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pinksand
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Tree Suggestions

We’re having a declining 80’ black cherry tree removed tomorrow and imagining the space bare is leaving me daydreaming of replacement trees already. Our property is tiered so behind our house it’s flat then slopes up and then is flat again with a large lawn and the tree that is being removed towards the back. There is also an oak tree and evergreen magnolia ‘Little Gem’ that’s currently only about 6’ tall. Right now when you look out of the back of our house this cherry tree has a very large presence and is very prominently located so I’d like something interesting and wildlife friendly to go in its place.

I would absolutely LOVE a weeping willow or corkscrew/curly willow. The spot is maybe 100’ from any houses, and would be a gorgeous site from our kitchen window. However, the surface roots and short lifespan make it less appealing. It’s also not a particularly moist location, so I’m not sure how much it would thrive.

Another thought is a tulip poplar. I love the shape of their leaves and I feel like I’d actually be able to appreciate their blooms in that location.

I could also go the route of planting some smaller trees. I’ve been wanting to grow persimmons for a while now, though I also have another spot in mind for them. I’ve been wanting to find a good spot for a witchazel tree and maybe some paw paws as well.

Obviously I haven’t zoned in on a real plan so I would love to hear some of your absolute favorite trees in the 25-100ft range! Tell me why you love them :) I won’t be planting until fall so I have time to decide!

Some desired traits…

Wildlife friendly
Multi-seasonal interest
Preferably not something that spreads all over (I have wild cherry saplings popping up all over my garden and lawn)
Not a Serviceberry (I’ve had 2 of them die on me now and I’ve officially given up on them!)

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applestar
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I think most of the trees you mentioned so far prefer evenly moist or moist sites. Does the area dry out (experience drought) at all? I tend to think of Wild Black Cherry as drought tolerant. Other native trees that I think of in the same category are mulberry and hackberry.

Do you want deciduous trees? I've been wanting pine trees with harvestable pine nuts. Italian species are not hardy enough here, so I would have to go with a Korean species. IF I remember correctly, native species is pinion pine?... oooh I just drew a blank. :oops:

I would plant big trees if you have that 100 foot space. You can always plant smaller trees in smaller spaces.

What about nut trees?

If you are not interested in people food, then one tree I would LOVE to be able to grow ...but can't due to space consideration... is beech tree. This general area separates into red oak-maple-cedar and white oak-beech plant communities and I live in the red oak-maple-cedar (so soil/micro-climate might not fit either). When I see those beech trees with the silvery bark and the pale fall leaves still clinging I REALLY wish I could grow them.

If you've read The Lord of the Rings, I believe ancient beech trees come closest to the Lothlórien trees. I once saw an absolutely MASSIVE old beech tree at one of those estate-turned-into-botanical-garden. Oh it was magnificent!

Anyway, I believe trees with maximum wildlife utility rating is white oak family.

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pinksand
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In case it helps, here are some photos of the site...

Here it is being removed today... you can also see what a presence it has at the top of the hill. This photo is taken from our kitchen through the sliding glass door.
Image

Here's a photo from yesterday evening so you can see the site from the top of the hill. The cherry tree we had removed is just left of center in this image.
Image

I wouldn't say its' a particularly a dry site... really just moderate. I think I'd like something deciduous here.

The beech tree has a beautiful presence and may be an option... I actually think I've seen them in the woods here since the leaves are so noticeable in winter! Are their seed pods prickly though? We run around the yard barefoot a lot.

There's part of me that is very attached to the idea of something weeping. I imagine our kids one day playing under the branches and the whole idea is very whimsical to me I guess. What about a weeping cherry tree or are they just as problematic as the willows? It sounds like they can also be short lived :(

jeff84
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nobody can make this decision for you. If it were me I would be looking at American sycamore, tulip poplar, or ginko, but its going to come down to what you want to see there.

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pinksand
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I'm definitely not looking for someone to make the decision for me! Just looking for ideas I may not have considered. I don't have a lot of experience with large trees so besides the ones I'm already familiar with or have read about on recommended lists online, my ideas are limited. It's also not often that I have the chance to plant something that could get so large so I don't want to change my mind down the road.

Why would you be looking at the American sycamore or ginko? I mentioned considering a tulip poplar already but I'm curious as to why the other suggestions. What do you love about them, I'd love to hear?

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applestar
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Haha jumping in! I love the idea of ginkgo -- it's a pre-historic tree and when I got mine, I decided it's basically native to EVERYWHERE. :lol: Just don't get a female tree unless you are prepared to harvest the seeds or at least deal with the fruits. Not recommended if you are prone to rash from poison ivy, etc.

I don't know if mine is male or female but as far as I know no one has another one around here, except possibly a private arboretum about 15 minutes drive away.

Gorgeous golden yellow fall color and unique fan-shaped leaves -- stout climbable limbs -- what's not to like? Very slow growing though.

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applestar
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Do you want dense shade or more open filtered sun?

The wild black cherry had a more upright silhouette, with smaller leaves.

Beech would a wide spreading, sweeping, massive and dense from ground up

Weeping willow looks like a ghost -- or Cousin It -- in the dark. Our weeping cherry is not properly being pruned and sweep all the way to the ground, but neither one of us like the look of those "straight across hair cuts" on weeping trees and shrubs -- weeping cherry, Willow, Japanese maple.

Pecan has a more upright airy open structure.

White Oak, Burr Oak, Etc. more spreading, but defined and open trunk area with bottom limb as high as you want it.


...Magnolia?... hm not a hilltop tree? .... oooh what about a Totoro tree... what was that? ... Oh it's a Camphor Tree native to China/Japan and Zone 8+.... oh welll.... (can you tell I love brainstorming? :> )

I kind if like the idea of colorful shiny fruits up there, too.... apples, persimmons you mentioned...

