Bradford Pears. Technically, they not the most overplanted trees on campus -- that'd probably be the white pine or something -- but they're everywhere and they smell bad.

Can't possibly overplant white pines! They're much too nice!

Resin

150 post is the limit! Let's keep this thread going!

I'm gonna say one more...

Bradford pears are junk.

I agree. I'm now a member of the BPHS. (Bradford Pear Hater's Society).. uh.. hehe, just kiddin', but it would be AWSOME if there were such a thing. :)

Bradford/callery pears are over planted here.

As well as Crepe myrtles that look very bad after being chopped off by people every year.

Here in my part of Utah and even down two 2 hours south of me it is Blue Spruce.

Everyone plants them. They grow well. Grow fast. And, they are the state tree. I nearly planted one just for that reason, but my wife talked me out of it.

Live oak is probably about the most overplanted oak in Texas. Not exactly a great shade tree for houses on small lots because they keep leaves all year long and there's no way to keep houses warm if planted in the wrong place.

Just tore out my builder-planter BP...a great feeling! Should I watch it die, or chop it into pieces to put it out of its misery?...

I actually think Pears (Bradford and other kinds) are quite beautiful when flowering, but they are definitely overplanted and look very ordinary for the rest of the year.

Around here, Bradford pears and Norway maples (both green and "Crimson King") are definitely overplanted. Again, I don't think that they are especially unattractive, just overused (though I shouldn't complain - I have 2 "Crimson Kings" in my yard.

For some reason, Honey locust is EXTREMELY common as a tree planted around parking lots and in small parks where most of the ground is covered with pavement or bricks, but not very common elsewhere. Maybe it's particularly good at growing in compacted and infertile soil.

White Pine (pinus strobus) and Red maple (Acer Rubrum) are very common both as plantings and as natural "volunteers". This doesn't bother me, because I like both of them.

Eucalyptus sp.

What I've noticed is a tendency by nurseries to grow/sell a limited amount of cultivars, with seedlings rarely offered. Nothing wrong with any of these, but I wonder if this won't someday come back to bite us someday. Here's a few that around here we've become dependent on: Acer freemanii 'Autumn Blaze', Amelanchier grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance', Betula nigra 'Heritage', Ginkgo 'Autumn Gold', Gleditsia 'Sunburst', Syringa reticulata 'Ivory Silk', Tilia cordata 'Greenspire', etc. Its become so predictable. I've got a few cultivars, especially conifers and crabapples, but my first choice is always a seedling.

Yes, I agree about seedling source trees in place of cultivars, especially for maples. I see parking lots lined with all one cultivar of red maple--all exactly the same, the exact same color in every tree. No, please, plant seedling origin red maples--really, more attractive.

--Spruce

Around here, older suburb of Chicago, it's purple leaf sand cherry and (overgrown) yews. Taking a walk last summer for inspiration, I was stunned when I realized how widely (over)planted they are. Arborvitaes are always the choice for dense, fast-growing screening. I tried to convince my BF to plant a variety by her house, she agreed to, and then planted a row all the same anyway. :-(

Hi PG,

I forgot to mention Arborvitae. Waaay overused IMO. Ditto for Colorado Blue Spruce.

Starting to see a lot of Zelkovas here over the years...and red maples

Hey, hey everyone, stop making fun of my Autumn Blaze!! LOL!

I'm kind of a square though, I like pretty much any tree as long as it is healthy.

I didn't want to enter this thread for the very reason that it's become what it has..people listing trees they don't like. Amazingly to me, for example, are folks listing white pine as "way overplanted". Here in Wisconsin, vast, and I mean VAST stands of white pine were clearcut in the big timber days of yore. So, no matter how many of these get planted today, it will only be a fraction of what once existed here. How can this possibly be considered overuse?

Likewise, I see posters from the Rocky Mountain states lamenting the "overuse" of Picea pungens. Once again, this is surely only a slight return to former conditions, before logging, land clearing, subdivisions, ski slopes etc, etc.....

On the other hand, those who decry the continued planting of invasive species that have already caused problems...that I agree with.

Another tangental point: Nature often repeats itself. If, for example, conditions are suitable for a given species in a certain area, nature will often replicate this species to an incredible degree. Should we then say that nature has overplanted this tree type, because it has become common in this area? Of course not.

I could go on and on with this stuff! I'd better not;^)

+oM

by far on my block it's silver maple and this year is the worst helicopter season ever.Last year I did not even have to pull up any seedlings cause last year was the lightest helicopter season I guess Mother Nature makes up the differnce

Ailanthus is a pretty serious weed here, and it seems to like gullies like this.

{{gwi:358492}}

In the 60's to 80's - blue spruce
in the last 10-20 years - austrian pine

runner up: aspens

Crabapples are all over my town- they line every street and boy do we have apple scab- by July most have dropped all their leaves...but they're pretty right now for about 2 weeks!

