And to the right of the house.

i am rushed.. and admit ... i did not read all your verbage ... so i dont know the scale...

but 3 maples plus a linden.. they all look too close together ... oh wait. with a red oak also thrown in..

way over planted.. IMHO ...

personally.. locust is a trash tree ... lets see what anyone else says..

gotta run

ken

The front yard is approximately 225 by 225 feet, so just shy of 1.25 acres.

If you're thinking about Paperbark Maple, also take a look at Trident Maple, a similar tree (I've seen some that almost look like mini-river birch) that's got peeling bark, similar size, might grow a tad faster & be a tad hardier from what I've read. Worth Googling for some comparison.

If you get Blackgum, consider the cultivar 'Wildfire,' since the reddish leaves coming on in spring are an extra nice touch.

What part of the country are you in, and what's your USDA Zone?

Richard.

If you are in MD, the River Birch should go in the wetter spot. The heat can cause early (Aug.) leaf drop, especially if it is a dry year. The Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is not the same as a Black Locust, the trash tree ken might be thinking of. They make a nice shade tree, grow fast, have dappled shade. Lindens (Tilia sp.) around here (S. PA) are salad for Japanese Beetles. Willows of any kind are less than ideal trees. Surface roots, short life, wind and ice storm victims.

Based on a quick google search, it looks like you are NE of Des Moines. I would check your soil pH... a lot of your selections like acidic soil and may become chlorotic (red oak, black gum, ~ red maple). Also consider moisture - not sure how much rain you get.... but I suppose if you have a wet spot, go for it.
On the up side it looks like you have LOTS of room. even your tightest bunching looks to be 50' apart - you could even go nuts with cottonwood or willow. Watch the roots though. I have heard they can send out roots to over 75' away. DON'T plant close to the house.
I like the bur oak, linden (too close to house?), and sugar maple! Other trees that might do good around there include silver maple (yuck), ash (EAB - yuck), redbud, ginkgo is probably fine.
paperbark maple is probably ok, but cold winter might whack it.
I personally like buckeye, and splendor variant is nice in that it doesn't have a lot of seed pods, but I personally think it is overhyped vs Ohio buckeye. And in IA, just about any Aesculus will get late summer leaf scorch. I have Autumn Splendor AND Ohio here in MN and they all get scorch at end of season. Doesn't seem to hurt them though. Also, buckeye doesn't get huge so you can plant closer to the house.
As for placement beyond functional concerns, I can't help you as I suck at artistic landscaping. One thing I might suggest is put trees that contrast together - for example a spruce near a sugar maple for max fall contrast.

i read the pic wrong.. i think..

is that 2 houses??.. or you and a neighbor??? or you house on the right.. and your polebarn on the left????

thx for the lot dimensions.. i want to know how far apart the red sunset maple.. and the red oak and the linden will be ...

do remember.. that putting two tress 50 feet apart .. ONLY gives each tree 25 feet .. and e.g. looking at maples.. do you think you have ever seen one ONLY 25 feet radius ????? .. 50 feet wide ...

it doesnt matter.. trees will grow together.. and at 50 feet.. root competition should not be an issue..

but the simple question is.. do you want specimen trees that do not touch each other.. which can be a very interesting planting ... or do you want them to all intermingle..

i have no preference.. i am asking you ...

ken

All,

Thanks for your thoughts/comments/suggestions. We are in Central Iowa, zone 5. We do have neighbors. We are the house with the fence in the backyard.

For a little bit of scale, the linden is about 30-35 feet from the house. The red oak is about 50 feet to its left. The sunset maple is about 45 feet to the north of the oak. I don't disagree that these may be planted a bit close together but I don't think we'll mind their close proximity.

Sound like we haven't done the best job of selecting and siting trees with regard to the river birch, chlorosis, beetles...

Hopefully the linden wont be hurt too bad by beetles. We got it for its dense shade and put it close to the house for that reason.

I was thinking that maybe the river birch was going to be in not the best of spots. We just planted it in Oct, should we move it?

Hopefully the chlorosis wont be an issue. We haven't done a Ph test though. The red maples we inherited from a previous owner.

I'm not deadset on the paperbark maple, particularly if it will struggle here. I would like a buckeye of some sort though. Anyplace you can see on the property that would be better for it to avoid leaf scorch?

I know that willows aren't the best of trees, but my 4 year old loves them. I cant hardly plant all these trees and not plant one of her favorite tree, regardless of their issues.

