---
title: Northern Nevada Tree Guide | Species and Problems
url: https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/
business: Battle Born Tree Service
address: 6301 US Highway 50 East, Carson City, NV 89701
phone: 775.232.8243
hours: Office Monday-Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm; phones answered seven days a week; 24-hour emergency service
credentials: ISA Certified Arborist WE-11728A on staff; Nevada Business License # 20131580674; fully insured
type: Tree service (removal, crane work, pruning, stump grinding, defensible space, snow removal, firewood)
---

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- Tree guide

# 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.

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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/fremont-cottonwood/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/siberian-elm/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/jeffrey-pine/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/ponderosa-pine/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/austrian-pine/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/colorado-blue-spruce/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/quaking-aspen/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/white-fir/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/incense-cedar/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/utah-juniper/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/single-leaf-pinyon/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/honeylocust/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/ash/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/silver-maple/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/lombardy-poplar/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/weeping-willow/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/black-locust/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/apple-and-fruit-trees/)[### Freeman maple (Autumn Blaze) Freeman maple is a fast-growing hybrid of red maple and silver maple, sold under names like 'Autumn Blaze', and it is a popular street and yard tree in Northern Nevada. It brings silver maple's weak w Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/freeman-maple/)[### Norway maple Norway maple is a dense, round-crowned shade tree from Europe that was planted widely on older Reno, Carson City and Carson Valley lots, and you can tell it by the milky sap that beads from a broken l Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/norway-maple/)[### London planetree and sycamore London planetree is the large street tree with mottled, peeling bark and spiky seed balls that hang on through winter. It tolerates drought and city conditions better than American sycamore, but it ge Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/london-planetree-and-sycamore/)[### Callery (flowering) pear Callery pear, including the 'Bradford' cultivar, is the white-blooming ornamental pear planted in thousands of Northern Nevada subdivisions, and it is known for splitting at its tight branch unions in Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/callery-flowering-pear/)[### Flowering crabapple Flowering crabapple is a small spring-blooming ornamental, planted for pink or white flowers, that is hardy at every elevation we serve. Its main troubles here are fire blight, root and trunk suckers, Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/flowering-crabapple/)[### Russian olive Russian olive is the silvery-leaved, thorny tree planted for windbreaks across Nevada that has escaped into streamsides and irrigation ditches, and it resprouts from stumps and roots after cutting. Re Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/russian-olive/)[### Tree of heaven Tree of heaven is a fast-growing, weak-wooded tree from China with very long compound leaves that smell bad when crushed, and it spreads by root sprouts and winged seed. Removal is the usual answer, a Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/tree-of-heaven/)[### Fruitless mulberry Fruitless mulberry is a dense, round-topped shade tree with soft wood and wide, shallow roots, planted on valley-floor lots where heat and alkaline soil defeat other trees. It is tough, but its limbs Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/fruitless-mulberry/)[### Catalpa Catalpa is the large-leaved shade tree with showy white spring flowers and long, bean-like pods that hang on into winter. It tolerates alkaline soil and drought, but its wood is weak and brittle and b Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/catalpa/)[### Littleleaf linden Littleleaf linden is a tidy, pyramid-shaped shade tree with small heart-shaped leaves and fragrant early-summer flowers, hardy at every elevation we serve. It does best in cool, even conditions, so ho Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/littleleaf-linden/)[### Oaks: bur oak and English oak Bur oak and English oak are the two big landscape oaks you meet on Northern Nevada lots, and both handle alkaline soil and cold well. They live a long time and carry heavy limbs, so most work on them Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/oaks/)[### Scotch pine Scotch pine, also called Scots pine, is the two-needle pine with orange upper bark that was planted as a windbreak and Christmas tree across the West. It is long-lived and drought tolerant, but it yel Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/scotch-pine/)[### Lodgepole pine Lodgepole pine is the tall, narrow, thin-barked two-needle pine of the high Sierra, and on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe it grows in the cold, wet, higher parts of the basin. Shallow roots on wet grou Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/lodgepole-pine/)[### Sugar pine Sugar pine is the largest pine in the world, a five-needle white pine with cones a foot long, and in the Sierra it grows between roughly 2,000 and 7,500 feet. On the Nevada side of Tahoe, a big sugar Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/sugar-pine/)[### Red fir Red fir is the dark, symmetrical true fir of the high Sierra, growing above white fir in the deepest snow country. On the Nevada side of Tahoe it belongs to the upper slopes, around Kingsbury and abov Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/red-fir/)[### Curl-leaf mountain mahogany Curl-leaf mountain mahogany is a native, slow-growing evergreen that grows as a shrub or small tree on dry, rocky slopes of the Great Basin and Sierra, usually between about 4,000 and 9,800 feet. It r Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/curl-leaf-mountain-mahogany/)[### White birch White birch, whether European white birch or paper birch, is a slender tree with chalky-white bark that does best in cool, moist ground, and in the dry Reno and Carson City valleys it is often stresse Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/white-birch/)[### Black and English walnut Black walnut and English walnut are large nut-bearing shade trees with compound leaves, and both are planted on older valley-floor lots. Black walnut's roots release juglone, which limits other plants Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/walnut/)

