Trees and shrubs
Find advice on selecting and caring for trees and shrubs for your home landscape.
Selecting trees and shrubs for your landscape
- Plant Elements of Design plant selection tool
- Gardening in the shade — how to create gardens in shady areas in your yard.
- Recommended trees and plants for climate-ready woodlands
- Replacements for ash trees in yards and boulevards
- Select trees and shrubs for Minnesota landscapes — a short list of winter-hardy, disease-resistant recommendations for the home yard and garden.
- Trees and shrubs for pollinators — recommendations for specific varieties that will attract pollinators to your landscape.
- UMN Forest Resources trees, shrubs and vines database
Deciduous trees and shrubs
Deciduous trees and shrubs lose their leaves in the fall and can provide color, texture and interest to your yard.
Video: Why do tree leaves change color? (2:22)
Minnesota trees
Fall color
Shrubs that provide color through fall and winter
Flowering shrubs
Evergreen trees and shrubs
Evergreens keep their leaves or needles throughout the year and can act as windbreaks and provide shelter for animals.
Evergreens can be conifers (cone-bearing, needle-like foliage) such as pine, spruce, juniper or arborvitae, or broadleaf (leaf-like foliage) such as boxwood and rhododendron.
Keeping trees and shrubs healthy
Hiring a tree care professional - Finding and hiring a professional arborist or forester can help you diagnose problems and get professional care for your landscape trees.
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General planting and caring for trees and shrubs
Pruning
- Clean and disinfect gardening tools and containers
- Pruning trees and shrubs
- Video: Pruning Hydrangeas: Equipment, techniques and timing (7:33)
- Video: Shrubs to prune in late winter – Part 1 (8:21)
- Video: Shrubs to prune in late winter – Part 2 (9:56)
- Video: Shrubs to prune after blooming in early spring – Part 3 (9:23)
Caring for trees and shrubs
- Water wisely — conserve water and keep plants healthy
- Watering established trees and shrubs
- Watering newly planted trees and shrubs
- Video: Watering newly planted trees (3:31)
- Protecting trees and shrubs in winter
- The effects of deicing salts on landscapes
- Fertilizing evergreens
Managing damage
Diseases
- Plant diseases — detailed information on tree and shrub diseases
- Non-harmful tree conditions — burls, lichens, smooth patch, sooty mold and wetwood
- Oak wilt risk status in Minnesota
Insects
- Tree and shrub insects — insects that commonly affect Minnesota trees and shrubs
Stay up to date
- Read Yard and Garden News.
- Listen to the Smart Gardenspodcast and radio show.
- Watch Hort Shorts on YouTube.
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