here's an idea ... it looks like other parts of the subdivision are already landscaped.. snap a few pix.. of similar houses scaping.. and we can make recommendations from there ... a single tree ...??? .. lets think of a 'concept' .. here.. and then work our way towards a specific tree .. even.. if you provide pix of what you do NOT want ... that is a start.. you should want something different.. rather than cookie cutter.. just like everyone else ... underground utilities.. are irrelevant to your plant decision.. ESPECIALLY if you have sewer ... i dont understand your explanation .... also.. the house next door doesnt seem to be right next door.. is there some curve in the road??? ken

My profile used to say zone 5 ME, I just noticed it says just Z5 now. Sorry. I'm on the border of zone 5b/6a (I generally plant for zone 5, and take a chance on some zone 6 perennials), in the southern-most area of Maine about 3 miles inland from the ocean. The house faces east, so the tree is on the north east corner. Full sun. The wind generally comes down a hill from the north (across the open yard). The spot where the tree is, is 12' from the house, I could move it out further for the right tree, but I don't want a 40' wide tree there. The native soil has quite a bit of clay, but when we built the beds last year we removed quite a bit and brought in sand and loam with compost. That garden you see there was planted less than one year ago. I have a Bloodgood Maple in another bed in the back yard (the northwest corner of the house) that gets the same wind and is doing well, also planted last year. Pests...well, I have Japanese Beetles I'm handpicking off a rose bush and a hybiscus. I don't have any lilies, but if I did have them I'd have lily leef beetles on them. No Gypsy Moths in this area that I know of. I can't think of anything else. Humidity...typical New England, summers can be humid, but it's not as bad as, say, Boston (the average high in July is 83). We get maybe 5 days a summer above 90. I just looked up the precipitation, we get between 3.4 and 4.8 inches per month. May-September is just under 4" per month. I want an ornamental tree, I know it sounds cliche, but this is a prominent position in the yard (and from the street), so I want something pretty. Except in bloom, I don't really think of Crabapples as pretty. I also considered Kwanzan Cherry, but I was told they can split in windy locations. I'd like something that will reach 20', but won't exceed 30'. The current spot was chosen for the size the Aurora Dogwood would have reached, but I can move the spot out to accomodate a tree that will get wider than 20' (there aren't any pipes or anything in the way). I appreciate the help, let me know if you need anything else. If you go to the album you can see lot more pics of what the site looks like.

If cost isn't a problem... Then plant what you want to plant and enjoy. Trim / Remove later as necessary. Keep in mind also, depending on many factors, some trees will grow much more slowly than expected, some may grow faster. I have just less than 1/2 acre. If I just counted right in my head, I have 27 trees currently planted, not counting volunteers. Including 2 weeping willows, A curly willow, a pussy willow, poplars, river birches, all the things they tell you not to plant in a residential lot. Over half are 50+ foot trees when mature. I planted about 50 dogwood bushes last summer, now many are over 6' tall, some around 10' tall. I now have 4 Japanese Maples planted, and am planning on getting more. I also have about 60 different Hosta. I've totally enjoyed planting these trees, most just in the past year. It is a blast to watch them grow. I am particularly fond of the weeping willow I planted right by the road in the front yard. It was a 4 foot high stick just about a year ago and now is close to 15' high by 10' wide. It's fun. I find good deals on most of my trees, and the most expensive one was about $90 for a Autumn Blaze maple (10+ gallon pot) that was rather large - I would never buy a large one again, It is growing very slowly this year, while I watched a $10 maple (that came in a 1 gallon pot) of the same type just a short distance away grow to close to the same height as the $90 maple and grow branches like mad. At this rate, next year, the $10 tree will actually look larger than the $90 tree. In 5 or 10 years if I have to heavily prune some trees, bonsai them, remove them, or what not, then that is the way it is. I'm planting some sumac and a tree of heaven also (in a great big pot). I also have over 70 trees growing in pots currently. Some will be bonsai, some I will sell, some I will plant. If you later figure out a tree is a problem, try to remove while it is small enough you can do it. If cost isn't an issue, let the sucker grow and have it professionally trimmed / removed as necessary. I can manage pruning and removal of all but the very largest trees. I took down my 60' + dying spruce last summer with a sawzall. I get compliments on my landscaping from strangers that walk by, on a very regular basis, though some think I am crazy with all my trees, many appreciate the beauty of it, including me. I do vote for getting some long lived trees going if at all possible, such as the oak your speaking of. The oak is a good tree that should last more than your life time with reasonable care. Jamie p.s. don't plant any weak wooded trees real close to the house e.g. willow, poplar, silver maple. and I share ken's dislike for most fruit trees on smaller lots. Were planting some new fruit trees up north on 5 acres, which is fine on that size lot. In the city I limited my fruit trees to a single semi-dwarf cherry tree - that gets cleaned up rapidly by the birds. Thought my parents have had a apple tree in their side yard (city lot) for 20+ years with few problems, it is kind of out of the way, so the bugs don't bother them and it does need to be sprayed if you want to have good apples.

Well, you can, but remember when you prune citrus, you prune away the fruiting part of the branch. Citrus produce flowers at branch tips. So, pruning them then prunes away most of your crop :-) I would pose this question to the Four Winds folks. They do so much with container-grown citrus and would be able to give you the skinny on trying to grow a pummelo in a container successfully (meaning you get fruit). I can tell you that in the ground, pummelos get very large. Large fruit, large leaves, large tree. The Cocktail is super sweet, but has a nice grapefruit taste. The Melogold is is a little less sweet, more "grapefruity", but still very, very sweet. I love the taste of grapefruit, but HATE that bitter aftertaste. I can't eat a grapefruit without putting either Splenda or brown sugar on it. I can eat both the Melogold and especially the Cocktail without any added sweetener. Love them. And for me, you get much more fruit and way less rind with these, than you're going to get with a pummelo. Patty S.