Here’s a list of trees that thrive in poor soil conditions, making them ideal for landscapes with less-than-ideal growing environments:

1. Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

• Soil Tolerance: Dry, poor, sandy, and rocky soils
• Key Features: Known for its hardiness, this tree is nitrogen-fixing, meaning it enriches the soil around it. It has fragrant, white flowers in spring and is highly drought-tolerant.
• Benefits: Grows quickly even in nutrient-poor soils, making it great for erosion control and reclamation areas.

2. Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)

• Soil Tolerance: Tolerates poor, compacted, alkaline, and salty soils
• Key Features: A fast-growing, adaptable tree with an open, airy canopy that allows sunlight to filter through. It’s often planted in urban areas due to its ability to withstand pollution and drought.
• Benefits: It thrives in tough conditions and requires little maintenance once established.

3. Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

• Soil Tolerance: Dry, rocky, sandy, and clay soils
• Key Features: This hardy evergreen tolerates poor soils and extreme weather conditions, making it perfect for windbreaks and erosion control.
• Benefits: Its drought tolerance and ability to grow in thin, poor soils make it a reliable option for difficult landscapes.

4. Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)

• Soil Tolerance: Wet, dry, compacted, or poor soils
• Key Features: A fast-growing tree that can tolerate poor drainage and compacted soils. It has beautiful silvery undersides on its leaves, giving it an attractive appearance in the wind.
• Benefits: Provides quick shade and tolerates urban pollution, making it ideal for city environments.

5. Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven) (Ailanthus altissima)

• Soil Tolerance: Poor, rocky, dry, and disturbed soils
• Key Features: Ailanthus grows quickly and can tolerate nearly any type of soil, even highly disturbed or polluted urban soils.
• Benefits: While it’s invasive in some regions, it’s extremely hardy and resilient in difficult environments.

6. Tamarisk (Tamarix spp.)

• Soil Tolerance: Salty, alkaline, dry, and poor soils
• Key Features: Tamarisk is a drought-tolerant tree that thrives in salty or alkaline soils, commonly found in arid environments. It has feathery, delicate foliage and pink flower spikes.
• Benefits: Often used for windbreaks and erosion control in harsh, dry climates.

7. Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)

• Soil Tolerance: Dry, poor, sandy, and alkaline soils
• Key Features: This drought-resistant tree is known for its silvery leaves and yellow flowers. Like the Black Locust, it fixes nitrogen in the soil, improving conditions for other plants.
• Benefits: It’s highly tolerant of poor soils and is often used to stabilize soil in dry, windy areas.

8. Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

• Soil Tolerance: Poor, rocky, sandy, and disturbed soils
• Key Features: Known for its fluttering leaves and bright yellow fall color, the quaking aspen can colonize poor soils, helping reclaim land after disturbances like fire or erosion.
• Benefits: It grows rapidly and spreads via suckers, creating groves that help stabilize soils in poor conditions.

9. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

• Soil Tolerance: Rocky, sandy, dry, and poor soils
• Key Features: A drought-tolerant tree with long needles and distinctive, plate-like bark. It grows well in nutrient-poor soils and is commonly found in mountainous areas.
• Benefits: Excellent for areas with dry, poor soils and limited water availability.

10. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

• Soil Tolerance: Poor, compacted, alkaline, and urban soils
• Key Features: This ancient species is highly tolerant of pollution and poor urban soils. Its fan-shaped leaves turn a striking yellow in fall, and it is often planted in cities due to its durability.
• Benefits: Thrives in urban areas with compacted or polluted soils and requires minimal care.

11. Mulberry (Morus spp.)

• Soil Tolerance: Poor, dry, and alkaline soils
• Key Features: Mulberry trees are fast-growing and highly adaptable to a variety of soil conditions. They produce edible fruits, though they can be messy in landscapes.
• Benefits: Ideal for difficult soil conditions and provides fruit for wildlife and humans.

12. Boxelder (Acer negundo)

• Soil Tolerance: Dry, wet, poor, and compacted soils
• Key Features: A fast-growing maple species that tolerates a wide range of soil types, from dry to waterlogged, and poor conditions. It’s common along stream banks and disturbed sites.
• Benefits: Provides quick cover and stabilizes soil, making it good for reclamation projects.

13. Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)

• Soil Tolerance: Dry, sandy, rocky, and poor soils
• Key Features: A drought-tolerant tree that thrives in dry, desert-like conditions. It has beautiful trumpet-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds.
• Benefits: Ideal for hot, arid regions with poor soil, and requires minimal water once established.

14. Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata)

• Soil Tolerance: Poor, compacted, and urban soils
• Key Features: Known for its graceful, vase-like shape and resistance to drought and poor soil conditions. It’s often used as a replacement for American elms in urban environments.
• Benefits: Tolerates poor, compacted soils and air pollution, making it a great urban street tree.

15. Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa)

• Soil Tolerance: Dry, poor, and compacted soils
• Key Features: A large, fast-growing tree with heart-shaped leaves and showy, fragrant white flowers. It tolerates poor soils and is often used for shade.
• Benefits: Grows quickly in poor soils and provides a striking, ornamental appearance with its large leaves and flowers.

These trees are well-suited to thrive in poor or degraded soils, making them ideal for challenging growing conditions. They are often used in restoration projects, urban landscapes, and areas with difficult environmental conditions.