hmmm well i see a few Sugar Maples here in TN. I say go with the Sugar MAple. But did you want to consider something else what about some shrubs,perrenials, short trees? Ornamental trees? You and your friend should be thinking outside the box lol. But seriously do something more than maples

How old is your friend and what's his patience level? White Oaks and Sugar Maples sound great for the long haul, but if he's 40+, impatient and wants to enjoy it himself rather than just bless the next property owners, then red oak (Shumard get really big), red maple, yellow poplar, even a pair of sycamore are possible, though I don't know what prospers in your area.

On that note, is he a casual, natural 'go with the flow' type, or more uptight/prissy? I ask because someone who can't stand a leaf on his lawn might get upset when a sycamore drops big'uns, then mulch them and set his allergies off. If he hates squirrels an oak producing loads of acorns might not be the thing. Etc...

Richard.

The coolest fall color yard display I ever saw was in Madison, WI. Someone had juxtaposed a sugar maple, blue spruce, and a paper birch - even the bark got in on the display! It was PHENOMINAL
I have no idea how they did it as I have no sense of design. I have the same species, but my version sucks ;)
Anyway, you could think about contrasts like that with different species. Birch (other than river birch) and spruce might be a stretch in MD. Something red (Red maple or black gum, or AB maple) and holly? Just off the top of my head...

A pair of bur oaks would be a sight to behold.

This post was edited by greenthumbzdude on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 13:51

Corkball, you do see some blue spruce here, but they usually don't look all that happy.

You see a LOT of the white-barked "Heritage" River Birch, too.

If you want to think out of the box you may try a Willow Tree with its light green foliage interspersed with some pine type tree. I always like the contrasting light green against the dark green of the pine.

Yes Willow are fast growing, but they can be controlled and get a nice looking tree in the yard.

I say white oaks or sycamores combined with some good spruces or firs (even though they might not like the heat of zone 7) or incense cedars! Since you are in zone 7, why not go big and plant some lebanon cedars!?

This post was edited by lcadem on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 16:53

Metasequoia is my answer if the yard gets a reasonable amount of moisture

sycamore
sugar maples
bur oaks
Metasequoia

All those above are amazing. I would reccomend a southern magnolia or sweet bay magnolias closer to the housea as well.

I would also look for if you can find them, an ungrafted prunus subhirtella var. pendula giant weeping cherry. Most of what you find today are grafted and thus don't grow very big- the old seedling types that come with old houses like ours are over two stories tall, very Japanese-esque in spreading form and bright yellow leaves in fall plus spring bloom and gorgeous to the ground weeping and shade.

He should do quite a few trees, some big and understory, that way the new home isn't so stark and "new" looking. People forget to do understory trees and often landscapes don't look as good as they should. A dogwood grove could be very beautiful.

our house sits on 3 acres, 3 acres can hold quite a lot of beauiful big trees, he can have much more than just two.

if you want gigantic, do the stately sycamore or one burr oaks and two maples, sycamores are stunning in the winter due to their white bark.

Maryland Zone 7. I would go with White oak and Live oak. Live oak are hardy in Wash. D.C. zone 7. I would definately plant a Quercus Virginiana zone 7-9.