banner image of six native MN trees — From left to right above: *Larix laricina; Thuja occidentalis; Populus deltoides; Betula papyrifera; Tilia americana; Pinus resinosa*

New to tree care? Start here:

Common Questions and Solutions

Can you come examine/maintain/remove my tree? The University of Minnesota does not perform tree care services. We recommend contacting a Certified Arborist if you need trees pruned or removed.
How do I find a certified arborist? Check out ISA's Trees Are Good webpage.
What should I do with a wooded area on my property? Please contact your regional Minnesota Department of Natural Resources forester for help managing your woodland.
Can you test my trees for disease? We can't, but the Plant Disease Clinic in the Department of Plant Pathology can help.
Can you analyze my soil? We can't, but the Soil Testing Laboratory in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate can help.
Where do I start? Along with what you'll find on this page, the Urban Forestry Outreach and Research (UFOR) website and the UFOR YouTube channel have lots of information that many tree stewards and landowners find useful to answer their questions.

Resources by Tree Topic

Expand all

Benefits of Trees

Readings

Energy conservation planting strategies - Tree Care (MNDNR)

Get Your Daily Dose of Trees (MNDNR poster)

Midwest community tree guide: benefits, costs, and strategic tree planting (USFS)

We All Need Trees (MNDNR poster)

Websites

Green Cities: Good Health (University of WA)

Health Benefits of Trees (MNDNR)

The Benefits of Trees (Canopy.org)

The Power of Trees (Arbor Day Foundation)

Tree Benefits Estimator

Videos

Benefits of Trees: Economic, Environmental, Health & Social (Davey)

The Value of Trees (SustainableSM)

Treecycle America: Certified Urban Forestry (Damon Barron)

Urban Trees, Better Air Quality (The Nature Conservancy)

Urban Trees, Cooler Cities (The Nature Conservancy)

Selection

When deciding which trees to plant and using "recommended" lists, remember to consider that advice changes. Be sure to consider factors like:

Publication date of the information,
Your site location in relation to the guidance, and
Up-to-date invasive species and noxious weeds lists.

Guides & Planning

Planting & Growing Guides (UMN Extension)

Silviculture in the City: Urban & Climate Adapted Management Strategies for Forested Areas in the Northeastern U.S. (USFS)

USFS Tree Owner's Manual

Woodlands of Minnesota Landowner Handbook (MNDNR)

Tree Selection

Climate Change Vulnerability of Urban Trees: Twin Cities (NIACS)

MinnesotaWildflowers.info

Native Trees & Shrubs for Pollinators (Heather Holm)

Native Trees of Minnesota (MNDNR)

Plant Finder (MO Botanical Garden)(Make sure to cross-reference options with Minnesota's climate and conditions.)

Plant Selector (MNDOT) (These lists may include invasive species and/or noxious weeds for MN. Eliminate those options.)

Pollinator Planting Resources (UMN)

Rewilding & recommended trees lists (search posts for your area) (UMN Extension)

SoilWeb Map (UC Davis)

Tree Identification (UFOR)

Tough Trees & Shrubs for Tough Sites (UFOR)

Tree & Shrub Selection and Maintenance (UMN Extension)

Tree Selection & Care (UMN Extension)

Tree Species Projections for Ecological Sections in Minnesota (NIACS)

Trees for Northeast MN UFOR)

Woody Plants Catalog (UFOR)

Planting

Box Cutting Containerized Root Systems (PDF)

Energy conservation planning strategies - Tree care (MNDNR)

Gravel Beds for Trees

Planting & Transplanting Trees and Shrubs

Staking & Guying Landscape Trees (PDF)

Tree & Shrub Selection and Maintenance

Tree Stem Protection (PDF)

Maintenance

Caring for a New Tree (PDF)

How to Prune Trees

Myth busting for Extension Educators: Reviewing the literature on pruning woody plants (NACAA)

Staking and Guying Trees in the Landscape (PDF)

