City of New Haven Parks - Trees

Reporting Problem Trees

The City of New Haven has 32,000 street trees city-wide. The New Haven Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees maintains tree maintenance crews year round. Please read the information below when regarding tree problems and recommended tree types for planting on city streets.

The process for reporting problem or dead trees: Call the Tree Line: 203-946-8004 Your call will be inspected and then prioritized by the City arborist. Tree work will be prioritized based upon the level of hazard a particular tree presents. Depending on severity (hollow, rotten or damaged, etc.) the tree is filed for removal or maintenance by a tree crew. The Tree Line: 203-946-8004 Factors that are taken into account during the inspection process to Prioritize work are: Site analysis where potential targets are identified such as Pedestrians, Public or private property, vehicles, etc. Tree Defects such as: Hanging branches (Hangers), Dead Branches, Wood Decay, Hollow Cavities, Dead or Loose Bark, Cracks or Splits, Leaning Trees, and Mushrooms or other fruiting bodies growing on the Tree or roots. Species Characteristics such as: Susceptibility to wood decay, Branch failures, Weak wood, insects, Etc. Once this has been determined, recommendations for Removal or trimming will be considered.

Tree Removal is a 3-step process: 1) Removal of the Tree 2) Removal of wood and debris 3) Removal of Tree stump.

- Back to Top -

---

Street Tree Replacement and Planting

Homeowners interested in obtaining replacement street trees for the tree belt in front of their homes should contact the Urban Rescource Initiative. This Yale University-based program handles this effort for the City and builds stewardship for he urban forest. Call them for information on how to get a new tree for the front of your house or any neighboring tree belt.

To get information about obtainining trees for planting from URI, contact:

Chris Ozyck
Urban Resource Initiative
203-432-6189
yale.edu/uri

List of Recommended Trees

The City of New Haven Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees recommends the following list of trees for planting on City streets.

Trees for planting under low overhead utility wires Acer buergeranum Trident Maple Acer campestre (Hedge Maple) Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ Kwanzan Cherry Prunus sargentii ’Columnaris’ Columnar Sargent Cherry Syringa reticulata ‘Ivory Silk’, ‘Regent’, ‘Summer Snow’ Japanese Tree Lilac Trees for planting if there are no overhead utility wires Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’, ‘Red Sunset’, “Armstrong’ Red Maple Acer rubrum ‘Armstrong”, Columnar Red Maple Acer saccharum ‘ Green Mountain’ Green Mountain Sugar Maple Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’, Pyramidal European Hornbeam Fraxinus pennsylvanica ‘ Marshall’s Seedless’, ‘ Newport’, ‘Patmore’ Green Ash Gleditsia triacanthos inermis ’Skyline’, ‘Shademaster’, ‘Sunburst’, ‘Majestic’, Thornless Honeylocust Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’, ‘Aristocrat’, ‘Redspire’ Callery Pear Tilia cordata ‘Greenspire’, ‘ Salem’ Littleleaf Linden Ulmus x ‘ Homestead’, Homestead Elm Zelkova serrata ‘Village Green’, ‘Green Vase’, ‘Musashino’ Japanese Zelkova

Trees not to plant Silver Maple Norway Maple Bradford Pear London Planetree American Sycamore

- Back to Top -

---