that's your ONLY 'spot' on that property .... ??? ... lol .. nice lot ....

i prefer the placement of the the tree on the right in regard to how 'close' it is to the house ..... but then that might be closer to the septic ???? yes???

my experience with gum .. is that they are shallow rooted... too much on the surface ... and i would question such.. within 50 feet of the septic ... but my knowledge is superfiscial in that regard and await the tree peeps ...

whats the native soil in regard to drainage of you septic??? septic product just doesnt hang around in my yellow sand .... i might worry about slow draining clay .... and surface rooted trees ... it might be unlikely that any tree will leave your good soil.. and go into the clay .... ergo .. right into the septic ...

more facts please ... what is the other tree... reminds me a of a maple .... is that rectangular brown spot in the lawn the field??? or are we talking about a tank system???

ken

It could end up being quite a shock to suddenly loose the shade that damaged tree provides, but also you do not want to risk branch failure damages to your house. it appears that you already altered the shading on the house when the tree that grew from the stump in your photo, was cut down.

Have you considered planting a wide circle of evergreens that could end up more like a slight buffer from the bitter cold northwest and northeast winds wipping through your lot in the winter months.

Now is a good time to begin observing how the winter winds do whip around your house.

And if you find that this area is where you would like to redirect some of those winds, then why not consider planting an arrangement of thuja Standishi Plicata 'Green Giant' and its sport, Thuja 'Steeplechase' trees. These trees grow fairly fast, and do not seem to develop quite as invasive root systems.

You could plant them in a pattern which will ultimately redirct some of those, cold, winter winds to blow around instead of hitting your house directly.

Is the ash on the north or south side? Choices may depend on that exposure.

If you want filtered shade, a mini-grove of Betula nigra 'Heritage'(or even a one clump) may be a good choice.

Any preference for how large you want the tree? Looking for shade or just ornamental value?

Cornus kousa (better choice for the midwest)
Amelanchier xgrandiflora (most consistent/intense fall color of the group)
Malus
Carpinus carlolina
Aesculus octandra (smaller hybirds available)

Thanks for them tips. I often forget all about Serviceberry.

Ken, the yellowing square is a bit of darn Zoysia invading the yard right over the field.

Believe it or not the previous owners have TWO trees on the right along the driveway. The big oak is a proper distance from the house. There is another 50 year old round spreading white ash maybe 15 - 20 foot from my bedroom! Both are really closer to the septic than I'd of preferred but its not like I'm gonna remove them just because of that at this point.

The spot is on the North East side of my house.

Native soil is pretty good with a clay base. My lil rectangle of a house is from 1955 and isn't really part of a neighborhood so they most likely didn't scalp the land too badly.

Katrina, I hear you about the shade. My neighbor to the north is especially bummed out! I really haven't considered evergreens probably because I'm bummed about losing the fall color the ash provided. I'll dabble in the conifer forums so one or two isn't entirely out of the question.

My neighbor to the north has one clump of white, another of river birch. I do like them. Just can look at his. I have plenty of walnuts falling about so I'm gonna avoid the buckeye. Hornbeam...interesting, faded yellow to orange fall color, a manageable 35 feet tallish....

Here's some more pics.

An older overhead from Bing Maps before I cut down the rotting silver maple.
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View from 3 or so years back when I cut down the silver maple
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This is from up in a lift while cutting down the maple.
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What about bald cypress?

Lou, I like bald cypress. Just figured with two dawn redwoods in the yard now some variety would be best.

The typical spread of a bald cypress would be a good fit though. hmmmm, I hadn't considered looking for other pyramidal trees.

Sorry, I couldn't be more helpful. Your area and my area are completely different but I wish I had that kind if space like you to try all kinds of trees. I'd say try shantung maple but it seems to have a lot of variability in growth and form if you tried to order one online. They are great but you just don't know how they'd turn out like Japanese maple after growing 50 seedlings and they all differ in growth and form. Shantung maple is a lot easier to grow than Japanese maple though.

That is an interesting medium sized maple Lou. Hadn't looked much into them before.

Sometimes I like trees with a bit of an unusual form anyway. 25 or 30 foot tall trees like this can get away with lower branching habits. Everything doesn't have to be Pin Oak shaped to be a good tree.

Do you find the Shantungs have pretty reliable fall color but variable structure around you?

Here is a link that might be useful: Forest Farm even has a variegated one!

Yes. they have reliable fall color for me in Texas unlike native trees. Nearly all of them are bright yellow fall color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shantung maple

Thanks For Sharing

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Ariel photos? I'm impressed! I love your trees. What a shame to loose that beauty. You picked a good time to post this. Everybody has time to help you plan. A big conifer might be great there. Katrina brought up a good point. What direction are your prevailing winds?
Barb

Winds are generally from the west, blowing towards the front of the house. During the winter seems the strong storms track from the NW.

Them aerial photos come service of Bing maps. Its a Google Earth type program which in my opinion is less user friendly but has higher resolution.

So far I'm leaning towards putting a Cornus controversa (giant dogwood) maybe 10 feet in front of the soon to be stump and slightly towards the center of the house. Some reading lead me to believe these require acidic soil but did not say how acidic. Is this true? I have a tester and can go poke the yard in a few locations probably by the end of the week.

Then either a Carpinus caroliniana hornbeam, Cornus Florida Cherokee whichever, Picea orientalis 'Skylands' or Shantung Maple similarly behind the stump.

The space behind is tighter. The Skylands would fit best but I have a senseless fear of grafted plants which get large and can fall on my Mustang in the garage (keep in mind my mustang will be 70 thirty years from now when that Skylands can hurt something)

A dark Cornus might contrast best with this 2ft tall yellow variegated dawn redwood I have growing in back but that would make 5 dogwoods on my property waiting for a Cornus eating bug to come along. Just as a maple would make the 5th maple.

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