Choosing a Tree

This video will show you some of the important factors to consider when selecting your tree from a nursery. Identifying your priorities will aid in your selection. Research which species work best in your area. Selecting a native species will aid in your maintenance program, since they are well adapted to your climate. Do you want to create a privacy screen, or a windbreak? Then an evergreen would work well. Deciduous trees provide shade for your house in the summer, while allowing the sun to warm it in the winter.

If you want to find out more about trees in our area you can check out our Tree Species Selection Chart

Trees for Louisiana Landscapes

By Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service

The following lists may provide a general guide for tree selection:

Trees preferring an acid soil:

  • Drummond Red Maple
  • Sugar Maple
  • American Beech
  • PawPaw
  • Flowering Dogwood
  • Sourwood
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • American Holly
  • Dahoon Holly
  • Red Bay
  • Southern Magnolia
  • Sweet Bay
  • Fringe Tree

Trees tolerating dry conditions:

  • Catalpa
  • Carolina Buckthorn
  • Jujube
  • Smooth Sumac
  • Persimmon
  • Yaupon
  • Hackberry
  • Possum-haw Holly
  • Blackhaw Viburnum
  • Parkinsonia
  • Black Locust
  • Crape Myrtle
  • Chinaberry
  • Green Ash
  • Arizona Ash
  • Red Cedar
  • Chinese Pistachio
  • Bradford Flowering Pear
  • Tung-oil-Tree
  • Salt Cedar
  • Chaste Tree
  • Sweetgum

Medium to Large Flowering Tree:

  • Catalpa
  • Sourwood
  • Sassafras
  • Black Locust
  • Tulip Poplar
  • Southern Magnolia
  • Drummond Red Maple
  • Silverbell

Outstanding Small Flowering Trees:

  • Dogwood
  • Tung-oil-Tree
  • Mayhaw
  • Sweetbay Magnolia
  • Parsley Hawthorn
  • Fringe Tree
  • Silverbell
  • Crape Myrtle
  • Native Crabapple
  • Redbud
  • Blackhaw Viburnum
  • Mimosa
  • Parkinsonia
  • Mexican Flowering Plum
  • Red Bay
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • Peach
  • Bradford Flowering Pear
  • Taiwan Cherry
  • Green Hawthorn

Trees Tolerating Less Than Ideal Drainage:

  • Sweetgum
  • Cottonwood
  • Weeping Willow
  • Salt Cedar
  • Mayhaw
  • Parsley Hawthorn
  • Drummond Red Maple
  • Sweet-bay Magnolia
  • Blackhaw Viburnum
  • Possumhaw Holly
  • Wax Myrtle
  • Dahoon Holly
  • Yaupon
  • Persimmon
  • Rough-leaf Dogwood
  • River Birch
  • Cypress
  • Tupelo Gum

Trees with Attractive Berries or Fruit:

  • Carolina Buckthorn
  • Flowering Dogwood
  • Dahoon Holly
  • Yaupon
  • Possumhaw Holly
  • Parsley Hawthorne
  • Bur Oak
  • Drummond Red Maple
  • Sweet Gum
  • Black Cherry
  • Chinese Tallow
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • Persimmon
  • Mayhaw
  • Crabapple

Trees with Edible Fruit or Seeds:

  • Crabapple
  • Jujube
  • PawPaw
  • Persimmon
  • Japanese Persimmon
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • Loquat
  • Mexican Plum
  • Pear
  • Native Crabapple
  • Black Cherry
  • Pecan
  • Shagbark Hickory
  • Peach

Trees Frequently Providing Good Fall Color:

  • American Beech
  • Red Oak
  • Bur Oak
  • Water Oak
  • Pin Oak
  • Willow Oak
  • Smooth Sumac
  • Flowering Dogwood
  • Black Gum
  • Japanese Persimmon
  • Persimmon
  • Cedar Elm
  • Sweetgum
  • American Elm
  • Gingko
  • Sourwood
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • Blackhaw Viburnum
  • Sassafras
  • Crape Myrtle
  • Tulip Poplar
  • Drummond Red Maple
  • Sugar Maple
  • Cypress
  • Bradford Flowering Pear
  • Shagbark Hickory
  • Cyrilla
  • Chinese Pistachio

Trees Appropriate for Street or Parkway Plantings:

  • Windmill Palm
  • Sabal Palm
  • Oriental Magnolia
  • Pin Oak
  • White Oak
  • Shumard Oak
  • Water Oak
  • Bur Oak
  • Cedar Elm
  • Small-leaf Elm
  • American Elm
  • Crape Myrtle
  • Sugar Maple
  • Thornless Honey Locust
  • American Holly
  • Bradford Flowering Pear
  • Dahoon Holly
  • Dogwood
  • Fringe Tree
  • Ginkgo
  • Sycamore
  • Tulip Poplar

Trees Attractive to Birds & Other Wildlife:

  • Yaupon
  • American Beech
  • American Holly
  • American Hornbeam
  • Black Cherry
  • Bradford Flowering Pear
  • Dahoon Holly
  • Eastern Red Cedar
  • Dogwood
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • Wax Myrtle
  • Sumac
  • Jujube
  • Mayhaw
  • Mexican Plum
  • Parsley Hawthorn
  • Pawpaw
  • Pecan
  • Persimmon
  • Possum-haw Holly
  • Shagbark Hickory
  • Silverbell
  • Crabapple
  • Chinese Pistachio

Fast Growing Shade Trees:

  • Water Oak
  • Shumard Oak
  • American Elm
  • Cedar Elm
  • Small-leaf Elm
  • Honey Locust
  • Drummond Red Maple
  • Cottonwood
  • Bald Cypress (first 7-10 years)
  • Bradford Flowering Pear
  • Chinaberry
  • Tallow
  • Green Ash
  • Hackberry
  • Tree Ligustrum
  • Mimosa
  • Redbud
  • Sycamore

Trees Having Interesting Trunks:

  • River Birch
  • White Oak
  • Crape Myrtle
  • American Hornbeam
  • Black Cherry
  • Chinese Parasol Tree
  • Tree Huckleberry
  • Jujube
  • Parsley Hawthorn
  • River Birch
  • Mayhaw
  • Shagbark Hickory

Trees Having Fragrant Blossoms:

  • Magnolia
  • Black Locust
  • Devilwood Osmanthus
  • Parkinsonia
  • Mexican Plum
  • Crabapple
  • Sweet Bay Magnolia

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