Sweating Bare-root Trees (PDF)

Tree Watering (PDF)

Watering Established Trees and Shrubs

Watering Newly Planted Trees and Shrubs

Food-specific Resources

General

Eating with the Seasons, Anishinaabeg, Great Lakes Region (Derek Nicholas)

Gathering wild-grown plants and fungi (UMN Extension)

How to forage for mushrooms, berries and more in Minnesota (MNDNR)

Integrated Pest Management Tools for Crop Production (NEWA)

Minnesota Hardy (UMN)

Minnesota Harvester Handbook (UMN Extension)

Planting a community food forest (UMN Extension)

Fruit

Cold Climate Fruit Webinar Series (UMN Extension)

Growing and Eating Fruits from Trees and Shrubs in Minnesota (PDF)

Perennial Fruit (UMN MISA)

Windbreak Cookbook Featuring Fruits of Prairie Forests (NDSU)

Maple Syrup

Minnesota Maple Syrup Producers Association

North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, 3rd Ed.

Mushrooms

Harvesting morel mushrooms (UMN Extension)

Minnesota Mycological Society

Nuts & Seeds

Cone and seed collection (MNDNR)

Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative

Tree Troubles - Abiotic (damage from storms, construction, salt, etc.)

24 Ways to Kill a Tree (VA Cooperative Extension)

Frost Cracks and Cankers (PDF)

How to Kill a Tree (Arbor Day Foundation)

Stem Girdling Roots

Storm Damage to Landscape Trees

Other

Fact Sheets (Rainbow Treecare)

What's Wrong with My Plant?

Tree Troubles - Biotic (pests, pathogens, etc.)

Additional Resources

Fire

Fire Danger & Burning Restrictions (statewide)

Firewood Information (MDA)

Forest Health

Community Forestry (MNDNR)

Forest Health (MNDNR)

Habitat Assessment Tool (Maine Audubon)

IUCN Red List Threat Assessments for Priority Tree Species

Urban Tree Canopy Assessment Toolkit

Other

Cone and seed collection (MNDNR)

Natural Resources (UMN Extension)

trees.umn.edu

Tree.fm: Tune Into Forests From Around The World (Ecosquad)

UFOR YouTube Channel (UMN)

Yard and Garden (UMN)

Yard and Garden YouTube Channel (UMN Extension)

Expanded Ecological Topics

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Climate and Weather

Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC)

B4Warmed (UMN)

Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (NOAA)

Biomes of Minnesota (UMN Extension)

Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEQ)

Climate & Health Action Guide (Vibrant Cities Lab)

Climate Change & Minnesota (MNDNR)

Climate Change Field Guide for Northern Minnesota Forests (UMN)

Climate Change Pressure in the 21st Century (USFS)

Climate Change Primer (USFS)

Climate Change Projections for Tree Species in the Northwoods (MN, WI, MI)

Climate Change Resource Center (USFS)

Climate Change Response Framework

Climate Change Tree Atlas (USFS)

Climate Change Vulnerability of Urban Trees: Twin Cities (NIACS)

Climate Modeling: An Introductory Primer for Practitioners (UMN)

Climate Projection Data for Minnesota (UMN)

Developing Community-Based Climate Communicators (MCAP)

Drought in Minnesota (MNDNR)

Economic Benefits of Natural Climate Solutions in Minnesota (Nature Conservancy)

Environmental Resilience Institute (Indiana University)

Fields to Streams: Managing Water in Rural Landscapes

Forest Carbon & Climate Program: Images & Graphics (MSU)

Forest Carbon and Climate Program: Webinars (MSU)

Fourth National Climate Assessment - Chapter 21: Midwest

Minnesota Climate Change Subcabinet

Minnesota Climate Trends (interactive map)

Minnesota State Climatology Office (MNDNR)

Nature and Climate Solutions for Minnesota (Nature Conservancy)

Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS)

Our Minnesota Climate (MN.gov)

Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)

