Property owners are required to obtain a permit before removing and/or planting street trees. Your property will be evaluated before a permit will be issued. Street tree applications are available online or by calling the Urban Forestry Program at (859) 425-2558 or by calling 311.
Learn more about street trees and the Urban forestry Program.
Approved trees
Before planting a tree learn more about the tree planting process and how to properly care for your new tree.
Be sure to check the approved and prohibited lists before submitting an application.
Large trees (over 50 feet tall)
- American basswood (Tilia americana)
- American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- American elm (Ulmus americana) Dutch elm disease-resistant varieties only
- Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
- Chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)
- European larch (Larix decidua)
- Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) fruitless cultivars only
- Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata)
- Lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia)
- London planetree (Platanus x acerifolia)
- Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) fruitless cultivars only
- Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)
- Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea)
- Shingle oak (Quercus imbricaria)
- Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii)
- Swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)
- Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
- Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata)
- Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- White oak (Quercus alba)
Medium trees (25 – 50 feet tall)
- Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)
- Amur maackia (Maackia amurensis)
- Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
- Carolina silverbell (Halesia tetraptera)
- Hardy rubber tree (Eucommia ulmoides)
- Hedge maple (Acer campestre)
- Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
- Japanese pagoda (Styphnolobium japonicum)
- Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonicus)
- Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata)
- Katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
- Littleleaf linden (Tilia cordata)
- Persian parrotia (Parrotia persica)
- Thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis)
- Trident maple (Acer buergerianum)
- Turkish filbert (Corylus colurna)
- Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea)
Small trees (10 – 15 feet tall)
- American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
- Amur maple (Acer ginnala)
- Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- White fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus)
- Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
- Hawthorn varieties (Crataegus spp.)
- Japanese cherry (Prunus spp.)
- Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa)
- Red horse chestnut (Aesculus x carnea)
- Tatarian maple (Acer tataricum)
Prohibited street trees
Trees that produce large or messy fruit or are structurally weak are not allowed as street trees.
- All flowering pears (Pyrus calleryana)
- Ash varieties (Fraxinus spp.)
- Birch varieties (Betula spp.)
- Box elder (Acer negundo)
- Catalpa varieties (Catalpa spp.)
- Common apple (Malus pumila)
- Evergreens
- Ginkgo; female (Ginkgo biloba)
- Goldenraintree (Koelreuteria paniculata)
- Mulberry varieties (Morus spp.)
- Pin oak (Quercus palustris)
- Norway maple (Acer platanoides)
- Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila)
- Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)
- Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima)