Shade & Canopy Trees
The 21 canopy trees here — oaks, maples, river birch, tulip poplar, ginkgo and kin — are the longest-term decision on this site, spanning USDA zones 3–10. Plant one well and it outlives you; plant one badly and someone pays to remove it in thirty years.
So the guides lead with the unforgiving numbers: true mature height and spread (a "cute" willow oak reaches 80 feet), growth rate, and root behavior — willows and silver maples hunt water lines, sycamores heave sidewalks. Site for the tree it becomes, not the sapling you buy: measure from the house, the septic field and the power drop before you dig.
15 of these are North American natives, and it matters more here than anywhere: a single native oak supports hundreds of caterpillar species — the food base for songbird nestlings — while a ginkgo, lovely as it is, feeds almost none. The wildlife notes in each guide say which trees are ecosystems and which are ornaments. 16 are in stock at a nursery right now — the terracotta price tags go straight to those product pages, not to a search.
Find your plants
21 of 21 plants
Zones describe winter hardiness. Native ranges vary across North America; open a plant's guide for the details.
From $91.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.American Elm (Disease-Resistant)Ulmus americana
Full Sun
Moderate water
Fast growth
Native to North America
American Linden (Basswood)Tilia americana
Full Sun to Part ShadeModerate waterModerate-Fast growthNative to North America
From $81.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.American SycamorePlatanus occidentalisFull SunModerate waterFast growthNative to North America
From $10.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Bald CypressTaxodium distichumFull SunModerate waterModerate-Fast growthNative to North America
From $25 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Black Gum (Tupelo)Nyssa sylvaticaFull Sun to Part ShadeModerate water
Slow-Moderate growthNative to North America
From $10.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.ChestnutCastanea mollissima & hybridsFull Sun
Low waterFast for a nut tree growth
Excellent edible
From $19.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Dawn RedwoodMetasequoia glyptostroboidesFull SunModerate waterVery Fast growth
From $39.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Eastern White PinePinus strobusFull Sun to Light ShadeModerate waterFAST growthNative to North America
From $74.85 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.GinkgoGinkgo bilobaFull SunLow waterSlow first decade growth
From $142.80 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.HackberryCeltis occidentalisFull SunLow waterModerate-Fast growthNative to North America
From $28 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Kentucky CoffeetreeGymnocladus dioicusFull SunLow waterSlow-Moderate growthNative to North America
MapleModerate water
Northern CatalpaCatalpa speciosaFull SunLow waterFast growthNative to North America
OakFull SunLow waterNative to North America
From $39.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.PecanCarya illinoinensisFull Sun
High waterSlow-Moderate growthNative to North America
From $10.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.River BirchBetula nigraFull SunHigh waterFast growthNative to North America
From $8.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Shagbark HickoryCarya ovataFull Sun to Part ShadeLow waterSlow growthNative to North America
From $97.90 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.SweetgumLiquidambar styracifluaFull SunModerate waterFast growthNative to North America
From $9.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Tulip PoplarLiriodendron tulipiferaFull SunModerate waterFAST growthNative to North America
WalnutFull Sun
Moderate growthExcellent edible
From $14.95 at a third-party nursery — not a Story Thyme Farms price.Weeping WillowSalix babylonica / alba hybridsFull SunModerate waterVERY FAST growth