Trees. Water. Soil. Natural Climate Solutions for Our Economy & Environment (The Nature Conservancy)

University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP)

United States Climate Alliance

U.S. Drought Monitor

Biodiversity

Field guide to common macrofungi and their ecosystem services (USFS)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Lawns to Legumes

Managing woodlands for wildlife (UMN Extension)

Minnesota National Forest Breeding Bird Program

NatureServe

Planting and Maintaining a Prairie Garden

Bugs & Insects

Bee and Pollinator Plant Lists & Posters (Heather Holm)

Bug of the Week (University of Maryland Extension)

Growing Plants to Help Bees and Other Pollinators (UMN Extension)

What Insect is This? (UMN Extension)?

Even more...

Minneapolis Ecological System Plan Mapping Tool (MPRB)

Minnesota's endangered, threatened, and special concern species (MNDNR)

Native Plant Community Classification (MNDNR)

Season Watch (UMN)

Cultural and Societal Integrations

Expand all

Environmental Justice

Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEQ)

Environmental Justice (MPCA map)

Growing Shade Tool

Heat and Health Tracker (CDC)

Papers

Potentially Problematic Common Names in North American Public Gardens. Plant Nomenclature & Taxonomy Community of the American Public Gardens Association 2021, and Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries 2021. December 2021.

Culture

Women on the Land: A Landowner's Guide to Stewarding her Woodlands

Papers

Ecological Importance of Native Americans Culture to the Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus). Andrew R. VanAtta. April 2009.

UFOR YouTube Channel

The new and improved UFOR YouTube channel features a variety of videos dedicated to all things urban and community forestry. Here you can learn how to plant, care for, and prune trees, as well as some fun facts about trees and some deep dives into more complex topics.

UFOR Guides and Manuals

The following articles, manuals, & videos are products of outreach programs from the UFOR lab and its faculty, staff, and students.

A Guide to the Construction and Management of Community Gravel Beds. Gary Johnson. University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources. 2021
All you need to know about community gravel beds. Jacob Buisahn, Sean Peterson. University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources. 2013
Pruning Young Elms: Guiding American, Asian, and Hybrid Elms to Stately Maturity. Chad P. Giblin and Jeffery H. Gillman. The Urban Forestry & Horticulture Research Institute. 96p. Out of Print
Stem Girdling Roots: The underground epidemic killing our trees. Gary Johnson and Dennis Fallon.
Urban Tree Risk Management: A Community Guide to Program Design and Implementation. Jill Pokorny, Joseph O'Brien, Richard Hauer, Gary Johnson, Jana Albers, Peter Bedker, Manfred Mielke. Technical Bulletin. NA-TP-03 St. Paul, MN: UDSA Forest Service
The road to a thoughtful street tree master plan. A practical guide to systematic planning and design. Ken Simons and Gary R. Johnson
Planting trees and shrubs for long-term health. Rebecca Hargrave, Gary R. Johnson, and Mike Zins. University of Minnesota Extension Service. MI-07681-S
A practitioner’s guide to stem girdling roots of trees: Impacts on trees, symptomology, and prevention. Gary R. Johnson and Richard J. Hauer. University of Minnesota, Extension Service. BU-7501-S
Minimizing de-icing salt injury to trees. Gary R. Johnson and Ed Sucoff. University of Minnesota, Minnesota Extension Service, FO-1413

Emerald Ash Borer First Detector Program: A Volunteer Early Detection Program. Mark Abrahamson, Valerie Cervenka; Angela Gupta, Jeffery D. Hahn, Dean Herzfeld, Ken Holman, Gary R. Johnson, Michael R. Reichenbach, Gary Wyatt. St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota Extension Service
Planting and Transplanting Trees and Shrubs. Jeffery H. Gillman and Gary R. Johnson. St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota Extension Service. FO-3825-D
Protecting trees from construction damage: a homeowner’s guide. Gary R. Johnson. University of Minnesota Extension Service. FO-6135-S.

