The Most Common Trees in Massachusetts (ID Guide)

If you own a home in Middlesex County, you almost certainly have one of about six trees in your yard. Massachusetts is heavily wooded, but the mix is predictable: oak, maple, white pine, birch, and a few others do most of the work. Here is how to recognize the common ones, and which of them are most likely to end up needing us.

This is the field-guide version. For a deeper reference on each species, see our Massachusetts tree species guide.

Oak

The heavyweight of the Massachusetts yard. Red oak and white oak are everywhere, with lobed leaves and deeply ridged grey bark. Oaks are strong and long-lived, but a mature one is enormous and heavy, and when a limb does fail it does real damage. Keep them pruned and watch for dead crown. Our oak tree care guide goes deeper.

Maple

Sugar maple, red maple, and Norway maple are all common. The five-point leaf and the paired winged seeds, the ones kids stick on their noses, give it away. Maples are popular yard trees but get a lot of disease and structural issues as they age. See common maple tree problems if yours looks off.

Eastern white pine

The tall one. Soft blue-green needles in bundles of five, straight trunk, often towering over the roofline. White pine grows fast and that is the problem: it gets tall and top-heavy, and the wood is brittle in a nor’easter. It is the species we are called to take off houses most often. Read white pine problems before one finds your roof.

Birch

Easy to spot from the papery, peeling bark, white on paper birch, more bronze on river birch. Birches are shorter-lived and prone to borers and dieback, so you often see dead tops. Pretty trees, but they need attention as they age.

Ash (the one to worry about)

Ash has compound leaves and diamond-patterned bark. It deserves its own warning because of the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that has killed huge numbers of ash trees across Massachusetts. A dead or dying ash near a structure is a priority removal, because the wood goes brittle fast and becomes dangerous to climb.

The rest

You will also run into eastern hemlock, beech, cherry, and the occasional spruce or arborvitae from landscaping. Most of the calls we get, though, come down to the five above.

Which ones become a tree-service call

If you are wondering which of your trees is most likely to need attention: tall white pine near the house, mature oak with deadwood, and any ash, in that order. A healthy maple or birch usually just needs occasional pruning. The point of knowing what you have is knowing what to watch. If you spot dead crown, leaning, or fungus at the base on any of them, read the warning signs that a tree needs to come down.

Not sure what you have?

Send us a photo or call (978) 375-2272 and we will tell you what the tree is and whether it needs anything. If it is healthy, we will say so and you will not hear a sales pitch. We have been naming and working Massachusetts trees since 1995. You can also browse the full species guide or get a free estimate if one needs work.

McDonald Tree Service. 8 Sycamore Ln, Billerica, MA 01821. Owner on every job since 1995.