For the names of the maples you'd have to ask the nursery owner. But he may not know; so what you can also do is look at the growth habit of the tree and try to project out 20 years... and maples also lend themselves to pruning. If you want a high canopy, then all the branches you are looking at today will eventually be pruned off and a similar shape will be over your head. That is why to me the second maple/third picture looks more like what your property needs. But you could accommodate them both, or all three, if you manage them (once the other Bradford is gone, and honestly, it will likely be a lot cheaper to get rid of both at once - on the other hand, letting a new tree grow in for a few years first means you won't have to go through a moonscape phase). It actually looks like you might have a little new tree by the fence? Maples aren't always appreciative of being gardened under so if you want a flower bed I would be more inclined to remove your foundation hedge and corner pyramid evergreen, and make a nice garden there - those plantings weren't genius choices to start with and are getting past their best-before date. Removing that corner evergreen especially would open up your front door area nicely. Tree removal is always a good opportunity to rethink the whole property landscaping. If you do a plan view diagram and draw circles on it to represent the future canopies of your trees you may find it easier to think of options and placements. Consider sun direction and where you want shade. True you don't have a lot of room but there is scope for much better use of what you have. KarinL

We had a blockage at one point and pulled out tree roots when cleaning. The maple was only feet from the sewer line and it is a old house, so it is not surprising. The new tree will be planted further away from the pipe. I think the other trees on my street are lindens, but I'm so bad at identifying trees. From the bark, it looks like lindens from the pictures I looked at online. Also, I don't jump over these trees, but don't frown either if that makes sense. It isn't an issue the city is offering a tree and I'm happy they ripped out the maple (it scared me with constantly falling large limbs). I'm just going to use the tree as the base for designing the front yard and don't want to find out I based my plan off a horrible tree. Hope that makes sense. I'm just a little confused as some sites classify the these trees as medium trees and others indicate large. Maybe they stay smaller when planted as street trees?

Absolutely! I would love to plant some native trees! I will be planting two trees. I would like to have one medium-sized one that will be planted about 15' away from the house, that will grow 20-30' high. The other tree will be planted about 10' behind the first, and should be a short tree growing 10-15' high. The goal is to maintain the shade garden, yet not plant anything so tall as to cast shade on the sunny side of the yard. I have no large trees anywhere on my property, but my neighbor's yards are predominantly full of aging silver maple and mulberry trees with an occasional evergreen thrown in. I have several Rose of Sharon "bushes" that are about 12 feet tall or more, as well as a small 12' tall red-leaved tree I have not been able to identify. In the front yard I have a dwarf apple tree, a dwarf peach tree, and some elderberry bushes. The soil they would be planted in is a rich, well drained soil in a raised bed with lots of compost. They will be planted in the east side of the yard, and will have a bit of shade but is mostly sunny. The bed gets watered regularly with soaker hoses. What am I looking for in these trees? I would love to see some spring flowers, and it would be great if the trees had fruit or nuts. Of course colorful fall foliage is a wonderful thing. Trees with leaves that are good for compost (I've heard oak leaves make incredible mulch) are an added bonus. Trees that would attract birds and other wildlife are a priority. I have a short ranch house and am hoping that the taller of the two trees can provide some good shade for the house. Thanks for your input, what a great resource this is!

I don't think you can be sure. I've never seen any after 10/20 or so, so I'm leaving mine up for at least another week here in St Louis. I last saw one on 10/9, so you could also say 10 days to 2 weeks after the last sighting. Use your own judgment, I'd say. And don't feel too guilty if you take them down. Lots of hummingbird flowers this time of year.