Ridges, valleys and a big lake
St. Clair County, founded November 20, 1818, "lies at the southern tip of the Appalachian Mountain Range," in the words of the Encyclopedia of Alabama. "The valleys consist of fertile, limestone soils," while "the ridges consist of acidic, sandstone soils," and Backbone Mountain runs through the county. The Coosa River forms its eastern border. It's also the only county in Alabama with two county seats, Ashville and Pell City.
The Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer gives the county 631.57 square miles of land and 21.788 of water. Alabama Power puts Logan Martin Lake at 15,263 acres with 275 miles of shoreline at a full pool of 465 feet above sea level, and its dam has been in service since August 10, 1964 (checked Nov 12, 2026). The Encyclopedia of Alabama notes that H. Neely Henry Dam and Logan Martin Dam created a series of lakes, the largest of them Logan Martin.
Across Alabama, 71% of sampled land is forest, and loblolly pine is the top species both by number of trees and by volume (USDA Forest Service, March 2025). No inventory of yard trees in St. Clair County turned up, so the species below are the ones that show up in the county's storm surveys and in state forestry reports, not a ranked local list.
How the yard trees rate for wind
UF/IFAS researchers rated trees for wind resistance after studying nine hurricanes in Florida and along the Gulf Coast, plus one in Puerto Rico, and surveying arborists and scientists (Duryea and Kampf, 2007). Their ratings are for the Southeastern Coastal Plain. St. Clair County is inland Valley and Ridge country, so read them as a guide to each species' habits, not a local measurement.
| Species | Rating | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Water oak | Lowest | Short-lived, often hollow by about 40 |
| Southern red oak | Lowest | Red oaks declined after the 2016 drought |
| Tulip poplar | Lowest | 80 to 100 feet tall, soft wood |
| Bradford pear | Lowest | Crowded upright forks; listed as invasive in Alabama |
| Loblolly pine | Medium-low | 90 to 110 feet at maturity; bark beetle host |
| Willow oak, white oak, red maple | Medium-low | Sturdier than water oak, still heavy |
| Sweetgum | Medium-high | Breakage-resistant wood; big surface roots |
| Pignut and mockernut hickory | Medium-high | Ratings only; no species sheet read |
| Dogwood, southern magnolia, live oak | Highest | The steadiest in the studies |
Species by species
Loblolly pine
The Forest Service puts a mature loblolly at 90 to 110 feet and 24 to 30 inches across, with lateral roots that in big trees often spread wider than the crown. It's "relatively windfirm where soils are deep, but windthrow is common on shallow soils." The Alabama Forestry Commission says southern pine beetle attacks all pines but prefers loblolly, shortleaf, Virginia, pond and pitch pines. See the loblolly pine guide.
Water oak
UF/IFAS gives water oak a height of 50 to 60 feet, a spread of 60 to 70 feet, fast growth, and a life span of only 30 to 50 years on good sites. It's poor at sealing off decay, many trees are hollow by about 40, and heavy limbs "can split from the tree in wind storms." The USDA's Silvics Manual adds a "shallow, spreading rooting habit" and lists heart rot and Ganoderma root rot among its problems. A big water oak is the classic tree that comes apart just as it reaches a size people value.
Willow oak
Medium-low in the UF/IFAS hurricane studies. The UF/IFAS species sheet for willow oak couldn't be read for this site, so its size and breakage details aren't given here.
Southern red oak and other red oaks
Lowest for wind in the hurricane studies. The USDA Forest Service's Alabama forest health report noted red oaks in northern Alabama starting to decline by late summer of 2016, in the drought. By late winter some drought-affected hardwoods were succumbing to Hypoxylon canker, and "Most of these red oaks were infected with Hypoxylon canker."
Tulip poplar
UF/IFAS lists tulip poplar at 80 to 100 feet tall and 30 to 50 feet wide. Its profile rates the wood resistant to breakage, but the same sheet says "The soft wood reportedly is subject to storm damage," and the hurricane studies put it in the lowest group. Drought can make it drop interior leaves early in summer, and Verticillium wilt can kill leaves on infected branches. Treat it as a tall, soft-wooded tree with a low wind rating.
Sweetgum
Sweetgum grows 60 to 75 feet tall with a 35- to 50-foot spread and wood UF/IFAS rates as resistant to breakage. Its problems are on the ground: "large, aggressive roots" that can lift curbs and sidewalks, and spiky fruit that can be "a litter nuisance to some in the fall."
Hickories
Pignut and mockernut hickory rate medium-high in the hurricane studies. Hickory is also named, with red oak, white oak and chestnut oak, among the native trees on Montevallo soils, a shallow ridge soil of the surrounding Valley and Ridge region (USDA soil series description).
Bradford pear
UF/IFAS calls Bradford pear "quite susceptible to wind and ice damage and other breakage," with "too many upright branches growing too closely together on the trunk," and says that as the trees approach 20 years old they begin to fall apart in ice and snow storms. Alabama Extension notes that callery pear is listed as invasive by the Alabama Invasive Plant Council (August 2025). No Alabama law banning its sale or planting turned up.
Ash
Ash makes up only about one percent of Alabama's trees, according to Alabama Extension, but St. Clair County is one of the counties where the Alabama Forestry Commission has documented emerald ash borer (posted June 6, 2025). More below and on the dead or leaning trees page.
Dogwood and southern magnolia
Both are in the highest group for wind resistance in the UF/IFAS studies, along with live oak.