I personally love crabapples. They might drop some fruit, but they are tough, adaptable and consistent performers here in Colorado. They also don't grow to be giants. I predict bur oak will be overplanted (here in CO) in the next 20 years, as its at the top of everyones list here. I see them going in all over town. They are nice trees, but can every home really have a giant shade tree down the road? I see them roadside planted every 10-20 feet ... but these will be giants someday!

Crabapples - they look like hell about 2 weeks after bloom once the scab defoliates them.

Well, mine look really nice now and they were in bloom 2 weeks ago. I guess its just a personal opinion. In colorado, not much else does as well as these crabapples ... I've got pears, japanese lilac trees, golden rain trees, cockspur hawthorns ... but the crabs are the best performers I have ... and tough enough to bloom, get snowed on, then keep on blooming.

older:

juniper
siberian elm (somehow many of these have survived)

-blue spruce
-austrian pine
-aspen
- i'm not sure people in CO will ever tire of these three

newer:

russian olive (i think these have spread on their own)
canada cherry
norway maple
mountain ash
honeylocust

not to say that i dislike any of these trees (besides the elm & olive), just that they are planted in disproportionately high numbers

"Crabapples - they look like hell about 2 weeks after bloom once the scab defoliates them" MD

"Well, mine look really nice now and they were in bloom 2 weeks ago. I guess its just a personal opinion" CO

It's climatic: apple scab is a far worse problem in humid climates like MD, than it is in drier air like CO gets.

Resin

There are many crab varieties available with good resistance to scab. I'd not plant one without this attribute. I also consider persistent fruit a must as the fall/winter fruit display can be more significant than the brief, albeit spectacular spring flower display.

+oM

Here it is Bradford Pear, New Improved Bradford Pear, and Cleveland Pear. This spring all the flowering trees bloomed in overabundance, and these, being planted in all our suburbs in developments in the last 10 years, stunk to high heaven. They are beautiful to look at, and to my horror, (AFTER I planted 8 of them), there's many down my road as well planted in lines along other's driveways making stink as well. I bought what was cheap at a local discount store-the pears, silver maples, and purple leaf plums. Now I know why-they are all rated bad on this site. I like my plum trees' color, though. Also picked up some River Birches on clearance (marked as willows) at Wallymart last year. So that's what is growing here, avoid in Spring unless you like stinky pears, which my friend describes as the smell of bee semen?! LOL What does anyone think of peach trees?

Believe or not, here in the District of Columbia, in residential yards, I'd have to say cherry trees (any type -- really), and dogwoods. At least the city is doing a much better job now of trying to avoid monoculture with the street trees, and has a new rule about what can be planted along the power line side of the street.

Here in Chicagoland, it seems to be Black Locust by far, followed by Norway Maples and Green Ash.

The Lollipop Tree aka Bradford Pear in Central NC

Here in northeast Tennessee, I can mention a couple... White pine and Bradford Pear. I personally would like to see more other types of pines planted, like the native Loblolly, or even Longleaf pines instead. Also, tons of Bradford pears... then there are alot of Willow Oaks (I have one too), but those are OK. One of our Super Walmarts (the one in Bristol, Virginia off of exit 7 I-81) has tons of them planted.

Live Oak will easily survive here, but not often seen here. I have two that have flourished over the years. I contacted the city and recommended that they look into planting hardy palms, Live oaks and Crepe Myrtle. They liked the ideas of Crepe Myrtle and Live oak, but bucked on the hardy palms idea. :O

quercus - are Black Locust planted per se, or do they just sprout up in every roadside patch and abandoned lot in Chi-town like they do here?

Though native to more southerly portions of Wisconsin, black locust is officially classified as invasive here in the N.E. part of the state. I used to like 'em, but now, I hate to see a grove coming up where, IMO, other trees would be more desirable.

+oM

Black Locusts are actually planted by the city, by landscape contractors, and by homeowners.

The biggest "volunteer" problem we have here are ailanthus, the legacy of street and landscape plantings many decades ago. Ailanthus is one of the very few trees I can have absolutely nothing good to say about. But there they are, in every neglected vacant lot and foundation crack.

Apparently no one from southern California on this message board. Where I am Eucalyptus, Chinese Elms, Jacaranda trees, amd various palms are most often planted. Chinese Elms make so many seeds they could take over a place easily. You even see seedlings growing out of cracks in the sidewalk. Eucs are extremely hardy and can grow 20 feet a year with no care or watering. They send out roots over 50 feet long, as do Chinese elms. I have a Chinese elm in the back yard and the roots went right under the slab foundation of the house and came out the other side in the front yard, as I discovered when I was planting a garden in the front. Neither tree seems to have any natural enemies around here, and can take continued abuse like topping them and cutting off all the branches and two years later they look like nothing ever happened. The trouble with a Euc is if you cut it down and don't remove the stump it will come right back, but this time as a clump of Eucs. And these can be big trees, in fact the tallest tree in the world is a blue gum in Australia, which is a type of Euc, that is 400 feet tall.

"in fact the tallest tree in the world is a blue gum in Australia, which is a type of Euc, that is 400 feet tall"

Tall tales ;-)

Tallest Euc known is E. regnans, 97m tall. Tallest tree in the world is a Coast Redwood 115m tall.

