5 Great Shade Trees for Your Yard
Recommended by the Swarthmore Horticultural Society

Planting trees on your property provides multiple benefits in addition to the aesthetics of their own natural beauty. Hard working trees make our whole world greener and healthier, improving our air and water. Trees also cool your home naturally and quietly. Native species and varieties are adapted to our climate and provide crucial support for mammals, birds, and beneficial insects. For more on this topic, click the link to this article "Bugs in the Backyard" as published in the Swarthmorean.

Below, are descriptions of five native shade trees recommended by the Swarthmore Horticultural Society. Swarthmore Borough residents can take advantage of the street tree program to get a low-cost tree (planting and mulch included).
Large Canopy:
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1.  Sugar Maple - Acer saccharum ‘Green Mountain’ - a large maple (60 feet tall) that is 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.  Sugar maples line Whittier Place, the north entrance to Swarthmore College.
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2.  Sour Gum - Nyssa sylvatica 'Red Rage' – Our native sour gum has a tight pyramidal shape when young, but is a more graceful ascending structure at maturity up to 50 feet.  This tree has handsome orange to scarlet to purple leaves in autumn.  This selection has glossy foliage and its foliage is resistant to leaf spots
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3.  Green Pillar Pin Oak - Quercus palustris ‘Pringreen’ - a Gold Medal selection from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.  This native oak has glossy green leaves in summer followed by maroon-red autumn color.  It has a very narrow, columnar habit and will reach 50 feet high but only 15 feet wide.  Not suitable for everywhere, but if width is a problem this tree may work for very narrow spaces.
Medium Canopy:
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4.  Yellowwood - Cladrastis kentukea  - a vase-shaped, medium-sized (30 to 50 feet tall) tree when young, yellowwood flowers in May with white chains hanging below the foliage.  This native tree has nice yellow to golden fall color and the bark is smooth and gray resembling a beech tree.
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5.  Honeylocust - Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Halka’ - a medium-sized (40’) 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.  Halka is a strong grower and has a round-headed form when mature.  Honeylocusts are planted in the parking lot at the Fieldhouse at Swarthmore College.
Where to plant:
Plant trees so they will shade east-facing walls and windows from 7 to 11 a.m. and west-facing surfaces from 3 to 7 p.m.during June, July, and August.  Plant smaller deciduous or evergreen trees with lower limbs northwest and northeast of the building to provide late afternoon and early morning shade.

The cool factor of trees
Trees cool your home naturally and quietly...
  • One healthy tree has the cooling effect equal to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day
  • Air conditioning units in the shade run more efficiently, as long as there’s plenty of space for good air circulation.
  • Trees can add thousands of dollars to the property value of your home
  • Neighborhoods with well-shaded trees can be up to 10 degrees cooler
 
Improving our air, water, and more…
Hard working trees make our whole world greener and healthier...
  • Trees produce oxygen and help purify the air we breathe
  • A single mature tree can absorb more than 200 lbs of air pollution and 16,000 gallons of stormwater runoff per year
  • Trees reduce urban flooding—and the City’s stormwater costs
  • Leaves capture rainwater and tree roots help stabilize the soil
  • Planting shade trees over paved surfaces helps prevent polluted water from reaching our streams & rivers
  • Trees provide habitat for birds and wildlife