Urban trees provide multiple benefits including improved aesthetics, storm water attenuation, improved air quality, shade for humans, a habitat for wildlife and even a carbon store.

For city governments and individual homeowners alike, the following considerations can lead to better planting decisions:

• Climate. Choose a species that is suited to warming weather and resilient to increasingly intense storms.
• Diversity. Planting the same few species leaves an area vulnerable to losing all of its trees due to disease or pests. Similarly, mixing deciduous and evergreen varieties offers several benefits, including a habitat for wildlife during winter.
• Age. Planting trees with similar lifespans at around the same time means that they will reach the end of their lives simultaneously. A staggered planting schedule should avoid this scenario.