The Trees North Barrington Has Already Honored, and the One You Could Nominate by November 1

On Thomas Drive in Oaksbury there is a bur oak that was already growing before North Barrington became a village. In 2015 the Daily Herald reported that the Village's forester picked it as the first Tree of the Year because of its size and form. On Arrowhead Lane, behind the grounds of an event venue, an American chestnut grows with a bend in its trunk. That is a species most people know only from history books. Neither tree is in a park, and neither sits on a public trail. You can see both because the Village named them. Daily Herald's account of the 2015 winner says the homeowners got a plaque at the Arbor Day celebration at Village Hall, 111 Old Barrington Road.

North Barrington's tree canopy is mostly private. It grows in backyards, along the edges of subdivisions and on estate lots. The Tree of the Year program is the one place where the village writes down which of those trees stand out. Nominations for 2026 are due November 1, 2026, ten days after this post runs.

What the List Looks Like So Far

The Environmental and Health Commission runs the program. It asks for trees with "significant beauty," historical significance, an interesting story, or exceptional size, form or rarity. The Village doesn't keep an online archive of past winners. The record is spread across old newsletters and news stories, and the table below pulls it together:

The Village's published materials don't name winners for every year, so the table has gaps. Bur oak has won twice, nine years apart. Biltmore shows up twice, with the 2016 tulip tree and the 2022 elm. The 2016 entry in the Daily Herald singled out the tree's cup-shaped yellow blossoms and its distinctive tulip-shaped leaves.

The Chestnut Is the Outlier

The 2023 winner stands apart from the rest of the list. It grows at Wandering Tree Estate, a private event venue in North Barrington. The Village's newsletter cited its rarity, its age and its unusual bending shape.

The estate's own write-up of the award fills in the rest. American chestnuts were nearly wiped out by chestnut blight, a fungus that arrived on Japanese chestnut trees. The estate's page puts the toll at 3 to 4 billion trees in the first half of the twentieth century, starting in 1904, and says large American chestnuts are now rare east of the Mississippi. It describes its tree as about 85 inches in diameter, about 35 feet tall and nearly 90 years old. Those measurements come from the estate, not from the Village. Owner Elaine Silets said in the same piece, "The American Chestnut Tree holds a special place in our hearts, and we are thrilled to share its magnificence with our community."

So in one cycle the program recognized a tree the estate calls "functionally extinct" as a species, growing just north of Chicago. Without the award, most residents would never have known the tree was there.

Most Winners Need a Neighbor to Speak Up

The nomination form makes the program social by design. It asks for the tree owner's name, address and the species, then the nominator's contact information. If the nominator doesn't own the tree, the form requires the owner's permission.

In other words, the form expects that the person who notices a tree often isn't the person who owns it. Someone walks past the same oak every morning, or sees a spruce over a fence every time they drive North Hill Drive, and that person starts the nomination. The owner signs off. The Village gets one more entry in a record it would otherwise not have.

The form lists eight criteria a nominator can check:

• Size
• Age
• Association with a historic site
• A story of interest
• Form
• Rarity
• Landmark status
• Beauty

Size and form decided the 2015 oak. Rarity carried both the 2016 tulip tree and the 2023 chestnut. No published winner has been chosen mainly for its story or for a link to a historic site. That leaves room for a tree known for what it marks rather than how big it is.

Getting a Nomination In Before November 1

The deadline lands on a Sunday this year, so plan the last few days around it.

1. Pick the tree and confirm the species. The form asks for the species, and a guess makes the nomination weaker.
2. Talk to the owner. If the tree isn't yours, you need the owner's permission on the form.
3. Check the criteria that apply and write the justification. The form has room for a written case, and that's where a tree's story goes.
4. Sign, date and submit. You can email the nomination form or drop it off at Village Hall, 111 Old Barrington Road. The Village has posted weekday office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., so a paper form has to go in by Friday, October 30. After that, email is the only way to meet the deadline.

Recognition comes months later. The Forestry Department page says winners are announced at the Village's Arbor Day celebration. The 2024 bur oak's owner, though, was set to receive the plaque at the April 16 Board meeting. Expect to hear about the winner next spring, through one of those two channels. This year's Arbor Day and Earth Day event was May 3 at Eton Park. It included the dedication of a tulip tree donated by Biltmore Country Club, a park cleanup and seedlings for residents to take home.

The Environmental and Health Commission, chaired by Steve Kahn, meets at 11 a.m. on the first Tuesday of each month and welcomes the public. The Commission's page lists three open seats.

The Rules Around Big Trees

The program celebrates large trees, and the Village also has rules about them. Under its Heritage Tree Ordinance, a tree 20 inches in diameter or larger can't be removed without contacting the Village Forester. Removal may require a permit, an assessment by a certified arborist, or a replacement tree. The 2021 Norway spruce, at 29.5 inches, is well over that line. A nominated tree that's big enough to win is often big enough to be covered by the ordinance as well.

The Forestry Department page also describes a cost-share program for planting trees on private property. The Village reimburses up to 50 percent of the cost of buying and planting a tree, or $400, whichever is less. The tree needs a nursery quote with a one-year guarantee and a minimum 2-inch caliper. The planting spot must be located by JULIE and approved by the Village Forester. The limit is one tree per address per year, and funding depends on what's available. An earlier Village newsletter listed a $300 cap, so confirm the current figure with Village Hall before you count on it.

October also brings the fall leaf-burning window. The Village code allows leaf burning from October 1 to November 30 on Thursdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., except on national holidays. The Village's Fall 2024 newsletter added safety conditions, including an adult in attendance and winds under 10 mph. This year, the day the post runs and the nomination deadline both fall on burning days.

North Barrington says it reached its 25th year as a Tree City USA community in 2025. The ordinances and the cost-share program help keep the canopy growing. The Tree of the Year program is how residents put specific trees in it on the record.

This post is general information, not legal advice. Before removing, planting or burning anything, check the ordinance text and confirm your situation with the Village Forester or the right professional.

Mature trees are part of what a North Barrington lot is worth. Kevin Baum helps North Barrington homeowners understand how mature trees and lot character show up in a home's value. Request your complimentary home valuation.