Types of Trees: A Homeowner's Guide to Picking the Right One

There are roughly 60,000 types of trees on Earth. You need to pick one for your yard. Maybe two. The sheer number of options paralyzes people, and they end up planting whatever the nursery had on sale that weekend. Then ten years later they’re paying $3,000 to remove a tree that cracked their driveway or dropped sticky sap on every car in the driveway.

This guide covers the types of trees that actually matter for residential landscaping. Not the botanical classification system you’d find in a forestry textbook. The real categories: shade trees, evergreens, flowering ornamentals, and fruit trees. Species names, mature sizes, hardiness zones, and honest opinions on which ones are worth your money.

The two big categories: deciduous vs. evergreen

Every tree falls into one of two camps.

Deciduous trees drop their leaves every fall. They give you shade in summer, let sunlight through in winter, and put on a color show in between. Oaks, maples, birches, and elms are all deciduous.

Evergreen trees keep their foliage year-round. They’re your privacy screens, windbreaks, and the backbone of a yard that doesn’t look dead from November through March. Pines, spruces, arborvitae, and hollies are evergreen.

Most yards need both. A big deciduous tree on the south or west side of your house shades the roof in summer and saves you up to 35% on cooling costs. Evergreens along the property line give you year-round screening.

Deciduous shade trees

These are the big guys. The trees that define a property, add five figures to your home value, and make your backyard livable in August.

Red oak (Quercus rubra)

Red oak grows fast for an oak (about 2 feet per year) and tops out at 60-75 feet tall with a 45-foot spread. Zones 3-8. The fall color is a reliable dark red, and the canopy is dense enough to park under all summer. It’s one of the most widely planted oaks in North America because it tolerates poor soil, pollution, and compaction.

The downside: acorns. Thousands of them. Every fall. If that bothers you, plant a white oak instead. For keeping your oaks healthy long-term, our oak tree diseases guide covers the problems worth knowing about and the ones you can safely ignore.

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

Sugar maple is the fall color tree. Orange, gold, and crimson, all on the same branch. Grows 40-80 feet tall, 30-60 feet wide. Zones 3-8. Growth rate is moderate (1-2 feet per year), so this is a tree you plant for the next generation.

Sugar maples hate road salt, compacted soil, and reflected heat from pavement. Plant them in the backyard, not the front strip. For more on the maple family, see our complete guide to types of maple trees.

Red maple (Acer rubrum)

Red maple is the more forgiving maple. It tolerates wet soil, grows faster (3-5 feet per year in the early years), and still turns brilliant red in October. Matures at 40-60 feet tall and 30-50 feet wide. Zones 3-9. It’s the most common and widespread deciduous tree in eastern North America.

Red maple is one of the best trees for fall color if you want the show without babysitting the tree.

River birch (Betula nigra)

River birch is the birch that actually survives in residential yards. Paper birch (Betula papyrifera) looks stunning in Vermont but dies of bronze birch borer stress below zone 5. River birch handles zones 4-9, shrugs off the borers, and grows 40-70 feet tall.

The peeling cinnamon-and-cream bark makes it a four-season tree. Plant it where you can see the trunk from a window. Most people plant the multi-stem ‘Heritage’ cultivar, which stays around 40-50 feet.

Lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia)

Lacebark elm replaced American elm as the go-to street tree after Dutch elm disease. It grows 40-50 feet tall and wide, handles urban pollution, and resists DED. Zones 5-9. The mottled bark in shades of brown, tan, and olive is its best feature. It adapts to nearly any soil type and pH.

Don’t confuse lacebark elm with Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila). Siberian elm is a weedy mess. Lacebark elm is the good one.

Evergreen trees

Evergreens earn their keep in winter when everything else is bare sticks. They block wind, screen neighbors, absorb road noise, and keep your yard from looking abandoned. Our complete evergreen trees guide covers needled conifers, broadleaf evergreens, and scale-leaf privacy trees in much more detail.

Green Giant arborvitae (Thuja ‘Green Giant’)

The most popular privacy tree in America for good reason. Grows 3-5 feet per year, matures at 40-60 feet tall. Zones 5-8. Deer-resistant, disease-resistant, and it replaced Leyland Cypress after canker diseases wiped out millions of Leylands across the Southeast. We wrote an entire Green Giant arborvitae guide covering spacing, planting, and the mistakes most people make.

