Focus — Trees 10 Bad Ass Trees for Tough Situations

by Heather Prince

Scott Beuerlein treated audiences to a popular and highly opinionated talk at iLandscape 2023 celebrating tough trees that have what it takes to survive in all kinds of tricky places. If you’re looking for a tree to thrive in the parking lot of a grocery store or a strip mall, keep this list handy!

Beuerlein is the Manager of Botanical Garden Outreach at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in Ohio. He is involved in running the zoo’s botanical garden educational programs as well as overseeing their plant trialing programs. We narrowed down his initial list to 10 species that will grow in USDA Zone 5 and shake off Midwest winters, droughty summers, and everything in between.

The Trees

Acer griseum

Paperbark maple

Zone: 4 to 8

Sun: full sun to part shade

Water: average to moist, well-drained

Size: 20-30 feet high; 15-20 feet wide; cultivars may be larger

Bark: Rich cinnamon brown exfoliating bark with hints of caramel and nutmeg. Fall Color: Paperbark maples turn color late in the season and reward us with red-purple tones. Cultivars may vary and be more red.

Why We Love It: This slow-growing specimen tree will quietly fill a space before surprising you with its spectacular bark on a winter’s day. “My city planted it in a sort of working-class neighborhood in the parkway hellstrip,” recalled Beuerlein. “They survived and had a sort of clubby look to them due to the crappy soil conditions. But they hung in there. I find that the hybrid crosses like Girard’s Hybrid, Cinnamon Girl, and Gingerbread grow faster and have more vigor with a similarly attractive bark.”

Acer miyabei ‘Morton’

State Street maple

Zone: 4 to 8

Sun: full sun to part shade

Water: average; tolerates brief periods of drought

Size: 30 to 40 feet high and wide Bark: Rough corky gray bark eventually develops orangey fissures with age. Fruit: Two-winged samaras are abundant, but re-seeding is usually not a problem.

Fall Color: Rich clear golden yellow. Why We Love It: A selection from The Morton Arboretum, where you can still find the parent tree planted in 1929, State Street maple is a charmer for its oval to pyramidal shape, rich gold fall color, and easy-going nature. “I see it a lot as a street tree,” commented Beuerlein. “It’s a beautiful tree and it grows really fast. I have one right outside my window here at home. It was one of the earlier ones put in and now it’s probably 50 feet. The fall color comes late, but it always turns a nice, rich gold.”