## Common tree problems

[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/bark-beetles-in-pines/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/fir-engraver/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/elm-leaf-beetle/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/pine-needle-scale/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/dutch-elm-disease/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/drought-stress-and-dieback/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/storm-and-snow-load-breakage/)[### 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 Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/root-and-trunk-decay/)[### Dwarf mistletoe Dwarf mistletoe is a parasitic plant that lives on conifers, mostly pines and firs in the Sierra and the Carson Range, and shows up as dense clusters of twigs called witches' brooms. A mistletoe limb Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/dwarf-mistletoe/)[### Cytospora canker Cytospora canker is a fungal disease of stressed trees that makes sunken, dead patches of bark and kills the limb above it. Aspen, cottonwood, spruce, birch, silver maple and fruit trees are the usual Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/cytospora-canker/)[### Western gall rust Western gall rust is a fungal disease of two- and three-needle pines that makes round, woody swellings called galls on branches and sometimes the main trunk. Galls on small branches can be pruned out, Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/western-gall-rust/)[### Pinyon needle scale Pinyon needle scale is a small sap-sucking insect that feeds on pinyon needles, and an infested tree sheds its older needles until the branches look thin with tufts at the tips. The scale rarely kills Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/pinyon-needle-scale/)[### Oystershell scale Oystershell scale is a bark-feeding insect that looks like a crust of tiny brown or gray oyster shells on twigs and branches, and heavy infestations kill branches and sometimes whole trees. Localized Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/oystershell-scale/)[### Fire blight Fire blight is a bacterial disease of apples, pears, crabapples and related trees that blackens blossoms and shoot tips and curls them into a hook, leaving the dead leaves hanging as if scorched. Infe Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/fire-blight/)[### Bronze birch borer Bronze birch borer is a beetle whose larvae tunnel under birch bark, and the first sign is usually thinning and dieback in the top of the crown. Once a birch is heavily infested its chance of survival Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/bronze-birch-borer/)[### Iron chlorosis Iron chlorosis is yellowing of the leaf between the veins, starting with the newest leaves, when a tree cannot take up the iron it needs from alkaline soil. It is a stress signal rather than a death s Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/iron-chlorosis/)[### Sunscald and frost cracks Sunscald is a jagged wound on the south or southwest side of a trunk, and a frost crack is a vertical split, both caused by sunny winter days followed by hard freezes. They hit young, thin-barked tree Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/sunscald-and-frost-cracks/)[### Winter desiccation (winter burn) Winter desiccation, or winter burn, browns the needles of pines, spruce and other evergreens when dry, windy winter weather pulls water out of the foliage faster than frozen or dry soil can replace it Read more](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/winter-desiccation/)

## 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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/data/elevation-and-hardiness-zones/) 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.

| 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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/bark-beetles-in-pines/) and the [fir engraver](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/fir-engraver/) in white fir. Elm trouble: [elm leaf beetle](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/elm-leaf-beetle/) and [Dutch elm disease](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/dutch-elm-disease/). [Pine needle scale](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/pine-needle-scale/) on landscape pines and spruce.

The rest are not pests at all. [Drought stress and dieback](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/drought-stress-and-dieback/) follow when an irrigated tree loses its water. [Storm and snow-load breakage](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/storm-and-snow-load-breakage/) follows wind and heavy wet snow. [Root and trunk decay](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/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](https://www.fs.usda.gov/foresthealth/docs/fhh/NV_FHH_2023.pdf) (read October 1, 2026)
- [NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/us-climate-normals) (retrieved October 1, 2026)
- [USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023](https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/) (retrieved October 1, 2026)
- [Tahoe Regional Planning Agency: Trees and Defensible Space](https://www.trpa.gov/trees-and-defensible-space/) (read October 1, 2026)

## Questions people ask

Still have a question? Call [775.232.8243](tel: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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/free-estimate/) 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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/tahoe-tree-removal-permits-dbh/).

### 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.