Best Trees to Plant in Massachusetts

A tree is the only thing you will ever plant while quietly hoping you never have to see me again. Plant the right one in the right spot and you won't. Plant the wrong one and I'll be back in fifteen years with a chainsaw and an invoice.

So here are the best trees to plant in Massachusetts, sorted by what you actually want one for — shade, privacy, or something pretty by the front step. I'm Keith McDonald, owner of McDonald Tree Service in Billerica. Thirty years of removing, pruning, and planting trees across Middlesex County has taught me exactly which species earn their keep here and which ones are a slow-motion service call.

One ground rule first. Massachusetts sits in USDA Hardiness Zones 6a and 6b: cold winters, hot summers, nor'easters, ice storms, the occasional drought. Everything on this list takes that on the chin. Everything in the avoid section does not.

Best Shade Trees for Massachusetts

You want a tree that cools the house in July and lets the light back through in January. These three do it.

Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

The king of New England shade. Red oaks hit 60 to 75 feet with a broad, rounded canopy, and they are native to every town we work, from Carlisle to Woburn. About 2 feet of growth a year, deep red to russet fall colour, and a tolerance for the rocky, acidic soil that defines most of Middlesex County. If I could plant one tree in the average yard, this is it.

Best for: Big yards with room for a 50-foot spread. Keep it 25 feet off the house.

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)

The postcard tree, and the best fall colour of anything on this list — orange, gold, and red all at once. Sixty to 75 feet, moderate growth, happiest in well-drained soil with some shade when young.

Caution: it has no patience for road salt, packed soil, or drought. Save it for the larger lots in Concord, Lincoln, and Carlisle, not the strip between sidewalk and street.

White Oak (Quercus alba)

Slower than red oak, but it can live 300 years and shrug off wind that snaps lesser trees. Sixty to 80 feet, massive canopy, rich burgundy in fall, native throughout the county. The wood is so strong it is genuinely hard to break.

Best for: people planting for the grandkids. A white oak is a tree you plant knowing someone else gets the shade.

Best Privacy Trees for Massachusetts

Evergreens screen year-round. These are the ones that actually hold up in our climate.

Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)

The fastest native evergreen we have, up to 3 feet a year and 80-plus feet at maturity. Plant them in a row 10 to 12 feet apart and you have a wall of soft blue-green needles in a few seasons.

Caution: here is the catch, and I see it every winter. White pines load up with ice and throw big limbs. We remove more of them than any other species across Tewksbury, Wilmington, and Chelmsford. Wonderful privacy tree, lousy roommate — keep it 30 feet from the house.

Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Native, 40 to 50 feet, dense and columnar. It screens like a pine without the falling-limb drama, and it laughs at poor soil, drought, and wind. Nearly no maintenance once it takes.

Best for: smaller lots in Burlington, Bedford, and Lexington that need a screen but cannot host an 80-foot pine.

American Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)

The classic privacy hedge. Tops out at 40 to 60 feet but holds any height you prune it to. Plant 3 to 4 feet apart for a solid green wall.

Caution: deer treat arborvitae like a salad bar. In Westford, Carlisle, Acton, and Concord, either pick something else or plan on netting until it grows above nose height.

Best Ornamental Trees for Massachusetts

Small trees that live happily near the house, the patio, and the walkway without eating them.

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Twenty to 30 feet, and in early spring it covers itself in magenta-pink flowers before the leaves even show up. Heart-shaped leaves, yellow in fall, fine in partial shade. One of the few ornamentals that genuinely belongs in our zone.

Best for: front yards, foundation beds, and tucking in under bigger trees.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)

Native and good-looking in all four seasons: white spring flowers, blue summer berries the birds will fight over, orange-red fall colour, handsome winter bark. Fifteen to 25 feet, single-trunk or multi-stem.

Best for: small yards and anyone who planted a Bradford pear and has come to regret it.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

Not native, but it does well here with the right spot. Cultivars run from 6-foot dwarfs to 25-foot specimens, in reds, purples, and greens you do not get from anything else. It wants shelter from winter wind and harsh afternoon sun.

