because of its beautiful, wispy nature. It grows best in moist, fertile soil that is high in composted, organic matter.