Conratulations on your decision to remove the invasive pest from your allee. As you can see their performance in the landscape is often not so great either. You'd be doing the right thing and especially not to patronize the industry any more for those norway maples. For every one norway maple you buy, they will produce 5 more. Makes me want to scream. Last year I planted a London Planetree 'Yarwood' that I bought from a local grower in a 2.5" size and approximately 24' tall for around $100. I've wanted a sycamore-like tree on my street since I saw the ones in Julie's tree diary (treegrowersdiary.com) I replaced a Zelkova that was planted by the builder and had lost all its branches in a variety of storms. This bark on the yarwood is very white and mottled. More so than native sycamore which I would have planted if I could have found one. This year it looks like it's grown another inch in caliper! Got stunned by the Easter Freeze unfortunately. London plane does have a different mature size and slightly different habit than native American Sycamore. It is more rounded and not quite so tall from what I've read. I'm pleased with it so far and can't wait til it drapes over the street. I think you will be happy with it too although I would suggest, as usual, a mixed planting. Maybe drop some LP's here and a little oak there and some elm over there. You see so there is some protection against a total wipeout.

Do not under any circumstances plant a Sycamore anywhere near anything you want to not be destroyed by roots. Plumbing, sewer lines, concrete slabs, retaining walls...all will be destroyed by the roots of the Sycamore costing you immense amounts of damage. Then there is the leaf drop which after a fall windstorm can produce drifts of leaves many feet high, all of which are a fire hazard. Then there is the high allergen factor of Sycamore Pollen. Then the tree is also prone to rot on the inside, so that the tree falls on your house when you least expect it. What's worse is the tree is hard to kill even after you've cut it down, ground the stump, burned it, dumped round up on it, it'll still grow back. The only thing a Sycamore tree is good for is firewood and maybe woodworking. We recently bought a property with 7 Sycamores on it and so far they've cost us about $50,000 in damages. I've cut down half of them, the others will be gone by the end of the year.

Thank you all for your responses. I think I have ruled out the bur oak. I think you are probably right that there is not enough room for it. Sigh. I have talked to our city horticulturist, who I have worked with before through my garden club, and she said the city will not help with the purchase of a tree of my choosing. Usually after a development is mostly finished they come through and plant either one or two different trees all the way up and down the block. I would like to avoid that, and she said if I have one planted before they get there they will leave it alone (an added plus is I get to choose the location in my front yard). Maybe I can pick your brains about your tree suggestions a little bit more. I looked up your suggestions in Dirr's manual of trees and was wondering first about the Kentucky Coffee Tree. Do you think if I waited to select one from a nursery until their trees were changing color I could pick one that would have good fall color when it was older? Would this be too late in the season to plant this tree? About the Sycamores and London Plane Tree I was wondering exactly how messy these can be? I can tolerate alot, however I don't want my neighbors to hate me if I plant one. The hickory seemed also like a good suggestion. With its tap root it may be happy in this area. About the Elms, I will have to give my local nursery another look. Do you have a variety you would suggest? The Eucommia and Corylus colurna sound like nice trees, but in my small town I don't know how likely I am to find them. I hope I can. I think I will avoid the swamp white oak as we have many in the neighborhood natively and the maple just because it seems to be the first choice of the city and all of my neighbors who have planted new trees. Thanks again for taking the time to respond with your suggestions!

We cleared a large area in the backyard with new borders and put in a lot of trees. I had never had a tree list before but after all that planting I decided to make a list of what trees and shrubs are in the garden. Here are the trees with I'm sure a few missing. Acer ginnala Acer griseum Acer triflorum Aesculus mutabilis 'Induta' Aesculus parviflora Sassafras Amelanchier alleghany clump Betula papyrifera Betula pendula 'Trost's Dwarf' Cercidiphyllum japonicum Chionanthus virginicus Clethra barbinervus Cornus alternifolia 'Golden Shadows' Cornus kousa Corylus 'Rosita' Cotinus coggyria 'Golden Spirit' Crabapple 'Prairie Fire' Cretaegus phaenopyrum Evodia daniellii Fagus sylvatica Fagus sylvatica 'Riversii' Gleditsia triacanthos Japanese maple 'Beni Maiko' Japanese maple 'Beni Schichihenge' Japanese maple 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple 'Crimson Queen' Japanese maple 'Full Moon' Japanese maple 'Garnet' Japanese maple 'Orangeola' Japanese maple 'Peaches and Cream' Japanese maple 'Viridis' Japanese maple 'Waterfall' Juniperus virginiana Larix kaempferi Magnolia 'Jane' Magnolia 'Leonard Messel' Oxydendrum Picea pungens-Colorado Blue Sorbus aucuparia 'Cardinal Royal' Stewartia pseudocamellia Styrax japonica Syringa reticulata In the woods surrounding 3 sides of the yard are tons of: Maples Oaks-white and red White Pine I'm looking forward to collecting more evergreens in the coming years. Something really lacking in general in my garden.