Best for: protected corners near the house and garden beds. You see beautiful ones across Winchester, Lexington, and Waltham.

Trees to Avoid in Massachusetts

A few favourites at the garden centre that I would happily talk you out of:

• Norway Maple (Acer platanoides): invasive, shades out everything beneath it, and its surface roots go after sidewalks and foundations. The state lists it as invasive for a reason.
• Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum): fast, and weak as wet cardboard. Drops branches constantly and sends roots into your sewer line. We remove more storm-damaged silver maples than just about anything.
• Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana): invasive, structurally hopeless, and it tends to split itself in half around year 18. Smells like it already regrets the decision. Several states have banned selling it.
• White Ash (Fraxinus americana): a lovely native tree, but planting a new one now is signing up to lose it — the emerald ash borer is wiping out ash across Billerica, Dracut, and Lowell.
• Weeping Willow: roots that hunt down septic systems and foundations, an endless thirst, and brittle branches that snap in every storm. Romantic by a pond you do not own. A headache by your house.

Plant It Right or Plant It Twice

The best money you will ever spend on a tree is the five minutes you spend deciding where it goes. A few rules from thirty years of cleaning up the alternative:

• Plant in fall or early spring. October to November, or March to April. Roots get established before summer cooks them.
• Don't plant it too deep. The root flare — where the trunk widens at the base — sits at or just above ground level. Bury it and you slowly strangle the tree.
• Mulch like a doughnut, not a volcano. Two to 3 inches in a ring, not touching the trunk. Volcano mulching is the only volcano in Massachusetts, and it only erupts on the tree it is smothering.
• Water for two years. An inch a week through the growing season until it is established.
• Plant for the grown-up, not the seedling. That cute 6-foot red oak becomes 70 feet with a 50-foot canopy. Ten feet from the foundation, that is not a shade tree, that is a future removal with your name on it.

When to Call, and When Not To

I make my living removing trees, and here I am telling you how to plant them. My daughter Marisa says that is bad for business. I say a tree planted right is thirty years of pruning work and one happy neighbour, which is a better business than one removal.

You do not need me to plant a 6-foot sapling. A shovel, a Saturday, and the rules above will do it. Call when you want a hand picking the right species for your soil and your sightlines, when the tree is balled-and-burlapped and heavier than you are, or when something already in the ground was planted in the wrong spot and now needs replacing or removing — see our removal vs. trimming guide for that call.

Ring (978) 375-2272 for a free consultation on planting or anything else with bark on it. We cover Billerica, Chelmsford, Lowell, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Burlington, Bedford, Carlisle, Dracut, Westford, Andover, Woburn, Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Winchester, Acton, and Waltham. Plant a good one, and with any luck the next time we talk it is about your neighbour's tree.

Straight Answers

What is the best tree to plant in Massachusetts?

For most yards, a red oak. Native to every town in the county, fine in our rocky acidic soil, dense summer shade, deep red in fall. Give it 25 feet from the house.

What is the fastest-growing privacy tree?

Eastern white pine, up to 3 feet a year. It gets big and drops limbs in ice, so keep it 30 feet off the house. For smaller lots, red cedar or arborvitae screen without the height risk.

What trees should you not plant here?

Norway maple and Bradford pear (invasive), silver maple (weak, invasive roots), weeping willow (roots into septic and foundations), and any new white ash (the borer is killing them).

When is the best time to plant?

Fall or early spring — October to November, March to April. The roots settle before summer heat.

How far from the house should a tree go?

Plan for the mature size. A red oak ends up 70 feet with a 50-foot canopy, so 25 feet of clearance. Small ornamentals like redbud and serviceberry are fine close in.

Do I need a professional to plant a tree?

For a 6-foot sapling, no. For a balled-and-burlapped tree you cannot lift, or help choosing species and spot, that is when to call.