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rainbowgardener
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For wildlife, hickory and oaks will someday (maybe when your children are grown) be majestic old trees that feed all kinds of wildlife, birds, butterflies, insects, squirrels, etc etc. White ash grows in moist soils and can grow from 50-100 feet. It is the most common of the ash species, while the green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) is the most widespread. It has winged seeds which are consumed by many bird species.

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applestar
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OK this is the last post. :lol:

I started looking up Maryland native trees.... :roll:
:>
Native Trees of Maryland
https://www.treesforme.com/maryland.html
...species native to Maryland. If the genus is not linked, species are listed on the family page.

Aceraceae, Maple
Anacardiaceae, Sumac
Rhus, Sumac
Toxicodendron, Poison Sumac
Betulaceae, Birch
Alnus, Alder
Betula, Birch
Carpinus, Hornbeam
Corylus, Hazelnut
Ostrya, Hophornbeam
Bignoniaceae, Trumpet Creeper
Caprifoliaceae, Honeysuckle
Cornaceae, Dogwood
Cornus, Dogwood
Nyssa, Tupelo
Cupressaceae- Cypress
Chamaecyparis, Cedar
Juniperus, Juniper
Taxodium, Baldcypress
Thuja, Arborvitae
Image
https://dnr.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/M ... -List.aspx Image

jeff84
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I just like the way sycamore and ginko look. they both get tall and the trunks have appealing bark especially the sycamore. there is one close to my home that is several hundred years old and has a trunk some 8 ft in diameter. but there are so many choices it would be hard to decide. there are some others that would be appealing to me that others have mentioned above.

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pinksand
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You guys are definitely selling me on the idea of a MALE ginko tree! One of our neighbors up the street has one so I would definitely have to be careful about the gender. I'd seen them on a lot of "do not plant" lists but hadn't realized it was a gender specific issue. Reading about their prehistoric story is pretty amazing and makes me want to plant one just to honor their history! Also, that yellow would be absolutely stunning in the fall!

Another one I'll have to consider is from the native list from applestar... birch! I absolutely love birch trees and hadn't even considered one. The one concern is if it will get enough moisture, although the blueberry bushes do well up there. We weren't able to get a stump grinder up there so I have a massive stump from the cherry and another from a black locust we removed ourselves last year. I was thinking about building a soil berm over the stumps and creating a garden space there rather than the lawn around the new tree. I wonder if I could build the berm in a way to help retain moisture there?

Oh and applestar, I current do have a magnolia up there ('Little Gem')! You can't really see it in the photo because it's only about my height and the lighting in the photo is so poor it sort of got swallowed by shadow. It won't get huge, but hopefully substantial enough. The big white blooms are visible all the way from our kitchen which is really nice! Maybe not the most ideal spot for one, but it was on clearance in the middle of summer a couple years ago and I couldn't resist! It miraculously survived the first year and has settled in nicely.

I have another wild cherry and an oak up there as well so I want something different, though I do love oaks!

AnnaIkona
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Have you concidered a Wisteria? Most wisterias grow as vines, but some grow as trees. You can train the young vine yourself to grow as a tree (also know as "standard") or nurseries sell ones that are already like that so that you don't have to do much work.
Wisterias are already beautiful and gorgeous, but as a tree- oh my! :) it's so so amazing!
My neighbor has a yellow flowering one that grows in full sun, and my young one that blooms with flowers that are a mixture of blue and purple and white shades grows in only partial sun (4 hours of direct light each day) and it is doing amazing as well. So they can grow pretty much anywhere from what I've seen!
They bloom continuously from spring to fall...usually mid April to the begining of October. As soon as they start to leaf in the spring, the flowers come, and as soon as the flowers drop in the autumn, so do the flowers.
You mentioned you want it to be wildlife friendly- well bees love it! And often hummingbirds are attracted to it as well!
They don't grow very big. They usually reach their full size as trees when they are about 3/4 of a foot in diameter and 9ft in height. Maybe they grow bigger though, but I've never seen that :)
Three different coloured trees would look gorgeous if planted in that space together!

Let me know if you have any questions about standard wisterias and I'd be happy to help!

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applestar
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Tsk tsk. AnnaIkona -- I think you are forgetting this discussion :

Subject: Growing Wisteria from seeds
applestar wrote:Subject: Vine For Chain Link Fence
applestar wrote:Here's one that ate half of a barn and the attached silo....
Image
Here's my mom standing next to it for scale comparison:
Image
It's been torn down but it was quite a sight and gorgeous in flower each spring.
Image

jeff84
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wisteria is beautiful but those pictures are perfect examples of what happens if not kept in check

AnnaIkona
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Would that still happen if it is a standard tree wisteria?? Their leaves and branches (canopy is it called?) are trimmed so tgat they stay in a round shape. With proper pruning it shouldn't grow like that at all like shown in the picture. The one in the picture had started to vine up when it was young.

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pinksand
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I was tired of looking out at a bare spot up where our tree used to be so since it's finally tree planting season I ended up purchasing one over the weekend!!!

The guy at the nursery really wanted me to get a Weeping Beech tree, but unfortunately they didn't have any available :( I loved the idea of one and considered waiting or looking elsewhere, but prefer the look of them when they are old an gnarled and fun to climb to what they look like when they are young. I ended up going with a lovely Dura Heat River Birch! Since it's not as large as some of the other options I was considering, I think I'll also have space to grow some Paw Paw trees up there too!!!

I also bought a spicebush while I was there in the hope of getting some spicebush swallowtail caterpillars down the road :)

Thanks again for tall the ideas. It was so hard to choose!

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applestar
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Sounds like a great combination, pinksand. Looking forward to pictures when they are presentable (but be sure to take a few now).



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