Best Trees to Plant in Your Spokane Yard (and Which to Avoid)

After removing thousands of failed, hazardous, and just plain wrong trees in Spokane yards, we've developed strong opinions about what to plant. Spokane has specific challenges — wind exposure, alkaline soils, hot dry summers, sub-zero winters, and shallow rocky substrate — that eliminate many trees marketed as "adaptable."

Here's our honest list, based on what actually thrives long-term.

Best Mid-Size Shade Trees (30–50 ft mature)

Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)

Native to the Great Plains, drought-tolerant, deeply rooted, lives 200+ years. Slow growing but tough as nails. Our top recommendation for new yards.

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Tolerates wind, drought, alkaline soil, and salt. Beautiful fall color. Underused and underappreciated.

Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)

Distinctive bark, drought-tolerant, no serious pest issues. Late to leaf out (which some homeowners dislike) but worth it.

Native serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

Native, beautiful spring flowers, edible berries, brilliant fall color. Stays manageable size — perfect for smaller yards.

Best Large Shade Trees (50+ ft)

Honeylocust (thornless cultivars)

Fast-growing, filtered shade, drought-tolerant once established. Avoid older thorny varieties — pick "Skyline" or "Shademaster."

Bur oak (mature size)

Yes, bur oak gets large in 50–80 years. If you're planting for the long term, nothing beats it for Spokane.

Ginkgo (male only)

Indestructible, gorgeous fall color, virtually pest-free. Female trees produce smelly fruit — buy male cultivars only.

Best Conifers

Native ponderosa pine

Yes, despite the beetle issues — native ponderosa is best adapted to Spokane. Plant in well-drained sites, water deeply during establishment, and you'll have a tree that lasts generations.

Engelmann spruce

Cold-hardy, beautiful blue color, slow-growing and long-lived. Better choice than Colorado blue spruce in our climate.

Western larch

Native deciduous conifer with stunning gold fall color. Drops needles in winter — gives you sun when you want it. Native and very tough.

Best Ornamental Trees (under 30 ft)

• Mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) — beautiful but watch for fire blight
• Native chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) — wildlife magnet, very tough
• Crabapple (disease-resistant cultivars only — "Prairifire," "Sugar Tyme")
• Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli inermis) — thornless cultivar, beautiful
• Native rocky mountain maple — small, native, gorgeous

Trees to AVOID in Spokane

Lombardy poplar

Designed to fail. Bacterial canker, weak wood, short life, and constant maintenance. We remove dozens every year.

Black cottonwood (in residential yards)

Native, but gets enormous, drops massive limbs, has weak attachment points, prone to internal decay. Beautiful in riparian areas, dangerous near houses.

Silver maple

Fast-growing weak wood, shallow surface roots that destroy lawns and foundations, prone to splitting in wind. Hard pass.

Siberian elm

Brittle wood, weak unions, drops huge limbs in wind. The poster child for "trees that should be removed before they hurt someone."

Tree of heaven (Ailanthus)

Invasive, foul-smelling, breaks easily, suckers prolifically. Often appears uninvited — kill seedlings on sight.

Russian olive

Invasive in Washington, displaces native vegetation. Don't plant — even though they're sold at some nurseries.

Norway maple

Invasive in eastern Washington, casts dense shade that kills understory, surface roots damage everything nearby.

Planting Tips for Spokane Success

• Plant in fall (September–early October) or early spring
• Dig wide, shallow holes — twice the root ball width, no deeper than the root flare
• Don't amend the soil with compost — trees adapt to native soil better
• Mulch out to the drip line, never piled against the trunk
• Water deeply weekly for the first 2–3 years (slow soak, not surface spray)
• Stake only if necessary, and remove stakes after 1 year
• Avoid planting under power lines or within 20 feet of foundations (most species)

Where to Buy Quality Trees in Spokane

Avoid impulse purchases at big-box stores — they often carry inappropriate species and root-bound stock. Buy from local nurseries who can advise on cultivars and source healthy specimens. Spokane Conservation District also offers excellent native trees at low cost during their annual sale.