Before You Plant Residential
Street Trees
A tree in a community is everything; a source of beauty, an air purifier, a heat
modifier, a soil stabilizer, wildlife habitat and even instrumental in adding value to your
property. Remember that trees listed as short generally tend to be wide-spreading and
have lower branches so that they can effectively take up more space than tallergrowing varieties.
The top 6 things to ask yourself and consider as you select
your tree and planting site:
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Why is the tree being planted?
• Do you want the tree to provide shade, flowers, seasonal color, or act as a
windbreak or screen? Maybe serve more than one function?
What is the size and location of the planting site?
• What is the ground width between impervious surfaces like roads, sidewalks,
curbs, and driveways? The average property can host one or two street trees
in front, corner properties can usually host many more trees.
What conditions exist at the site?
• Is the soil deep, fertile, and well drained, or is it shallow, compacted, and
infertile? How much sunlight is available?
Is water readily available or does the tree need irrigation?
Is there anything close by that might be in the way of your tree as it grows?
• Such as buildings, other trees, street signs, lighting or visibility?
• Are there overhead or below utilities in the vicinity?
What type of maintenance are you willing to provide?
• Do you have time to water, fertilize, and prune the tree until it is established, or
will you be relying on a garden or tree service for assistance? Tall trees can
form a shady canopy with their lower limbs removed and provide more
ecological benefits with less frequent maintenance than short trees.
Did you know?
In Tacoma, the abutting property owner has the responsibility to maintain healthy
and non-hazardous street tree(s) in perpetuity. Please refer to Tacoma Municipal Code
Chapter 8.30, 9.17, and 9.18 for more information.
Take the time… Plan before you plant.
Taking time to answer these questions and any others that might arise could save
you money, time, and headaches later. Proper tree selection and placement enhances
your property value, prevents costly and sometimes unsightly maintenance trimming,
and lowers the risk of damage to your home and property. Trees planted in the wrong
sites can uplift sidewalks, become tangled in power lines, obstruct sight distance, block
signs, create dark shadows if blocking a streetlight and become unhealthy and
unattractive in the wrong site and/or without proper care over the time.
Right tree, right place.
Tacoma has standards that must be followed to ensure clearance over streets
and sidewalks, open site lines, and unhindered utilities. This is to keep Tacoma safe and
beautiful for everyone. Please see the following table for the standards.
Minimum distance to…
Other Trees
Utility Poles or Property Lines
Underground Utilities
Driveways or Hydrants
Street Corners
Inside Curb or Sidewalk
narrow trees
20’
5’
5’
10’
25’
2’
medium trees
25’
7’
7’
10’
25’
2’
wide trees
30’
7’
7’
10’
25’
2’
City standards require 14 feet of vertical clearance over streets for vehicles, and 8
feet over sidewalks for pedestrians.
The appropriate sight distance length for pedestrians, vehicles, and signage is 10
feet times the speed limit. For example, a stop sign on a typical residential street of 25
mph would require 250 feet of clear vision to the stop sign. Signage can include
regulatory, warning, transit, and others city installed signs.
Before you dig…
Identify any underground utilities that may impact the location of your trees. Call the
utility locator service at 1-800-424-5555.
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Indicate all addresses participating in your project
Indicate that you have a “pre-planning locate request,” and that you will not be
digging right away, but need the utility locations marked.
A representative from each utility will come out to mark the locations of their buried
lines. For the utility color code and more information go to www.callbeforeyoudig.com.
For questions about tree clearances from power lines, tree removal or
related issues, please contact Tacoma Power at 253-502-8729.
Consider planting for energy conservation…
Image courtesy of AmericanForests.org
…better for you and your environment
Planting trees around your home will conserve energy and lower the cost of utility
bills. Three well-placed deciduous (leaf-losing) trees on the east, south, and west sides of
a home will shade it from summer sun and lower air conditioning costs by 10 to 50
percent. In addition to saving money, conserving energy directly translates to less carbon
dioxide produced at the power plants.
Some trees are not allowed as street trees in Tacoma.
We believe the following trees are not good street trees (and therefore prohibit
them) for various reasons: some species have aggressive roots (bad for sewers and
sidewalks) and some have brittle wood that doesn’t handle our wind storms well. For
more information, please see Tacoma Municipal Code Chapter 9.18. This list may be
updated at any time at the discretion of the city’s Public Works Department.
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Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
Poplar/Cottonwood (Populus nigra, P. fremontii, P. deltoides )
Gum (Eucalyptus sp.)
Willow (Salix sp.)
Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia )
Nut Trees and Fruit Trees (including some ornamental types to be determined by
the Director)
Any other tree which breeds disease dangerous to other trees or to public health,
or having growth characteristics similar to those set forth above.
What we recommend
The Tacoma Recommended Street Tree List is organized by planting site size (ground
width), then by height. Utility friendly (short trees) are in the highlighted boxes. We
considered each variety’s mature size, branching habit, and possible root problems
before deciding where it can be placed.
You may notice that some common trees are not on the list. Some very popular trees
have frequent disease or insect problems; some have consistently caused sidewalk
damage, and others are over-planted in the city. In order to ensure diversity, which
helps prevent disease and insect epidemics, the over-planted trees are not
recommended. Some were left off simply because they are not commonly available or
because we wanted to keep the list manageable.
If there is a particular tree type you wish to plant that is not on this list, please contact the
Urban Forester, Ramie Pierce at 253.591.2048 or [email protected] to investigate
whether the tree is suitable.
Information was gathered from (and more can be found at) the following: