WW-06574     Reviewed 2009  

Recommended Trees for Southeast Minnesota:
An Ecosystem Approach

Authors:Gary R. Johnson, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Urban and Community Forestry; Katie M. Himanga, Heartwood Forestry

Technical Adviser: Gerald L. Jensen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry
Reviewed and updated (2009): Gary R. Johnson, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Urban and Community Forestry

Copyright ©  2012  Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Trees shade and cool us in the summer, protect us from cold winter winds, supply us with clean air to breathe, beautify our communities and provide habitat for wildlife. Selecting the trees that will survive and grow into healthy urban forests requires a thorough analysis of the planting site and a careful match of the trees to that environment.

The Recommended Trees series recognizes that Minnesota is an ecologically diverse state. For this series, the state is divided into six major ecological regions, each with characteristic soils, precipitation patterns, topography, and natural vegetation. Recommended trees for each region perform reliably in that environment, and should thrive for many years.

Back to Recommended Trees Overview

Southeast Minnesota

Southeast Minnesota contains the following ecological areas:

Big Woods. Topography is gently to moderately rolling. Soils were formed in thick deposts of gray limy glacial till left by the retreat of the Des Moines lobe. Red oak, sugar maple, basswood, and American elm were most common in this dominantly forested region.

Anoka Sand Plain. Flat, sandy lake plain and terraces along the Mississippi River. Most of the soils are sandy and droughty, but there are some organic soils. About 20 percent of the soils are very poorly drained; the rest are excessively well drained sands. Originally oak barrens and openings, with some jack pine along the northern edge.

Oak Savannah. Much of this area is a rolling plain of loess-mantled ridges over sandstone and carbonate bedrock and till. Soils range from wet to well-drained, formed under prairie or forest conditions. Original vegetation included bur oaks, maples, basswood, and prairie tall grasses.

Twin Cities Highlands. Rolling to steep slopes on the moraine and level to rolling on the outwash plain, with soils ranging from clay loam to sand. This area was a mosaic of tall grass prairie, savannahs, and maple-basswood forests prior to settlement.

Rochester Plateau. A rolling, high plateau of windblown silt over glacial till in the west and bedrock in the east. Soil depth generally decreases from west to east. Plant communities historically dominated by oak forests, maple-basswood forests, riparian forests, and tall grass prairies and oak savannahs in the drier areas.

Blufflands. An old bedrock plateau covered by windblown silt and then extensively eroded by rivers and streams. Broad ridgetops, steep coulees, and deep valleys were dominated by oak, shagbark hickory-basswood forests on moist slopes, oak-basswood-black walnut forests in the valleys, and prairies on the ridge tops and dry valleys.

Recommended Trees for Southeast Minnesota

Recommended Trees: Trees in these sections include species that have a history of performing well as street, boulevard, or landscape trees in general for Southeast Minnesota.

Limited Use: Trees in these sections may have some value in certain instances, such as unusually harsh planting sites, or for wildlife cover, but are not recommended for general use.

Trees to Try: Trees in these sections have shown promise in landscapes or as street trees, but either do not have a long history of use in Southeast Minnesota or require specific siting requirements such as wind protection or acidic soils. Use caution until their performance is better documented.

Deciduous Trees for Southeast Minnesota Recommended Trees (48 K XLS) Recommended Trees (114 K PDF) Limited Use (35 K XLS) Limited Use (245 K PDF) Trees to Try (30 K XLS) Trees to Try (194 K PDF)

Conifers for Southeast Minnesota Recommended Trees (30 K XLS) Recommended Trees (164 K PDF) Limited Use (28 K XLS) Limited Use (139 K PDF) Trees to Try (28 K XLS) Trees to Try (132 K PDF)

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This publication was produced with the support of the USDA Forest Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Produced by Communication and Educational Technology Services, University of Minnesota Extension.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this material is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact your University of Minnesota Extension office or the Extension Store at (800) 876-8636.