If you want a weeping conifer there are several selections of hemlock that would do great in high schade. There are also weeping selections of redbud and kousa dogwoods including a variegated weeping kousa dogwood. The dogwoods and kousas might like more acid soil though.

David

Be mindful of wooly ageliad (sp?) when considering hemlocks. I don't remember if they are cultivar specific, but it is a yearly investment of money and worry to keep the bugs away. There's a kousa called "wolf eyes" that is a beaut. Don't know about ph requirements, however.

Yes, I am a little worried about the pH and will have to see what is offered and planted locally. From my brief research even some of the kousa's are listed as tolerating different pH levels depending on the cultivar.
Based on mostly pH the hemlocks just won't do well for me here. At least I have never seen one planted on the valley floor. Up on the benches it is a totally different game. They are at least 1/2 a zone warmer and not nearly as alkaline. We are still dealing with the slow death of ancient Lake Bonneville from many thousands of years ago. As it evaporated the valley floor was left with the disolved salts and minerals. Maybe in another few hundred thousand years it will have all leached out. It would have happened already if we didn't live in such an arid enviroment.
THanks for your input!

If layered branching is what you mean by the look of japanese maples then it's a pagoda dogwood that you want not a kousa dogwood. Serviceberry does have that to some degree also or at least mine does.

I must say I am very underimpressed with my two serviceberries. The littel white flower aren't much, and I have never noticed the fall foliage -- I'll try to notice this year. How about Stewartia?

jakejones, I said the same thing last summer then finally my tree got its act together. This fall it was much improved and the flowers were quite showy. Not crepe myrtle showy, but would rival a lot of the cherry cultivars. It was a 15 gallon container size when planted.

I would love a Stewartia but again the pH problem gets in the way. I would try one of the firs that does well in the shade but it would die in a year. Some of the trees (Japanese maple) that prefer acid conditions will tolerate our alkaline soil though not really flourish as they will in other areas. I suspect that some of the cornus will do well here and others will not.

This spring, I dug out a 40 year old Burning Bush and replaced it with Amelanchier lamarkii, also a 15 gallon pot. It is located in a very focal spot near the corner of the driveway and front walk. Mostly sunny, windy exposure, well-drained, good garden soil.

I wanted a native large shrub/small tree, showy, with wildlife value and a little drought-tolerant once established.. It came down to a choice between Cornus florida and Amelanchier. Flowering dogwoods are gorgeous, but perhaps a little higher maintenance than the Serviceberry and I don't think they like drying out? I also thought maybe the Dogwood would get too wide eventually.

I am pleased with the Serviceberry - showy flowers that do remind me of a flowering cherry and the pollinators like them, berries for the birds, and we'll see how the fall color turns out. It has well-behaved roots, an upright habit, and the small pretty leaves cast light shade. I have perennials and annuals planted all around the Serviceberry.

Cornus kousa would also have been an excellent choice, but i already have one of them on the other side of the yard in part sun, and I wanted something native. The Kousa flowered this year for the first time - a beauty and quite drought tolerant! In your location with mostly shade you would probably have less impressive growth and flowering.

I think Serviceberry will definitely struggle in alkaline soil, and I don't think dogwood will be too happy either. Have you looked at Heptacodium miconioides? I think it's quite adaptable as to soil, and is a lovely small tree, though with a markedly different shape than either dogwood or Service.

My pH is 7.2, slightly alkaline. My serviceberries and dogwood are quite happy with that. I have stewartia as well. They are struggling, but I think the problem with them is not alkalinity, but too much sun.

Both serviceberry and dogwood should be fine in full sun in zone 5. The problem is the Ph.

I planted a dogwood tree (Constellation) 3 years ago and I've found that it won't produce the beautiful white flowers (bracts)if I don't give it a dose of muracid in the spring. I have it in full sun and it's done very well in my sandy soil. I give it a monthly dose of muracid throughout the summer to keep it lush. It's a beautiful tree and worth the little effort.