I am very close to where you live.
My taste says that you severely underplanted but that really is a matter of taste.
Some suggestions:
1. you say you have an area where water is good: try fagus grandifolia or fagus sylvatica. They are slowish, but probably in the top three of all shade trees
2. for conifers, abies nordmanniana presumably does very well in the midwest and is considered among the most beautiful firs, certainly better than concolor who is known to form double or triple leaders (just look around and you'll see tons of them)
3. gingkos if you are into them do well in Iowa. I don't like them but some people swear by them
4. oaks: muhelenbergii does wonderfully around here and is truly wonderful in foliage, you could also try montana, alba. You should certainly have a white oak...
5. phellodendron: get a male cultivar ("Macho"). They are wonderful trees with a very distinctive branching structure which will give a very oriental flair to your yard. They grow fast and they are extremely hardy.
6. cercidiphyllum and parrotias. Two of my absolute favorites: they grow in iowa. Cercidiphyllum likes water in the early years but you seem to have a spot with good water. So that is a great opportunity!
7. If you want an interesting conifer (central iowa could really use some more diversified residential plantings....) why not trying cupressus nootkatensis (alaska yellow cedar) or calocedrus decurrens!?

my 0.02$

If the red maples have been there for a while with no problems, you should be fine. Chlorosis is weird and i have seen it hit one tree and not an identical specimen 50' away. Just watch for any odd yellowing away from the leaf veins... if you get it, you can treat it, but it might not be worth the effort.

I am not saying don't do the paperbark, but I am zone 4 and that would never fly here and I am jealous! You could try a sheltered spot to the south or southeast of your house, although that looks mostly like parking lot. Just remember it is an experiment. They will grow in Chicago I believe (Morton Arboretum) but it might be a bit better weather there.

Buckeye SHOULD grow fine - at least Ohio buckeye is perfectly hardy to zone 4 and marginal to zone 3, but they like their water. Scorch you are probably stuck with though. Any water stress late in season will cause scorch, so best things to do would be add water as needed and maybe try planting in partial shade (in native range they are an understory tree). I would definitely go for it - I love them and they have a unique leaf. watch out if you have animals like horses since the seed pods are poisonous to them.

River birches are short lived (50 yrs? guessing here) and they will grow without a wet spot, but if you HAVE a wet spot that other stuff won't grow, that would be perfect place for it. That and the willow. Keep away from house! Maybe a willow would work out by your roadside drainage ditch? Fast growing road view blocker? We have some weeping willows and they are fairly attractive year round (yellow branch whips in winter, and they stay green much longer than most trees in the fall) but they are messy and constantly dropping branches.

Linden: I like these too. beetles WILL whack it, but it might survive. I have found that the first year J beetles show up is the worst, and subsequent years get better. Maybe because local predators adapt - not sure... but if it survives first couple of years, it might be ok. You might try giving beetles something else better to eat - plant grape vines or let wild ones go nuts. J beetles have a preference list and all nice things are at the top (grape, cherry, raspberry, roses, etc).

Miscellaneous: lcadem suggested beech. I LOVE beech - they are awesome trees... you might be a bit too far west for that though. They will grow in Chicago - maybe even quad cities. Not sure about central Iowa.
You could also try sycamore (fast growing, attractive bark, water loving). I am also partial to nut trees, but then you have more mess.

You have so much space for so many trees. I'm jealous!

Thanks for the continued thoughts everyone. I thing I should mention is that id like to select somewhat proven varieties, rather than experiment with things. I'll give up some uniqueness for that. While I may not be choosing super unique trees, to me, I'm choosing a varied and unique variety.

I've given this some thought and I'm thinking:

Move the linden. This is an important shade spot for the house and I don't want to risk putting in a few years with the Linden then having it get chomped by beetles. Thinking a white oak of some type. Either Chestnut oak or swamp white oak in its place. I'd like the Chestnut oak if it would do well here as lcadem mentioned.

I'll put a buckeye (not sure yet, species or cultivar. I want prairie torch but cant find it anywhere) along the property line between the sunset maple and red oak.

Moving back toward the road I'll put the blackgum, likely the wildfire variety.

Moving towards the road I may move the linden and plant the ginkgo.

The willow still get stuck in back (behind the mulberry just outside the fence) or out front by the road ditch.

Then I can add my conifers by the driveway.

DUDE! Great minds think alike! I totally tried to find Prairie Torch buckeye a few years back... I couldn't find them ANYWHERE! I ended up calling the nursery that developed them - somewhere up in western MN - and they said 'nah, that never really worked out'. So scratch that.

