Any chance you can take a snapshot of where its going? Seems to do wonders when getting suggestions.

do you want deciduous .. loses its leaves in winter ..

or something that retains its leaves all winter .. for year around privacy??

and how wide from window to curb ....

ken

I can take a picture and post but it won't be til next week. I do want a deciduous tree because I don't want it totally blocking the space like an evergreen would. I will have to measure, but I would say about 25' from front deck to curb.

What part of Michigan are you in?

tj

Acer nikoense; Acer caudatum ssp. Ukurunduense; Acer cissifolium; Acer monspessulanum; Acer tschonoskii ssp. koreanum.

Dax

What about a dwarf chinkapin oak? Dwarf, not the regular chinkapin. Aren't they native in that area or something?

Richard.

tsuga-I'm in SouthEast Michigan. ddrich-I don't know about dwarf chinapin oak, I'll have to look it up.
Gardener - thanks, I will look these up.

gardener's maples are interesting trees, but not readily available in our area. A. nikoense would get too large. Also, some of the small maples don't like dry conditions. Is the location irrigated? If yes, you could go with one of the Japanese maples (A. palmatum or perhaps A. japonicum) or a flowering dogwood (the Rutgers hybrids are nice trees). Paperbark maple might be OK, even if the spot is not irrigated - in our area this species grows so slowly that it will stay within bounds for many years. Paperbark is often available in multi-stem form as well.

Dwarf chinkapin oak is a nice native plant but doesn't have much "seasonal interest".

If there's irrigation, sweetbay magnolia (Moonglow) would be an option, although it doesn't have very dense foliage for screening purposes. If no irrig, you could consider redbud, or cornelian cherry dogwood. These are available multi-stem which would help with the "low clearance" you're looking for.

Thanks arbordave, my location is not irrigated. I kind of ruled out gardeners maples because they get big and I have a small house and yard and want a smaller size tree, and I am looking for the low clearance for privacy. I love the redbud but it also gets big - I may have to compromise here. I will look into the cornelian cherry dogwood - I have always thought dogwood trees were nice. I will also check out the paperbark maple. Thanks for your suggestions!

ok katrina .... i live in SE MI.. the real one SE MI .... 20 miles from monroe ...

and i grew up in livonia.. and know that everyone south of port huron thinks they live in SE MI ...

so where are you ... what city.. it will help this native boy get a feel for what you mean by small... when i think of small lots... i think the post WWII neighborhoods of woodward north of 8 mile.. ferndale etc ...

this will also tell me what zone you are.. as some areas in metro detroit are 6 ... while others are 5 ...

BTW.. the next proper planting time for a novice.. is when the leaves fall off the trees... in fall .. so we have plenty of time to find what you want...

let us know if you are willing to spend the money for a fully warranteed professionally guaranteed installation ... because that can be done in the heat of summer ...

most likely.. you are NOT going to find.. what we recommend.. at the bigboxstore.. so again.. if i knew where you were i might actually tell you where to go buy it..

ken in Adrian MI ... formerly of livonia ...

hey Ken, I live in Plymouth, you will know right where thats at. My lawn is 35'wide and 29' deep. I plan on doing the planting and thats good to know I have plenty of time to figure it out. My neighbors for the most part have huge trees in their yards which are fine for shade, but they are not good for privacy. I don't know anything about trees so I am a complete novice, so probably something that doesn't take lots of care would work best. I don't think an JM would work out for me - they seem pretty finicky. Are you familiar with Plymouth Nursery? I know they have a lot of trees.

"I would like something that doesn't get more than 15 foot tall preferably. The area gets sun most of the day. It is mainly for privacy since my house sits close to the road so I would like to plant it in the vincinity of my front picture window for privacy, so probably something that has fairly low clearance to the ground, since the window sits about 5-8 ft. high."

Just to be sure we're on the same page, given the unusual circumstance of wanting a 15 foot tall tree, deciduous no less, for privacy...

By 'privacy' - are you just referring to substantially blocking the view of that window from outside, with foliage not to dense as to keep you from peering out through it from within? And you're content that this will be naked and of much less privacy benefit in winter?

Richard.

If you like redbud but you're concerned it may get too big, see if you can find the dwarf redbud called "Ace of Hearts" - it's a beautiful plant.

drrich2-yes I do want a deciduous tree. I am west facing and the afternoon soon is very glaring into the room so besides wanting the privacy, I want something that filters some of the light. Thanks for asking.
I saw a tree, or it may be a shrub in a yard that I am going to take a photo of and post to see if anyone knows what it is - I think it fits what I am looking for but I have never seen one before.
Arbordave-thanks for the suggestion-I will look at that one. I went into a small sub today on my bike and it was the most beautifully landscaped area I have ever seen in a sub-I will try to take some pics to post.

I went thru a long search for a nice small tree that gives privacy. Dogwood, which has been mentioned here. Either kousa or native, kousa has bark that is a tad more interesting in the winter. A small magnolia is another option, like star magnolia. Japanese maple. Mine is fireglow and does fine with sun and is not finicky in the least. I had to mail order to get it, it was reasonably priced that way. Serviceberry is a possibility. It has berries but I've never noticed them much on the ground, the birds devour them first. The nice thing about that tree is you can watch the birds from your window. I once worked at a place that had a serviceberry outside the window and we had a lot of fun watching birds when the tree set berries. It also has white flowers in spring. Another option is witch hazel, which is a large shrub that can be pruned to look more like a tree.

You'll probably have to mail order to get something tailor made for your spot. I'll post more when I have time, some mail order sources I have used and also some pictures of my jap. maple.

P.S. I was born and raised and worked for many years in southern MI, near the IN/OH border.

Thanks lpinkmountain, I'm planning on a trip to a nursery this weekend. Will check out some of these options, they have a large variety of trees. So many beautiful trees!

Just to give you an idea of how a Japanese maple might work for privacy, here's a picture of the one in my yard, starting in 2005 when I planted it, and now last fall and this spring. You can see it works very well for privacy. It is a cultivar called Fireglow, one that is supposed to grow 15-18 feet, much smaller than the ubiquitous Bloodgood variety. I don't do anything special to it and you can see it is growing under less than ideal conditions and gets hot afternoon sun. I got it from Herter's Nursery, mail order. It looked like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree when I got it in November, but I planted it and away it went. I protected over winter from wind by putting up a little burlap screen around it the first year, only because it looked so scrawny. Now nothing other than putting compost around it and mulching it and watering it if there's a bad drought.
Photo taken in spring 2006
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Photo taken in fall 2010
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The Fireglow now, spring 2011
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I put a link in for the nursery. I have no association with them other than being a satisfied customer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Herter Nursery