Emerald Green arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’)

If Green Giant is too big for your yard, Emerald Green tops out at 12-15 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. Perfect for tight property lines. Zones 2-7. Grows about 6-9 inches per year, so be patient. Our Emerald Green arborvitae guide covers the details. Watch out for deer, though. They’ll eat Emerald Green like candy.

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)

White pine grows fast (2-3 feet per year), has soft blue-green needles, and matures at 50-80 feet tall. Zones 3-8. It’s the tallest conifer in eastern North America and one of the easiest pines to grow. Transplants easily and establishes fast.

The catch: white pine is sensitive to road salt and air pollution. Keep it 50+ feet from salted roads. And don’t plant a single row as a privacy screen. The lower branches self-prune, leaving you with bare trunks at eye level after 10 years. For screening, check out our columnar evergreen trees guide.

Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens)

Blue spruce is the classic “blue Christmas tree” shape. Grows 30-60 feet tall, 10-20 feet wide. Zones 2-7. Full sun, moist well-drained soil.

Blue spruce looks incredible as a specimen tree, but it’s overplanted. In humid climates east of the Rockies, it’s plagued by needle cast fungus and Cytospora canker. If you’re east of the Mississippi, consider Norway spruce or a native alternative instead.

Norway spruce (Picea abies)

Norway spruce is the workhorse evergreen for cold climates. Grows 40-60 feet tall with graceful weeping branches. Zones 2-7. Faster-growing than blue spruce (2-3 feet per year when young) and far less disease-prone in the eastern U.S. Makes an excellent windbreak.

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

Southern magnolia is an evergreen broadleaf, not a conifer. It keeps its glossy dark green leaves year-round, produces dinner-plate-sized white flowers in late spring, and grows 60-80 feet tall. Zones 7-9. The biggest downside: it drops leaves, seed pods, and flower petals constantly. You’ll be raking year-round, not just in fall.

Flowering and ornamental trees

These are the yard’s jewelry. Smaller trees (usually under 30 feet) that exist primarily because they look spectacular for a few weeks every spring.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

Dogwood might be the most beautiful native tree in America. White or pink bracts in April, red berries in fall, horizontal branching pattern that looks good even in winter. Grows 15-30 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-9. It wants part shade, acidic soil, and consistent moisture.

Dogwood anthracnose has been a problem since the 1980s. The Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) resists it better but blooms later (June) and isn’t native. Our evergreen dogwood article covers a cold-hardy alternative.

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Redbud is the first tree to bloom in spring, covering itself in magenta-pink flowers before the leaves even appear. Grows 20-30 feet tall and wide. Zones 4-9. Tolerates shade, clay soil, and drought once established. No serious disease or pest problems.

The ‘Forest Pansy’ cultivar has purple leaves all summer. If you want a small flowering tree for a front yard, redbud is hard to beat.

Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)

Crape myrtle blooms in July and August when almost nothing else does. Colors range from white to pink to deep red to purple. Grows 15-25 feet tall in zones 7-10. The peeling bark adds winter interest.

One warning: do not “crape murder” your tree by hacking the top off every February. Our guide on trimming crape myrtle explains the right way to prune.

Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)

Japanese maple is the most popular ornamental tree in America. The weeping, red-leafed ‘Bloodgood’ and ‘Crimson Queen’ cultivars sell out at every nursery every spring. Grows 15-25 feet tall. Zones 5-8. Needs afternoon shade in hot climates and protection from drying winds.

If you have a small yard or limited space near a sidewalk, Japanese maple won’t outgrow its spot.

Cherry blossom (Prunus serrulata)

Yoshino cherry is the tree that lines the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. Grows 25-35 feet tall. Zones 5-8. The cloud of white-pink blooms lasts about two weeks in early spring. Short-lived (15-25 years) compared to oaks or maples. Learn more about where cherry trees grow best.

For a deeper look at all these options, see our complete guide to flowering trees.

Fruit trees

Fruit trees do double duty: they flower in spring and feed you in summer. They need more work than ornamental trees (pruning, spraying, thinning), but there’s nothing like picking a ripe peach off a tree in your own backyard.

Apple (Malus domestica)

Most apple trees need a second variety nearby for cross-pollination. Semi-dwarf rootstocks keep them at 12-15 feet tall, perfect for home orchards. Zones 3-8 depending on variety. ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Fuji’, and ‘Gala’ are the most popular backyard varieties. Expect fruit in 3-5 years from a nursery tree.

Peach (Prunus persica)

Peach trees are self-fertile (no second tree needed) and start producing in 2-3 years. They top out at 15-25 feet. Zones 5-9. The catch: peach trees need 600-1,000 chill hours below 45 degrees F. In warm-winter areas like coastal California, choose low-chill varieties like ‘Tropic Snow’ or ‘Desert Gold’.

