Northern Nevada tree guide

This guide covers the trees most often found in Carson City, Reno and Lake Tahoe yards, and the problems that most often bring an arborist out. Each page explains how to identify the tree or problem and when pruning or removal is usual.

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Valley towns grow planted cottonwoods, elms, ash and fruit trees on irrigation. The foothills carry pinyon and juniper. The Sierra side grows Jeffrey pine, white fir and incense cedar.

Trees of Northern Nevada

Fremont cottonwood

Fremont cottonwood is the big, fast-growing shade tree of Northern Nevada's valley floors, and a tree that often needs an arborist's attention. It can top 100 feet, its wood is soft and weak, and larg

Siberian elm

Siberian elm is the fast-growing, wind-hardy shade tree planted on older lots across the Reno, Carson City and Carson Valley floors. It tolerates cold and dry ground, but its wood is brittle and old t

Jeffrey pine

Jeffrey pine is the tall, thick-barked native pine of the Sierra Nevada and Tahoe basin, and a large one near a house needs an arborist's eye on its health, its crown and its distance from the roof. T

Ponderosa pine

Ponderosa pine is a tall native pine with long needles in bundles of three and plated, orange-brown bark, found on foothill and mountain lots on the edge of the Great Basin. It handles a lot, but drou

Austrian pine

Austrian pine is a dark, dense, two-needle pine from Europe that was planted widely as a windbreak and screen on Northern Nevada lots. It copes with our cold and wind, but it is only moderately drough

Colorado blue spruce

Colorado blue spruce is the stiff, blue-green, cone-shaped evergreen planted as a front-yard specimen on many Northern Nevada lots. It is a mountain tree with shallow roots, so it struggles in our dry

Quaking aspen

Quaking aspen is the white-barked, round-leafed tree that trembles in the slightest wind, and in Northern Nevada it is a mountain tree that many people plant in valley yards where it struggles. Indivi

White fir

White fir is a tall, soft-needled native conifer of the Sierra and Tahoe basin, recognised by its flat sprays of curved needles and smooth gray bark on young trees. Drought-stressed firs are attacked

Incense cedar

Incense cedar is a narrow, columnar native conifer with flat, scale-like foliage and reddish, fibrous bark, planted and found on Sierra-front lots. Mature trees are tall and tolerate our cold, but an

Utah juniper and ornamental junipers

Utah juniper is the slow-growing, shrubby native tree of Nevada's dry hillsides, and ornamental junipers planted next to homes are on Extension's high-hazard plant list too. A juniper against a wall o

Single-leaf pinyon

Single-leaf pinyon is the short, bushy native pine of Nevada's dry foothills, with a single needle per bundle, and it is the most drought-tolerant pine in the country. Thin bark and persistent dead br

Honeylocust

Honeylocust is a drought-resistant, feathery-leaved shade tree planted along streets and in yards across Northern Nevada, usually in a thornless form. It tolerates dry ground and salt, so it holds up

Ash trees: Modesto, Raywood and green ash

Ash is widely planted as a street and yard tree in Reno, Sparks and Carson City, including green ash, Modesto ash and Raywood ash. They give quick shade, but drought, wounds and aging cause dieback, a

Silver maple

Silver maple is a fast-growing shade tree with deeply cut leaves that are silver underneath, and in Northern Nevada the big old ones are known for breaking limbs and for shallow, wide roots that lift

Lombardy poplar

Lombardy poplar is the tall, narrow, flame-shaped tree planted in rows as a windbreak and screen across Northern Nevada ranches and older lots. It grows fast and lives a short time, and rows that are

Weeping willow

Weeping willow is the graceful, drooping, fast-growing tree that wants a lot of water, and in the dry Reno and Carson City valleys it survives only beside ditches, ponds and heavily watered lawns. Its

Black locust

Black locust is a fast-growing, thorny, deeply furrowed tree that spreads by root suckers and has been planted widely in the West for shade, posts and erosion control. It handles poor soil, but it is

Apple and other fruit trees

Apple, pear, cherry, plum and apricot trees are common in older Reno, Carson City and Carson Valley yards, and an old fruit tree is a pruning question first and a removal question second. Dormant-seas

Bark beetles in pines

Bark beetles kill pines by tunneling under the bark, and they hit hardest after drought. The signs are reddish pitch tubes on the trunk, boring dust and a crown that fades from green to yellow to redd

Fir engraver beetle

The fir engraver is a bark beetle that attacks true firs, mainly white fir in the mountains around Lake Tahoe and the Carson Range, and it tunnels under the bark and can kill the top of a tree, a patc

Elm leaf beetle

Elm leaf beetle larvae eat the surface of elm leaves and leave brown, lace-like netting, and in northern Nevada the main victim is the Siberian elm. A healthy, watered elm usually survives, though rep

Pine needle scale

Pine needle scale is a tiny insect whose white, shell-like covers cling to evergreen needles, and a heavy infestation makes a tree look spattered with white paint. Pruning removes dead twigs and branc

Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease is a fungal disease spread by elm bark beetles and root grafts, and its first sign is flagging: leaves on one upper branch curl, wilt and turn yellow or gray-green in summer. Only a

Drought stress and dieback

Drought stress shows as scorched or curled leaves, early fall color and leaf drop, and in conifers browning needles and wilting twigs. Repeated stress leads to dieback from the top of the crown, and s

Storm and snow-load breakage

After a heavy snow or wind storm, look for hanging limbs, a snapped top, a split trunk and bark peeling off in strips, but do it from a safe distance. If about half of the crown or more is gone, the t

Root and trunk decay

Root and trunk decay is rot caused by fungi inside a tree, and the clearest outside signs are conks on the trunk, mushrooms at the base, cavities, cracks and a lean. There is no cure for wood decay, s

How to use this guide

Find your tree, read what usually goes wrong with it here, then decide whether you need an arborist. Each species page covers how to identify the tree, its typical problems in this area, pruning timing and when removal is usual. Each problem page covers what to look for, why it happens, what an arborist checks and when pruning or removal is the answer.

We identify problems and prune or remove trees. We do not spray, inject or fertilize.

Why do the trees change so much across the service area?

Elevation and water. Our service area runs from about 3,965 feet at Fallon to about 7,126 feet at Kingsbury. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals show 4.77 inches of precipitation a year at the Fallon Experiment Station and 9.34 inches at the Carson City station, against 18.46 inches at Glenbrook on Tahoe's east shore.

The Nevada Division of Forestry describes the state's forests as pinyon and juniper woodlands, mixed conifer forests and alpine forest types on mountain islands separated by wide basins without forest. Towns sit mostly in those basins. That is why a yard tree in Carson City, Reno or Fallon is usually a planted tree living on irrigation, while a yard tree in Incline Village or Zephyr Cove is usually a native conifer that was there before the house.

Cold matters as well. The USDA's 2023 map puts the service area in hardiness zones 6b to 7b. The elevation and hardiness zone table lists every town.

Which trees are in which part of the area?

Valley-town shade trees, yard and landscape trees, native foothill woodland and Sierra conifers each have their own group, and every tree in the guide fits one of them. The table below links each tree to its page.

Which trees are in which part of the area?
Where	Trees covered in this guide
Shade and yard trees planted in the valley towns, on irrigation	Fremont cottonwood, Siberian elm, silver maple, Lombardy poplar, weeping willow, black locust, apple and other fruit trees
Other trees planted in yards and landscapes	Honeylocust, ash, Austrian pine, Colorado blue spruce, quaking aspen
Native foothill woodland	Utah juniper and ornamental junipers, single-leaf pinyon
Native conifers of the Sierra side and Lake Tahoe	Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, white fir, incense cedar

The grouping is a starting point, not a rule. Planted trees turn up everywhere people have watered them.

What problems bring an arborist out?

Beetles in conifers: bark beetles in pines and the fir engraver in white fir. Elm trouble: elm leaf beetle and Dutch elm disease. Pine needle scale on landscape pines and spruce.

The rest are not pests at all. Drought stress and dieback follow when an irrigated tree loses its water. Storm and snow-load breakage follows wind and heavy wet snow. Root and trunk decay is the one you often cannot see, and the one an arborist looks hardest for.

When is it time to call?

Call when a tree has large dead branches, a crack in the trunk, a new lean, mushrooms or soft wood at the base, or needles and leaves browning out of season. A certified arborist can tell you whether the answer is pruning, dead wooding, a cable or removal. The estimate is free, and no page in this guide can tell you a tree is safe.

Sources

Nevada Division of Forestry and USDA Forest Service: Nevada Forest Health Highlights 2023 (read October 1, 2026)
NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (retrieved October 1, 2026)
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (retrieved October 1, 2026)
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency: Trees and Defensible Space (read October 1, 2026)

Straight answers

Questions people ask

Still have a question? Call 775.232.8243. Phones are answered seven days a week.

Can you treat a sick tree?

We do not apply pesticides or other treatments. An arborist consultation can identify the problem and tell you whether pruning out the affected wood or removing the tree is the right step.

Can you identify my tree from a photo?

Attach photos to the free estimate form and tell us what worries you. Photos help the office, but an arborist looks at the tree in person before recommending anything.

Do you plant trees?

No. We prune, remove and consult. If you plan to replant after a removal, ask about stump grinding, which lets you plant grass, shrubs or even new trees where the old tree stood.

Are Lake Tahoe trees covered by different rules?

Yes. In the Tahoe Basin, removing a live tree over 14 inches in diameter at breast height needs a permit from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. See the Tahoe permit guide.

When should trees be pruned here?

Dead branches and safety hazards any time. Otherwise when the tree is dormant: late winter for most deciduous trees and early spring and summer for most conifers.

Free estimates

Get a free, detailed estimate

A certified arborist looks at the job before any work starts. Tell us what you have and our office will set up a time.

Call 775.232.8243

4.8 out of 5 on Google from 44 reviews (October 17, 2026)
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ISA Certified Arborist WE-11728A on staff
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Carson City based since October 2013

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