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

First let me say I love your house. My dream is to someday own a little bungalow!! I almost bought one once but it needed more work that I was willing to do at the time. I know I am late to the party, and I am no landscape expert, but I'm going to chime in my .02 anyway. One of the biggest problems I think you have, in more ways than one, are those huge everygreen shrubs against the foundation. They will dwarf anything else you are doing and it will all look kind of washed out. It seems to me your vision is for a wonderful little perrenial flower garden in front of your house, and in the meantime you have behemouth shrubs to deal with. I would seriously consider taking them out and plant something more open, airy and smaller. There are excellent selections of small, open evergreens at high quality nurseries now days, many of them bred to grow small because your situation is pretty typical of what modern home owners are looking for. At the very least, I would take out the big shrub next to the steps. I had a similar shrub next to the porch stairs in a house I lived in once, and it was a major pain to maintain. An evergreen such as that will trap moisture (especially melting snow) up by the house and the railing and the stairs, all contributing to their faster decline--rust, corrosion and weathering of concrete. There is nothing ugly about your foundation that you need to particularly hide. Rip out that big shrub, and put in something light and airy and flowery. Or at the very least, extend the smaller shrub border all the way to the steps. But honestly, I'd bite the bullet and tear it all out, then you will have a clean slate to design YOUR garden the way YOU want it, not have to work around those ponderous shrubs that someone long gone planted because they just filled a spot. They have overgrown their welcome, IMHO.

Thank you so much for the input...after putting in the names of all the tree in the image search I think I have narrowed it down to the Crape Myrtle and the Chinese Pistachio...any thoughts?!?! Does anyone know if the Crape Myrtle flowers attract tons of bees? (I have an allergic son) We plan on living at this house for many years and I'm really hoping to avoid a lifetime of tree frustration!!!! Thank you everyone for taking the time to help!!!

How many feet is it from the house to the front flower bed? How many feet from the sidewalk that leads from the house to the neighbors property line to the left? I'm not sure how you'd get the shading to the porch you want without blocking the view of the house from the street. How does the sun travel over your house? What side of the house does the sun rise and set? Do you want shading to the 2nd floor windows eventually? Are their any underground utilities on the left side of the front yard? I'm asking a lot of questions, aren't I! I do like the three trees you chose, but don't have any of them, so I can't help you with their growing habits. I think a non-fruiting crab would be great too. I guess I'm asking how large a height and spread would you like and what dimensions would be too big? Is the dogwood at the back of the house on the left side?