Fig (Ficus carica)

Figs thrive in zones 7-10 with no spray program, minimal pruning, and almost zero pest problems. They grow 15-30 feet tall and can produce two crops per year in warm climates. ‘Brown Turkey’ and ‘Celeste’ are the most reliable for backyard growers. Our guide to fig tree fertilizer covers feeding schedules.

Citrus (various species)

If you’re in zones 9-11, you can grow lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and limes outdoors year-round. Dwarf varieties on flying dragon rootstock stay under 10 feet tall. In zones 8 and colder, grow citrus in containers and bring them inside for winter.

How to pick the right tree for your situation

Don’t start with “what tree do I like?” Start with “what do I need this tree to do?”

Need shade? Plant a red oak, red maple, or tulip poplar on the south or west side of your house. Size the tree to the space: red maple for typical suburban lots, red oak for bigger properties. See our guide to shade trees for more options.

Need privacy? Green Giant arborvitae for big spaces, Emerald Green for tight spots, or a mixed screen using our privacy shrubs and hedges guide.

Need color? Flowering trees for spring, maples for fall, or fall color trees if October is your main event.

Small yard? Japanese maple, redbud, or dogwood. Our dwarf trees for landscaping guide has more options under 20 feet.

Want fruit? Fig trees are the easiest. Apples and peaches produce more but need more work. Citrus if you’re in a frost-free zone.

Want it fast? See our fast-growing trees guide. Just know that fast growers (silver maple, Leyland Cypress, Bradford pear) tend to have weaker wood, shorter lifespans, and more problems than slower growers.

Fast vs. slow: the trade-off nobody tells you

Nurseries love selling fast-growing trees because impatient homeowners love buying them. But speed comes at a cost.

Fast growers (3+ feet per year) include silver maple, tulip poplar, river birch, Green Giant arborvitae, and willow. They fill a space quickly, but many develop weak branch attachments, shallow roots, and shorter lifespans (30-50 years).

Slow growers (under 1 foot per year) include white oak, sugar maple, American beech, and bald cypress. They take decades to reach full size, but they’ll outlive your house. A white oak can live 300-600 years.

The smart move: plant a fast grower and a slow grower together. The fast tree gives you shade now. The slow tree takes over in 20 years. Remove the fast grower when the slow one fills in.

Avoid these types of trees

Some trees cause more problems than they solve. We wrote an entire article on the worst trees for your yard, but here’s the short list:

• Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana): splits in half during every storm. Banned in several states as invasive.
• Silver maple (Acer saccharinum): surface roots destroy sidewalks, driveways, and sewer lines.
• Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua): spiky gumballs cover every surface from October to April.
• Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima): invasive, smells bad, impossible to kill, and sprouts everywhere.
• Leyland Cypress (x Cuprocyparis leylandii): canker diseases kill entire rows. Green Giant arborvitae replaced it for a reason.

Frequently asked questions

What are the four main types of trees? For homeowners, the four categories that matter are deciduous shade trees, evergreen trees, flowering ornamental trees, and fruit trees. Each serves a different purpose in a landscape.

What is the best all-around tree to plant? Red maple (Acer rubrum). It grows in zones 3-9, tolerates most soil types, provides dense shade, turns brilliant red in fall, and grows fast enough that you’ll see results within five years.

What are the easiest trees to grow? River birch, red maple, Eastern redbud, and Green Giant arborvitae are nearly foolproof. They tolerate a wide range of soils, resist common pests, and don’t need much maintenance once established. For more low-maintenance options, see our shade-tolerant trees guide.

How many trees should I plant in my yard? A typical suburban lot (1/4 acre) benefits from 2-3 shade trees and 3-5 smaller ornamental or evergreen trees. Avoid crowding. Look up the mature spread of each tree and space accordingly.

What is the difference between hardwood and softwood trees? Hardwoods are deciduous (oak, maple, cherry). Softwoods are conifers (pine, spruce, cedar). The names are misleading: balsa wood is technically a hardwood. The real difference is that hardwoods have broad leaves and produce seeds in flowers, while softwoods have needles and produce seeds in cones.

Plant the right tree in the right spot, and you’re set for decades. Plant the wrong one, and you’ll know it within five years. Take your time. Measure twice. And don’t buy whatever’s on the clearance rack just because it’s $20. Your future self will either thank you or be writing a check to an arborist.