Linn-Mar Trees Forever Volunteers
Street Tree and Windbreak Planting Lists
Assignment Due January 25
1. Create a list of 5-10 street trees that may be suitable for the 10th Street planting project.
Use the on-line resources listed below (and other websites if you want). Briefly explain why
you selected the trees. Trees should match the following criteria:
a. Hardy in zone 5 or colder (zones get smaller as they get colder)
b. Medium or large trees to provide good shade for people using the trail/sidewalk.
There are no overhead lines to avoid.
c. Suitable for use as street trees (use the Cedar Rapids list in addition to the tree
selector to determine this)
d. Tolerant of salt (salt is used on roads and sidewalks to melt ice in winter).
e. Tolerant of compacted soil (the soil was recently put in place and leveled by heavy
machinery)
f. Grow well in full sun
2. Create a list of 5-10 windbreak trees that might be suitable for the Oak Ridge School
windbreak. Briefly explain why you selected the trees. The tree selector doesn’t have a very
complete list, so use the Kelly Tree Farm site as well. Trees should match the following
criteria (we may narrow down lists later once we can assess the site in depth):
a. Hardy in zone 5 or colder
b. Evergreen trees
c. Grow well in full sun
d. Avoid trees with short lives or disease problems
e. Trees that don’t need great drainage are preferred (site is probably compacted)
On-line Tree Resources
University of Illinois Extension Tree Selector
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treeselector/
Practice using this site to find trees hardy in zone 5 and lower (the lower the number, the
colder the climate zone). Try searching for trees with different characteristics and tolerances.
Look for trees that are good street trees, and trees that are good windbreak trees. You can
search for trees that meet all your requirements by clicking the “search trees” button. This site
does not have all the possible trees, so it shouldn’t be your only resource.
City of Cedar Rapids Street Tree Lists
http://www.cedar-rapids.org/government/departments/publicworks/forestry/pages/streettreeplacement.aspx (or just Google Cedar Rapids street trees)
Use this list as a beginning guide for what trees we should be good street trees in Marion and
which ones we should avoid. Use this list to narrow down your street tree list. You can also
suggest some trees that are on the acceptable list, but weren’t listed on the tree selector page.
Iowa State University Extension Farmstead Windbreak Planning
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1716.pdf
Read this to get an idea of how windbreaks work and the basics of designing them. This does
not list species, but it will help you understand why tall, evergreen trees will be important to
protect the school from winter winds.
Kelly Tree Farm Windbreak Trees
http://www.kellytreefarm.com/windbreak.html
Read this to get an idea of which trees are available locally for windbreaks. Read the
descriptions of the trees and make a list of some that you think would be good for a large
windbreak planted out in the open.