Shady 80

Recommended trees for a cooler Sacramento region

It's important to plant the right tree in the right place. Use this catalog to help narrow down your tree selection. This list includes over 80 of the best trees for the Sacramento region — trees that will thrive in our climate and soil, that are ideal for urban and suburban areas, and that are relatively free of serious pests and diseases.

Find your tree

Download our list of recommended trees. Please note that some information, especially regarding tree availability, is subject to change.

Ostrya virginiana - American hop hornbeam fruit

American hop hornbeam

Ostrya virginiana

Bald cypress

Taxodium distichum

Very large unripe acorns of the bur oak, green and round with frilly buff caps

Bur oak

Quercus macrocarpa

Chestnut leaf oak

Quercus castaneifolia

Chinese flame tree

Koelreuteria bipinnata

Chionanthus retusus - Chinese fringe tree flowers

Chinese fringe tree

Chionanthus retusus

Chinese pistache

Pistacia chinensis

A trio of fiery crimson columnar red maples putting on a dazzling fall display

Columnar red maple

Acer × freemanii ‘Armstrong’

Zelkova serrata 'Musashino' - Columnar zelkova

Columnar zelkova

Zelkova serrata ‘Musashino’

A sweet Eastern redbud blooms in a front yard garden. This homeowner has created a special garden bed separate from the lawn for this tree and an evergreen shrub, free of grass so the tree will thrive.

Eastern redbud

Cercis canadensis

Emerald Sunshine elm

Ulmus propinqua ‘JFS-Bieberich’

European hackberry

Celtis australis

European hornbeam

Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’

A young but established 'Frontier' elm grows in a grassy park strip between the street and sidewalk in front of homes in midtown Sacramento. It's already tall enough to shade the sidewalk, cars parked along the curb, and the front yard. Within a decade, it will provide shade for the bike lane, street, and homes nearby.

Frontier elm

Ulmus ‘Frontier’

Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' fall color

Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba

Koelreuteria paniculata - Goldenrain tree flowers

Goldenrain tree

Koelreuteria paniculata

A hedge maple has a cute rounded canopy kind of like a hedgehog

Hedge maple

Acer campestre

Bright pink to red buds open to soft pink flowers before leaves emerge on the Japanese crabapple

Japanese crabapple

Malus floribunda

Japanese snowbell

Styrax japonicus

Kentucky coffeetree

Gymnocladus dioicus ‘Espresso’

A littleleaf linden grows in a pyramidal shape in a residential front lawn

Littleleaf linden

Tilia cordata

London plane

Platanus × acerifolia

Oregon ash

Fraxinus latifolia

Persian ironwood

Parrotia persica

Pomegranate

Punica granatum ‘Wonderful’

Hot pink flowers bloom before leaves emerge on the Prairifire crabapple

Prairifire crabapple

Malus ‘Prairifire’

Princeton Sentry ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba ‘Princeton Sentry’

Prospector elm

Ulmus ‘Prospector’

Red maple

Acer rubrum

A red oak grows in a front yard with a large round canopy of dense foliage

Red oak

Quercus rubra

Graceful whips of foliage stream downward from a river birch in a front yard

River birch

Betula nigra

Soft pink and white petals with a fuschia underside color the fist-sized flowers of saucer magnolias in late winter before leaves emerge

Saucer magnolia

Magnolia × soulangeana

Sawleaf zelkova

Zelkova serrata

Pointy and lobed green leaves of a scarlet oak

Scarlet oak

Quercus coccinea

Shantung maple

Acer truncatum

Bright orange fall leaves of the Shumard oak

Shumard oak

Quercus shumardii

Spring Snow crabapple

Malus ‘Spring Snow’

Pointy and lobed leaves of a Texas red oak

Texas red oak

Quercus buckleyi

A front yard trident maple invites visitors with intriguing bark patterns and leaves shaped like duck feet

Trident maple

Acer buergerianum

Glossy, serrated, assymetrical leaves of the Triumph elm

Triumph elm

Ulmus ‘Morton Glossy’

Cream colored and tulip-shaped flowers with orange streaks on inner petals give the tulip tree its name.

Tulip tree

Liriodendron tulipfera

Brilliant red fall color and a tall pyramidal shape are a couple reasons people love the tupelo

Tupelo

Nyssa sylvatica

Upright English oak

Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’

Quercus lobata - valley oak

Valley oak

Quercus lobata

Bright red berries on the Washington hawthorn stand out among chartreuse leaves, a favorite for birds

Washington hawthorn

Crataegus phaenopyrum

Western redbud

Cercis occidentalis

Elongated willow-like leaves and an upright form define the willow oak

Willow oak

Quercus phellos