You might try a red horsechesnut (horsechesnut x red buckeye) instead. It is a full size tree with red flowers.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treeselector/detail_plant.cfm?PlantID=172

but do a pure buckeye too.

Bummer about the prairie torch!

I'll likely do the species plant Ohio buckeye. I would like to get nice fall foliage though. Would the autumn splendor of fall need cultivars be better for that though? I don't mind the nuts, give the wildlife something to munch on.

I do like the look of ft. McNair or O'Neill red red horse chestnuts though too!

regarding experiments: my suggestion, with the exception of fagus, which is still finnicky, according to many, are all established examples. They are just less commonly planted plants. Most arboretum in Iowa will have phellodendrons, gingkos and abies nordmanniana. The Iowa Arboretum in Madrid has a beautiful phellodendron close to the conifer section. Wonderful plant.
Here on campus we have tons of cercidiphyllums which are doing fantastically well... So, don't get scared with trees just because you don't see them around.

Regarding aesculus, Autumn Splendor should have much better foliage than the average Ohio buckeye. Also Fort McNair should be much more resistant to scorch.

Lcadem, i m looking more at the nor man for and liking it. I'll likely go with one of those. What about Serbian spruce? Also, what might be some wider conifers I could look at?

Where I'll be replacing the linden I'm thinking a white oak. The spot is in a bit of a swale they put for drainage around the house. Would that impact what white oak you would choose? I like the bark of the chestnut oak.

md, I'd put swamp white or swamp chestnut if the drainage might be an issue. Though, as long as the spot doesn't have prolonged standing water, white oak and chestnut oak would be fine. Flooding during a deluge in spring/summer that quickly drains is no big deal, same with minor winter ponding for a lot of oaks, too though some like this situation more than others like nuttall oak.

Honestly, you could just swap the red oak and the linden's positions and keep the trees in your plan the same.

Besides you have bookoos of room out front for one chestnut oak (or two-dozen) if you really want one/some.

And Fort McNair is stunning when if full flower. One of the prettiest flowering trees I have seen.

John

Md, I have two windbreaks made of serbians. They are wonderful but they will windburn in their first years. Mine have been chewed quite a bit by deer but I suspects the fit will do as well

Will it be hard on the trees I planted just last fall to move them to a different location? Any tips/suggestions?

Boy, I've quite the list of trees I want!

They will not care one bit if you do it soon! This is also a great learning opportunity to see how long the roots have elongated/increased in number since planting them a few months ago.

John

I'm now inspired to look beyond the traditional conifers planted in Iowa and am thinking I will do a nordmann fir. What other conifers could I look into? Nothing too big or took small. Maybe 20-60 feet tall. Different widths. Any weeping varieties?

I would consider Nootka cypress pendula... unique plant!
Calocedrus decurrens, if from Idaho source, will be hardy here and is awesome.
If you have a wind-sheltered spot, I would consider a hemlock (can't beat the look of a mature hemlock!)

Unfortunately its always windy at our place.

Would either of those trees lead to cedar apple rust? Not sure it matter given that I'm sure the timber back behind us has plants of cedars, but thought I would ask.

Why type of site would those like?

lcadem,

Do you happen to know of a good local source for these types of conifers?

Thanks!

Also, thinking about them a bit more, they both appear to need a pretty moist location? The only place I've really got is over by the red oak and sunset maple and I've already decided to place the buckeye and blackgum there.

Any thoughts on other interesting conifers that dont need as moist a planting location? Or would these do well elsewhere?

I never see anyone recommend Scyamore trees on here. They are very large and love wet areas and IMO very beautiful once their bark is completely white.

Hi Md

so... I am not an expert but this is what I have been told about those species.
Hemlock is wind sensitive and requires good moisture (but is, in my view, the best looking conifer after cedrus libani).
Nootka cypress is very hardy, it does require some good moisture but it should do fine.
In other words, once these are established you probably would have to water them in cases of severe droughts (like the one we had last summer), but this is probably true for most trees anyway...

Calocedrus, if you take the idaho source (check the UNiversity of Idaho nursery - they ship hemlocks and calocedruses for 5 dollars each and they are beautiful three footers), are considered *very* drought resistant. In terms of looks many have described it as the Cadillac of Arborvitaes, even though it is not an arborvitae.

regarding sources... I don't have a source of nordman handy. Hemlocks and calocedrus from the university of idaho nursery (I have to plant small stock since I have a rather large acreage and I want to plant a lot of trees).