(Radio Iowa) – It’s a bit late in the year to be planting trees, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is urging homeowners and city leaders to plan ahead and consider any of about 85 different species of trees to plant in the spring. However, if they’re thinking about maples, think again. Chip Murrow, an urban forestry program specialist at the D-N-R, says maples are beautiful, sturdy trees, but they’ve become too poplar, or rather popular, in Iowa.

There are all sorts of maples, including black, sugar, Norway, Japanese, silverleaf and paperbark, but he says diversity is a good thing when it comes to trees. Murrow fears what our state’s tree canopy would look like if an infestation of insects or some sort of tree disease sweeps in, as has happened many times before.

The D-N-R is now offering an online publication which makes a case for cultivating a different sort of diversified canopy in the state.

The online document lists dozens of other trees that do well in Iowa under a long list of categories, including: vibrant fall color, fast growing, spring flowers, good for shade and storm resistant. Murrow says if Iowans help by planting a wide variety of species that are well suited for their sites, they’ll be helping ensure a community’s tree canopy is a valuable resource for the future.