UFOR Research Publications

The following articles are products of the research and outreach programs from the UFOR lab and its faculty, staff, and students.

2021
- Vulnerability of Street Trees in Upper Midwest Cities to Climate Change. Leslie Brandt, Gary Johnson, Eric North, Jack Faje, Annmarie Rutledge. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
- Relationship of structural root depth on the formation of stem encircling roots and stem girdling roots: Implications on tree condition. Richard J. Hauer, Gary R. Johnson. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 60, 127031
- Understanding why young urban trees die can improve future success. Daniel J. Wattenhofer, Gary R. Johnson. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 64, 127247
- Suitability of a single imagery multispectral sensor for tree health analysis - Michael M. Bahe, Ryan L. Murphy, Matthew B. Russell, Joseph F. Knight, Gary R. Johnson. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 63, 127187

More UFOR Publications

Industry Publications (articles)

An Urban Forester in Botswana: Recruiting the Next Generation - Eric North. Arborist News. 29(2):34-37
Climate adaptation actions for urban forests and human health - Maria K. Janowiak, et. al. General Technical Report NRS-203. July 2021.
Developing an Assisted Migration Plan for the Superior National Forest - Stephen D. Handler, et. al. 2022.
Data sharing for conservation: A standardized checklist of US native tree species and threat assessments to prioritize and coordinate action - Christina Carrero, et. al. August 2022.
Influence of Urban Tree Canopy on Single-Family Residential Structure Energy Consumption at the Community Scale in Hutchinson, Minnesota. - Philip John Potyondy.
The tree cover and temperature disparity in US urbanized areas: Quantifying the association with income across 5,723 communities. - Robert I. McDonald, et. al. PLOS.
Total Infrastructure Planning: Mind the Four Rs for Successful Street Landscapes. Gary Johnson, Eric North. Arborist News. 25(3):69
Trees and sidewalks: A complicated relationship. Gary Johnson, Eric North. Arborist News. 25(4):52-53
Trees as Witnesses. Eric North. 26(3):44-46
Urban forest diversity: Our past is prologue and our future is now - Eric North. Arborist News. 27(6):52-54

Industry Publications (websites)

An Assessment of Street Tree Diversity: Findings and Implications in the United States. Bingqian, et. al. (2020).
Forest Ecology (Nature.org)
The politics of urban trees: Tree planting is associate with gentrification in Portland, Oregon. Donovan, et. al. Forest Policy and Economic (2021).

Tree Care Resources

New to tree care? Start here:

Resources by Tree Topic

+ Benefits of Trees

Readings

Websites

Videos

+ Selection

Guides & Planning

Tree Selection

+ Planting

+ Maintenance

+ Food-specific Resources

General

Fruit

Maple Syrup

Mushrooms

Nuts & Seeds

+ Tree Troubles - Abiotic (damage from storms, construction, salt, etc.)

Other

+ Tree Troubles - Biotic (pests, pathogens, etc.)

Other

+ Tree Troubles - "Weeds" and Invasive Plants

+ Grants & Funding

+ Contacts & Organizations

+ News, Newsletters, & Research Resources

+ Additional Resources

Fire

Forest Health

Other

Expanded Ecological Topics

+ Climate and Weather

+ Biodiversity

+ Bugs & Insects

+ Even more...

Cultural and Societal Integrations

+ Environmental Justice

Papers

+ Culture

Papers

UFOR YouTube Channel

Connect With Us

Benefits of Trees

Selection

Planting

Maintenance

Food-specific Resources

Tree Troubles - Abiotic (damage from storms, construction, salt, etc.)

Tree Troubles - Biotic (pests, pathogens, etc.)

Tree Troubles - "Weeds" and Invasive Plants

Grants & Funding

Contacts & Organizations

News, Newsletters, & Research Resources

Additional Resources

Climate and Weather

Biodiversity

Bugs & Insects

Even more...

Environmental Justice

Culture