Order Street Trees Now for Fall Planting
The ‘Shademaster’ honey locust, one of the trees available in this year’s street tree program.
A variety of street trees is now available from Swarthmore’s Street Tree Committee to borough residents who wish to add beauty and value to their properties this year. The ordering deadline is Tuesday, September 24, for a limited number of trees, all available at the bargain price of $125, including planting and mulching. Order forms are available at the borough office, or print and complete the form available here. Trees will be planted this fall as weather permits. For more information, please contact Karol Bock at 484-472-8639.
Large Trees
Should not be planted under utility lines, and require a curb strip greater than five feet wide.
Acer saccharum. Fall Fiesta sugar maple is large (60 feet tall) and one of the most attractive trees for its scarlet fall color. This selection is one of the better maples for our area. This tree grows fast when young and it needs plenty of room for it to mature, growing in full to mostly-full sun.
Ginkgo biloba ‘Magyar.’ The maidenhair tree can reach 50-70 feet tall at maturity, with beautiful golden autumn foliage. Ginkgos are very tolerant of street tree conditions. This selection has upright, ascending branches and is a male selection so it doesn’t get the messy, smelly fruit.
Gymnocladus dioicus ‘Espresso.’ Kentucky coffee tree is a native tree that reaches 50 feet or more in height when mature. It had large compound leaves, but very small leaflets so fall cleanup is easy! Espresso is a seedless cultivar so there is no mess from seed pods. This tree is very adaptable and tough, and has a golden yellow autumn color.
Tilia Americana. American Sentry, a cultivar of our native American linden, grows 50 to 80 feet tall and prefers a well-drained soil (it will even tolerate drought once established) in full to partial sun. Lindens flower in early summer with a very distinctive sweet floral fragrance. Leaves are oval and turn light yellow in autumn.
Medium-sized Trees
Suitable for planting under utility lines and in narrower curb strips (less than five feet wide).
Acer griseum. Paperbark maple is a small (20 to 30 feet tall) oval to oval-rounded tree that is particularly noted for its exfoliating (peeling) copper-orange to cinnamon reddish/brown bark and showy orange to red fall color. It prefers full-sun to part-shade in moist, well-drained soil.
Aesculus x carnea ‘Fort McNair.’ The red horse chestnut is a hybrid between a horse chestnut and a buckeye. It is a medium-sized tree growing to 30 to 40 feet tall, with prominent rose-red flowers in May, and some resistance to foliage blotch in the summer. It prefers full sun to light shade.
Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis ‘Shademaster.’ This honey locust is a medium-sized (45 feet tall), open, airy tree that has tiny leaflets. Autumn color is a clear gold and the leaves are so small there is little to rake up. It is a strong grower and has a vase-shaped form when young, maturing into a more rounded shape.
Ostrya virginiana. The American hophornbeam is a native east-coast tree that naturally grows below high canopy shade trees like oaks and maples. It will grow 25 to 40 feet tall and can grow in average soil in full sun to partial shade. Its leaves turns a pale yellow in the autumn. The common name hophornbeam comes from the sac-like seed-bearing pods which resemble the seed pods of the hops vine.
Prunus ‘Snow Goose.’ This white-flowered ornamental cherry grows 20 to 25 feet tall. It is upright in youth, but becomes wider-growing with age. The single, pure white blossoms appear on naked branches in April. Autumn foliage is yellow to red. It prefers to grow in full sun and well-drained soil.