Resin

sugar maples and bradford pears; boston suburbs z.5

I can't understand how so many people can dislike crepe myrtles. They plant them around businesses because they are tough and nice looking. I love them and as far as I'm concerned the more, the better. I do understand the monoculture problem with disease or insect pests, but you sound like tree haters to me. How can you not like sugar maples?

helenh

Agree completely w/you on the sugar maple. How indeed could such a fine tree be overplanted.......in a state where it is native? Likewise with those lamenting too many white pines being planted, when in the past, very large stands of this tree existed, and were cut down to build many of our cities.

That's why I don't like this thread. It's gone astray.

+oM

Dogwoods, purpleleaf plums, Oriental cherry, Leyland cypress, Arbs, crabs, fruit trees, and Callery pear. This goes along with the equally overplanted boxwoods, azaleas, and forsythia.

Some of those may not fit the definition of overplanted, but with as many problems as people have with them, they are.

Maples. I don't know what variety. I like them, but they're everywhere. However, I should add that I wouldn't consider cutting them down. I do cherish the mature trees in our neighborhood, and when a huge Elm or Oak comes down, it's disappointing.

The city decides what street has maples, what street has elms, what street has oak trees, etc. The problem with this is if one is diseased, it's usually not long before the disease spreads to all the surrounding trees. So, not just one tree is lost, but several at a time.
Well, the imbeciles finally got smart and instead of planting an entire row of Elms, Maples, Oaks, etc., they now intersperse the varieties - less likely to spread disease and you won't be left with a street with NO trees.

Then of course my neighbor, who has an Elm on the city way, also planted two more on his property, but is too cheap to spend the $35 that it would cost to treat them every year for Dutch Elm disease.

Not only does he risk losing his own, but his neighbors risk losing theirs as well (neighborhood sore spot).

In private landscaping, the purple leafed cherry is SO overdone (my house came w/a purple sandleaf cherry shrub and a purple leafed tree - both in a front island bed. I am patiently waiting the day they croak). Everyone has a few.

Kimcoco

The city foresters just possibly might not be imbeciles! Diversity of a street tree planting program is a city-wide issue, not a single street or block issue. There ARE reasons to plant rows of the same tree type along a given street. They are: 1) Design. Aesthetics are heightened by repetition. Nature herself does this all the time. 2) Maintenance. It is more cost-effective to deal with a number of the same tree type when performing a wide array of maintenance practices.

I remember at a conference one time, I guy got up and posited his belief that every single tree should be a different species from the one planted before it. Now that person might have been an imbecile!

+oM

This is a long-legged thread. I have a grove of twenty-foot-plus River Birches that I planted from 1.5-gallon pots into a damp spot the February before the first post. Here in NW Florida, Crape Myrtles probably have always been overplanted. But since Hurricane Ivan nearly defoliated our town, which was once considered urban forest, it's like people think twice before planting anything else. They're nice enough trees (I have several that I like, inherited from the PO of my house), and the tall, spreading, white-flowered type (Natchez?) has gorgeous bark and actually grows large enough to feel like a real tree when you walk under one. But they're all still shrubs, really, compared to the Long-leaves and Live Oaks we used to grow for the tall shipbuilders.

In our nieghborhood here in Urbandale I would have to say its either the clump river birch or the crabapple. We do not have the birch but we do have a crabapple and I will admit I do like its twisty shape and the robins seem to like it.

In the Milwaukee (including suberbs)...

Street Trees - Lindens, nice trees but they suffer from drought and defoliation from jap. bettles. I was just by Navy Pier Chicago and they too have a crap load of them. So many look like crap...must have been the drought.

Shrub - Purple Sand Cherry, need a nice protected site to get 15 years out of them. My subdivision is 12 years old and there are lot of them dieing.

Subdivsion trees - Autumn Blaze maple and River Birch. I have to say I still like these. The river birch needs a wet, acidic soil and when it gets that they are like gold with that crisp foilage and peely bark. Autumn Blaze is such a staple, but great form, drought tolerance and clay tolerance make it a great tree. I actually just ordered a 5 stem Autumn Blaze Maple, looks amazing. I just couldn't resist. Maples in our area always look fantastic. Even the Silver Maples still look good long has they had the space.

Pears trees...watch what you read on these. These are great trees for southeast wisconsin. My old subdivision had some bradfords, which are ok, but its the Autumn Blaze Pear that is amazing. They last about 30 years by the way and their foilage stays crip, glossy green all season...plus the white flowers and amazing fall color. Neighbor down the street has one and it is goregeous in the spring...better than any crabapple in my opinion. I just plant a 2" caliper in spring...fall color is just kicking in.

Rstanny, I live near you and I absolutely agree. It is crape myrtle overkill around here, and like you said, nobody wants larger trees because they're afraid they will fall in a storm. I have been noticing quite a few Shumard oaks being planted lately though, as well as Live oaks. I really wish municipalities around here would replant the native Longleaf pines, they are beautiful trees.