What a wonderful shade tree! The hardy American Sentry Linden (Tilia americana ‘McKSentry’) is a landscapers’ favorite and just loaded with ornamental features. This McKay Nursery introduction was selected for its uniform branching habit and upright narrow form. This is an excellent nursery tree and makes up well as a young B&B tree. Use it in the landscape for boulevards and smaller yards where space is at a premium, but the shade is required. The distinctive bark is silvery gray especially when the plant is immature and is very attractive. American Sentry® is the most resistant linden to Japanese beetle.

It grows to just about the perfect size, substantial enough for a large landscape, but not too big for a smaller yard. You’ll love the large, heart-shaped leaves that cast dense, delicious shade. As summer progresses, you’ll enjoy watching woody, pea-sized seeds form. They add a tremendous amount of visual interest. Their light green shade provides a slight variation in color throughout your tree for the late summer.

This plant is a cultivar of a species that is native to the Chicago region according to Swink and Wilhelm’s Plants of the Chicago Region, with updates made according to current research. Cultivars are plants produced in cultivation by selective breeding or via vegetative propagation from wild plants identified to have desirable traits.