INDEPTH: ENVIRONMENT
Lifespan of common urban trees
CBC News Online | August 11, 2005
Not all trees are created equal when it comes to life in the city, says Ken Farr, a tree expert with the Canadian Forest Service.
As a general rule, there are more species of long-lived broadleaf trees than conifers. But don’t rush out to plant that gorgeous Canadian icon, the sugar maple, if you want your great grandchildren to see it.
“Sugar maples don’t like growing in the city. They never have. They don’t like compacted soil. They also don’t tolerate pollution very well,” says Farr.
White birch is another esthetically pleasing tree that evokes nationalistic feeling, but like the sugar maple, can’t stand the city. “They’re highly susceptible to summer drought, they don’t like pollution and they’re a real target for boring insects,” says Farr.
One more no-no for city planting is the eastern white pine, the official tree of Ontario. During colonial times, these majestic trees were logged and floated down the Ottawa River, destined for the masts of English ships.
Today, no urban forester would chose the eastern white pine for street planting because of its intolerance to road salt.
“If you live in eastern Canada where they throw salt around like popcorn, you grow the Austrian and Scotch pine. They are non-native European species that have a good tolerance for salt,” says Farr.
So without further delay, we offer here some of the more common trees grown in Canada’s cities and towns, and their expected lifespan (trees in a natural setting have longer lifespans):
| Species |
Expected lifespan |
| Norway maple
| 100 years
|
| Red maple |
100 years |
| Silver maple |
100 years |
| Sugar maple |
75 years (away from compacted soil) |
| Horse chestnut |
75 years |
| White birch |
30 years |
| European white birch |
30 years |
| Northern catalpa |
75 years |
| Northern hackberry |
100 years |
| Russian olive |
50 years |
| European beech |
125 years |
| White ash |
100 years |
| Green ash |
75 years |
| Ginkgo |
100+ years |
| Honey-locust |
75 years |
| Chinese juniper |
75 years |
| Rocky Mountain juniper |
50 years |
| Eastern red cedar |
50 years |
| European larch |
100+ years |
| Tamarack |
75 years |
| Tulip tree |
100 years |
| Saucer magnolia |
50 years |
| Dawn redwood |
100+ years |
| White mulberry |
100 years |
| Norway spruce |
75 years |
| White spruce |
75 years |
| Black spruce |
50 years |
| Colorado spruce |
75 years |
| Mugho pine |
75 years |
| Austrian pine |
50 years |
| Ponderosa pine |
75 years |
| Eastern white pine |
100+ years (away from road salt) |
| Scots pine |
75 years |
| London plane-tree |
75 years |
| Cherry-laurel |
50 years |
| Japanese flowering cherry |
30 years |
| Rocky Mountain Douglas fir |
100+ years |
| White oak |
100 years |
| Pin oak |
75 years |
| English oak |
75 years |
| Red oak |
75 years |
| Black locust |
75 years |
| Golden weeping willow |
50 years |
| Sierra redwood |
100+ years |
| European mountain ash |
25 years |
| Japanese yew |
75 years |
| Eastern white cedar |
100+ years |
| Western red cedar |
100+ years |
| Little-leaf linden |
75 years |
| Western hemlock |
100+ years |
| White elm |
30 years (200 were it not for Dutch elm disease) |
| Source: Canadian Forest Service |
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