Sandy, I can uderstand how you came to your idea, but have to reiterate that I think it isn't ideal. Again, I would put a shrub, or several shrubs there in the corner, because a tree is going to grow into/over the sidewalk, blocking it with branches, and gnerally getting in the way. If it's a BIG tree, then it may well also grow long enough branches that it needs to be trimmed away from the side of the garage. A shrub in that location will maybe get wide enough to run up against the sidewalk or possibly the driveway, but the right one won't. With a shrub, you can know beforehand about how wide it will get, but most trees aren't so obliging - there are exceptions, but... If you want an evergreen shrub, do you want a tall one (4-8') or will a couple of shorter ones (2-5') do, or do you want both heights? Either, coupled with an tallish evergreen tree by itself in the middle of the lawn, would give enough visual mass to balance the addition. Me, I think I might go for a mix, maybe a small or medium evergreen to provide winter mass, and something like a butterfly bush to give summer interest. You can keep Buddleias trimmed to the size you want, and in fact, should trim them in summer after a bloom flush to get better reblooming. If you don't want to cut a shrub back hard in the spring, and a couple of times in the summer, then a crepe myrtle could be very nice. Since you can chose cultivars that range in height from 3' to 40', and colors from white, red, purple and pink, you have a wide variety to select from. A rhododendron or a camellia would also give you an evergreen, with flowers in winter/spring, with azaleas at the base for lower fill-in. Selecting for height and color could give a very nice effect with either or both. The camellia can be trimmed, if you really want a formal effect at the corner. For a taller evergreen tree, out in the lawn, I might go with a conifer - NOT a Leyland or something that will get 40-60' - but an interesting one with a good form or maybe a variegated or color selection. I would LOVE to have a weeping Atlas or Alaskan blue cedar growing in my lawn! You could also go with another magnolia, or with a holly - some of them can get pretty tall. There is certainly enough room for a tree in the lawn, unless, of course, you like the expanse of it and don't WANT another tree out there....

Well, the nursery is right on all counts....but we wouldn't be able to plant anything if we avoided every plant with known problems. If I were running a garden center, I would 'probably' sell those plants, but I would try very hard to educate the customer. If you were to take a drive around my neighborhood, you might change your mind about the Bradfords. Many of the properties have well established pears that were obviously planted several years ago, maybe as much as 7 or 8 (or more). Most of them have begun the breaking apart process; and finding huge piles of Bradford Pear debris along the curb is routine. Unfortunately, people plant these trees as a focal point in the front yard, making them an eyesore and even a danger when the splitting begins. But, all of the plants you mentioned should be readily found at any of the big box stores or garden center outlets.

There's different kinds of cherry trees. Your's is probably a pin (or fire) cherry. They like to have multiple stems, the crotch just several feet off the ground, as you have described. Black cherries, on the other hand, usually grow fairly straight, like a white ash tree. Black cherries have pretty white flowers in the spring (like in Washington D.C.) Cherry lumber, in general, is very brittle, bad for your situation, especially the pin cherry. Black cherry trees last a long time. Pin cherries, can live a long time, but rarely do. 50 years is a long time for a Pin cherry (around here). But I have seen large Pin cherries (at Gettysburg National Park, PA). They must have arborists helping them along. We have 6 acres. Every year I cut a few dead/dying pin cherries down (all over 1 foot in diameter). Put 'em in the fireplace (I think that is why they are called fire cherries. ) During an ice storm several years ago, one snapped at the base and almost fell on my car. Yikes!

This was apparently specifically bred for our MN climate Seed was collected in Hokkaido, resulting plants were dispersed to multiple US locations. 'Hokkaido Normandale' is based on a seedling that ended up in Minnesota, showed that it could do well there. Its general features and basic history are described here: https://shop.baileynurseries.com/Product/Detail/4475?availabilityDate=2020-05-17&returnUrl=%2FProduct%2FInventory%3Ffilter%3Dprunus%26category%3D15-SHADE%26page%3D1%26displayFilters%3DFalse%26brand%3D%26height%3D%26heightUnit%3DInches%26zone%3D%26exposure%3D%26pageSize%3D20 cherry trees have far-reaching shallow root systems What you are talking about is sweet cherry (Prunus avium) roots when this has been used as a rootstock for Japanese cherries. When Japanese cherries have been instead grown from cuttings or grafted onto a different, less vigorous rootstock then the behavior of sweet cherry roots is not encountered. So the thing to do is look for stock that has been identified as having been propagated by some other means than grafting it onto sweet cherry.