The Best Fast Growing Shade Trees For New York and Connecticut Yards

A good shade tree can be your best friend on a hot summer day.

Lounge beneath the leafy canopy to beat the heat. Duck under its sheltering branches during a summer cloudburst. Lower your home’s energy bills by planting shade trees to keep the sun off your house.

Bring on the shade!

Trouble is, trees don’t provide shade overnight. It takes years for a good shade tree to do its thing.

The Best Types of Shade Trees for Planting Around the House

Some of the best trees to plant near the house, grow faster than others. Here’s a look at five fast-growing shade trees that grow in NY at a fairly speedy clip. We’ll also take a look at the best time to plant them.

Northern Red Oak

The Northern Red Oak is a great shade tree, and with a growth rate of two feet a year, you won’t have to wait too long to lounge beneath its branches. It’s also known for brilliant red fall color.

Expect this tree to grow to 60 to 75 feet high at maturity, with an impressive canopy spread of about 45 feet.

It prefers acidic, loamy, moist, well-drained soil. While some trees are finicky about being transplanted, the Northern Red Oak tree doesn’t seem to mind.

Hybrid Poplar

The Hybrid Poplar is one of the fastest-growing trees. This type of shade tree can grow up to 8 feet a year. You can almost watch it grow. At maturity, it tops out at 40 to 50 feet.

There are several varieties to choose from, but if the little poplar cotton tufts bug you, opt for the Populus deltoides x Populus nigra variety, a “cottonless hybrid” that the Arbor Day Foundation recommends.

Autumn Blaze Maple

The name gives it away — this is a fall foliage beauty, with brilliant orangey-red leaves. The Autumn Blaze maple tree is a hybrid of two famous trees, the red and silver maples.

It’s also the fastest-growing maple tree, with 3 to 5 feet of growth a year. At maturity, Autumn Blaze maples will reach about 50 feet tall by 40 feet wide, with a rounded crown.

They like moist but well-drained soil, full sun to partial shade.

This fast grower won back-to-back “Urban Tree of the Year” awards in 2003 and 2004, which means it tolerates car exhaust, can adapt to a wide range of soil conditions and is both insect-resistant and disease-resistant. Another plus: it doesn’t drop seed pods.

River Birch

Best known for its distinctive cinnamon-hued curling bark, the river birch is a landscape beauty. While River Birch shade trees grow naturally along river banks, it’s equally at home in the landscape, offering spreading limbs for shade at a fairly speedy rate.

Expect this fast-growing shade tree to grow from 13 to 24 inches a year, with an ultimate height of 40 to 70 feet high with a 40 to 60-foot spread.

This type of shade tree is more resistant than most birches to the destructive birch borer, a devastating pest that attacks birch and other native trees.

One thing to note: it doesn’t like very alkaline soil.

Tulip Tree

The Tulip Tree is named for the shape of their flowers, these giants need plenty of room to grow. So don’t crowd it.

This fast grower — more than two feet a year — will reach up to 90 feet tall. So you may not see much of the yellow-green lowers at the top. But you can appreciate its golden fall foliage.

This shade tree prefers full to partial sun and well-drained soil with plenty of humus.

If you love little critters, this tree is for you. Hummingbirds are drawn to the nectar in the flowers and rabbits and squirrels feast on the seeds.

While most trees do best with fall planting (more on this later), the tulip tree does not, according to the Ohio State University Extension. Stick to spring for this one.

The Best Time of Year to Plant Fast-Growing Shade Trees

Your newly planted tree wants moderate temperature and rainfall. And it would like some time for its roots to settle in before the onset of the intense heat and dryness of summer or the freezing temperatures of winter.

That means spring and early fall are generally the best tree planting seasons.

Neave Landscaping Will Take Care of Your Tree Planting

Craving shade? Or a little more privacy? Neave Landscaping can help.

Our professional arborists will help you choose the ideal trees for your property, and our expert installation team will make sure the planting is done right.

Shade trees are a long-term investment. That’s why we take extra care in inspecting the soil quality, local climate and other factors that can affect your new trees.

In some cases, city permits are needed if you’re planting trees that are visible to the public on your front lawn. We’ll not only get our hands dirty by installing your trees, but we’ll also cut through all the legal red tape on your behalf, too.

We’re also licensed, bonded and insured for your protection.

If you’re in the Hudson Valley, call us at (845) 463-0592. If you’re in Westchester County, call (914) 271-7996; from Connecticut, dial (203) 212-4800. Or, fill out our contact form, and we’ll contact you about setting up your free consultation.

Once we plant your trees, we don’t disappear. We’re happy to come back, whether it’s for routine maintenance, such as pruning and trimming, or emergency services that involve disease and infestation control.

Your trees are in good hands.

Images: River Birch, Tulip tree, Red Maple, Red Oak, Poplar