Pests and diseases to know
- Emerald ash borer. The Forestry Commission has documented it in Etowah, Calhoun, St. Clair, Talladega and Shelby counties, and added Jackson and Madison in 2025. The USDA Forest Service's 2017 report already noted symptomatic ash in Calhoun, Talladega and St. Clair. Infestations move down the trunk over two to four years and leave D-shaped exit holes (Alabama Extension).
- Southern pine beetle and Ips engravers. Extension calls southern pine beetle "the most destructive pine beetle in the southeastern United States." After the 2016 drought, the Forest Service's 2017 surveys found 2,322 beetle spots infesting 212,135 pines, with drought-related losses "especially in the northern areas of the state." By 2022, only 23 spots were found.
- Black turpentine beetle. "The largest bark beetle affecting southern pines," and the one Extension says can be treated.
- Hypoxylon canker. Most of the red oaks that declined in northern Alabama during the 2016 drought were infected with it.
- Fusiform rust. "The most serious stem disease" of loblolly, per the Silvics Manual, killing and disfiguring young trees from Virginia to Texas.
- Root and trunk rots in water oak. Heart rot, Ganoderma root rot, mushroom root rot, and shoestring root rot, for which UF/IFAS says there is "no practical control."
The ground under the trees
One soil series is tied to Pell City by name. The USDA's official description of the Tanyard series gives its type location as St. Clair County, 2.5 miles northwest of Pell City, and says the series was established in the county in 1983. Tanyard soils are deep, moderately well drained soils on nearly level flood plains and stream terraces, with a water table 1.5 to 2.5 feet below the surface in winter and early spring. "Most areas are forested or in pasture."
On the ridges, the USDA describes soils found in this Valley and Ridge region that run much thinner: Montevallo and Gorgas at 10 to 20 inches to rock, Townley and Firestone at 20 to 40 inches, with Firestone's subsoil 60 to 75 percent clay. Which of them are mapped in St. Clair County wasn't confirmed for this site; the county's published soil survey dates from 1985. Shallow soil over rock limits how deep roots go, and the Forest Service ties loblolly windthrow to exactly those shallow soils.
A growing county, and its trees
| Place | 2020 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Clair County | 91,504 | 98,206 | +7.3% |
| Pell City | 12,916 | 14,320 | +10.9% |
| Moody | 13,188 | 13,559 | +2.8% |
| Margaret | 5,178 | 7,149 | +38.1% |
| Odenville | 4,925 | 6,023 | +22.3% |
| Springville | 4,776 | 5,597 | +17.2% |
| Ashville | 2,353 | 2,412 | +2.5% |
| Riverside | 2,229 | 2,312 | +3.7% |
| Ragland | 1,687 | 1,710 | +1.4% |
| Outside any city or town | 34,833 | 35,448 | +1.8% |
Where new houses, driveways and septic lines go in among existing trees, roots get cut and soil gets piled on them. Alabama Extension lists "Cutting roots or adding soil fill over the tops of roots within the tree's drip line" first among the stresses that invite bark beetles into yard pines.
Replacing a tree that came down
If a tree came down and you want another, the UF/IFAS studies are a fair place to start: dogwood and southern magnolia rate highest for wind, while water oak, tulip poplar and Bradford pear rate lowest. Alabama Extension's guide to native replacements for invasive plants covers alternatives to callery pear. Whatever you plant, give it room: a tree that will be tall at maturity is safer well away from the house and the lines. Near a Logan Martin shoreline, Alabama Power's guidelines bar laying sod or planting gardens inside the 15-foot buffer, so ask the shoreline office before planting there.
Questions about St. Clair County trees
Which trees here are most likely to break in a storm?
Going by the UF/IFAS hurricane ratings, water oak, southern red oak, tulip poplar and Bradford pear. Any tree with decay, a new lean or a cracked trunk is a risk whatever its species.
Is emerald ash borer really in St. Clair County?
Yes. The Alabama Forestry Commission lists St. Clair among the counties where it has documented the beetle (posted June 6, 2025).
Are Bradford pears banned in Alabama?
No law banning them turned up. The Alabama Invasive Plant Council lists callery pear as invasive, which is advisory.
Do pines on thin ridge soil blow over more easily?
The Forest Service says loblolly is fairly windfirm on deep soils but that windthrow is common on shallow ones, and some soils on the region's ridges run only 10 to 20 inches to rock. Whether your lot has them is something the stump hole or a soil map will tell you.
This site describes the county's trees but doesn't cut them. A request sent from it reaches one independent contractor who works in St. Clair County.
Source notes
- Encyclopedia of Alabama, St. Clair County, last updated February 6, 2026; Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 subcounty population file and 2020 Gazetteer; Alabama Power, Logan Martin lake page. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
- USDA Forest Service, Forests of Alabama, 2024 (March 2025), Fire Effects Information System, Pinus taeda, Silvics Manual for loblolly pine and water oak, and Alabama Forest Health Highlights 2017 and 2022.
- UF/IFAS, Wind and Trees: Lessons Learned from Hurricanes (FR173, September 2007) and species sheets ST553 (water oak), ST358 (sweetgum), ST363 (tulip poplar) and ST537 (Bradford pear).
- Alabama Forestry Commission, emerald ash borer post (June 6, 2025) and Southern Pine Bark Beetle; Alabama Extension, Down South: The Emerald Ash Borer in Alabama, FOR-2049, FOR-2200 and ANR-3169. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
- USDA official soil series descriptions: Tanyard, Montevallo, Gorgas, Townley and Firestone; Soil Survey of St. Clair County, Alabama (1985, citation record); Alabama Power, shoreline guidelines.