Trees in Urbandale - What to Plant
(Recommended & Not Recommended)

Recommended Trees
At the request of the Urbandale Tree Board, the State Forester from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources recently conducted a survey of trees in Urbandale.  As a result of the tree inventory, the following trees were recommended in order to maintain a healthy and desirable variety of trees. This list is provided as a general guideline, as there are other trees with desirable characteristics

Common Tree Names
American Hop-hornbeam (Ironwood)
American Hornbeam
American Linden/Basswood
Bald Cypress
Black Hills Spruce
Black Maple
Bur Oak
Butternut
Clump River Birch
Colorado Blue Spruce
Eastern Redbud
Eastern White Pine
Freeman Maple (Autumn Blaze)
Ginkgo (male)
Golden Locust
Greenspire Linden (Little Leaf)
Hackberry
Ironwood
Kentucky Coffee Tree
American Liberty Elm
Northern Catalpa
Northern Pecan
Northern Red Oak
Ohio Buckeye
Red Maple
Redmond Linden (American Linden or American Basswood)
Shagbark Hickory
Shellbark Hickory
Sugar Maple
Swamp White Oak
Sycamore
White Fir
White Oak
Common Bushes & Shrubs
American Hazelnut
American Plum
Arrow-wood
Burning Bush
Nanny Berry
Paw Paw
Persimmon
Redosier Dogwood

Not Recommended Trees

Common Tree Names
Ash - All variety (Insect threat - Emerald Ash borer)
Honeysuckle Shrubs - All variety (Exotic/Invasive)
Poplar - All variety (Brittle or easily felled)
Maple - Amur variety (Exotic/Invasive)
Locust - Black variety (Exotic/Invasive)
Box elder (Excessive litter and Invasive)
Buckhorn (Exotic/Invasive)
Cottonwood (Brittle or easily felled)
Ginkgo - Female variety (Excessive litter and Exotic)
Locust - Honey variety - Thorn and Fruit Variety (Excessive litter and Thorns)
Mulberry (Exotic/Invasive)
Oak - Pin variety (Not native to Iowa, needs acidic soil)
Olive - Russian variety (Exotic/Invasive)
Elm - Siberian variety (Exotic/Invasive)
Maple - Silver variety (Brittle or easily felled)
Tree of Heaven (Exotic/Invasive)
Willow (Brittle or easily felled)

Tags on Ash Trees
Members of the Urbandale Tree Board recently completed an Ash Tree inventory within the Parks System. An inventory of all ash trees was done in manicured areas of Parks and public areas. Trees were tagged and numbered with silver identification numbers and the inventory was entered into the City GIS mapping system. The trees will be monitored for the Emerald Ash Borer and the inventory list will be used for budgeting and planning in the event the ash borer reaches the Metro.