Hi amanda_t, from a fellow Kentuckian. I currently practice here in Scott County and in Louisville. I've lived and gardened in Nicholasville, Versailles, Lexington, and Paris. Which best approximates where you are in KY? You mention you occupy a "large urban lot." Give us an idea of what that means (since in NYC that could be a 1000 square feet): 1/4 acre, 1 acre, 2.5 acres? Lexington has quite a few properties near the middle of town with 5 acre parcels. If you have a 100+ year old ginkgo, do everything you can to preserve/protect that youngster against all potential damage from new work you intend. That is a plant to treasure. All that said, here's what I'd offer based on your initial set of likes: Beeches: There simply is nothing to match the grace and beauty of an American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) in most seasons. While it is not my favorite large shade tree, I can see where it is one to invest in and love for life. Much of my career in Louisville revolves around managing the historic and wondrous landscapes of the old parks that are blessed with fabulous specimens and thick forests of American Beech. Don't "settle" for an import. Maples for fall color: There are many native species (Sugar and Red Maples already mentioned) and myriad introduced species (Acer griseum, Acer triflorum, Acer palmatum, Acer henryi among them) that offer stellar fall color. Decide which category (large, intermediate, or small) that you'd like to invest in. None will be immune to ice damage; that is easy to observe around Lexington and Louisville. Catalpa: I agree with you on this one - it is too seldom used for its bold branch architecture and impressive leaves/flowers. People focus too much on "litter". I defy anyone to identify a tree that doesn't drop something at sometime. Biases indeed... Crabapples with pretty flowers: There are numerous excellent selections in this category. Pretty flowers are a given. Consider only selecting the highly disease resistant forms, and then decide if you want white, pink, or reddish flowers. Forms can be interesting, from the standard big rounded trees to erect, pendulous, weeping, and dwarf. Finally, the best combine all the above choices with small persistent fruit. This provides winter-long interest until spring leaf-out and/or arrival of the hungry robins to strip them. If you are serious about this species, I can provide a separate (long) list for KY. Redbuds and Dogwood: These are never bad choices. There are numerous fine performers for KY. Trees with wide stretching branches or shapely branches: Hmmm. This is hardest to answer, since it is rather open-ended. I'll second the votes for Nyssa sylvatica and Picea orientalis. These are two that there can't be too many of. I'll offer some tree ideas that haven't been mentioned previously above. Cercidiphyllum japonicum, esp. 'Amazing Grace' Gymnocladus dioicus Carya cordiformis Ilex opaca Abies nordmanniana Quercus michauxii Ostrya virginiana Franklinia alatamaha Halesia diptera esp. 'Magniflora' Viburnum rufidulum Asimina triloba Chionanthus virginicus Cladrastis kentukea It is interesting that no one above asked you what the site was like that you garden on. Some of the suggestions are outstanding - provided the growing conditions are good for that plant. Depending where you are in KY, white oak may be a rather poor choice. It doesn't occur often in the inner Bluegrass region, preferring instead the somewhat more acid soils surrounding this area. The favored trees of the Bluegrass landscape include Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus muehlenbergii, Quercus shumardii, Gymnocladus dioicus, and Fraxinus quadrangulata. I do and would continue to plant any/all of these (and spit in the eye of EAB).

I recent did something similar. I went with a mix of norway spruce, white pine, eastern red cedar, and shingle oak. They all grow about the same rate. The shingle oaks hold their leaves (and lower limbs) all year and are a nice way to mix-up an otherwise pure conifer windbreak. If you don't need instant gratification, smaller trees (seedlings) will be as big or bigger than larger, more expensive trees 10 years from now. It has to do with overcoming the loss of the root system. Seedlings have nearly 90-100% of their root system when planted and only need a year or two to reach optimal growth rate. Larger trees have maybe 5-10% of their normal root system and need several years to recover. I bought some $25 5 foot tall white pines from lowes a few year back. After removing the burlap, I notice the roots have severely been severed - it looked like a butcher job. About 1/2 died. Those that survived haven't grown much at all. Meanwhile, the 12 inch white pine seedlings I planted around the same time are now appproaching the same size as the 5-footers and will surely pass the others this growing season or next. I should have graphed the growth rates of both.. Just my 2 cents.

thanks Ken, there are no power lines over the intended area, by the way. As for the clay, I have been adding a few handfuls of manure, compost, and topsoil to the fill and chop up the hunks of clay until I get a nice workable "loam". I remove large rocks and hunks of "rotten, yellow clay" and put back everything else. I also plant slightly higher than ground level although everything manages to sink to ground level within a year. I was thinking of two large Norways (one where the white spot is at approx 10 o'clock from the stone pillar and the other about an inch down and to the left from the O- in google map). Basically, just something to stop the winter winds from gushing at our house - we had some amazing snow banks last year with the blizzard. I would like to create a micro-climate on my side of the windbreak for azaleas, hydrangeas, and magnolias. Jim - the heat is an issue - it seems warmer as we are more "plains" although the Morton is not far from us - they are buffered by some other, old growth forests. We have corn on all sides.

It has taken 15 years for them to go from 5' to 25' and give the 4-season privacy that I have - I would be sad to start over! This is a view from the patio - I don't know if you can see it, but there is a little more space between the bushier, darker, more narrow spruce on the far left and the lighter colored, more loose looking one on the left side of the arbor. If you look on the right side of the arbor, the final group of three spruce are even closer together. Of these three, the one in the middle seems to be more narrow, smaller, and bushier than the ones on either side. These five may not all be the exact same kind of conifer or maybe it is just normal differences between trees. The needles on the two more narrow, bushy ones are slightly shorter and darker in color than the other three. The spruces that are to the right of the arbor are the only ones potentially in danger of reaching the sunroom windows. The two to the left of the arbor have a little more freedom. The least attractive one is the lighter colored one on the left side of the arbor and I would feel less badly if that one had to go looks-wise but it sure would leave a big gap in the line of trees. If I trimmed the interior, intermingling branches away from any tree I was planning to remove, and allowed the branches of the keepers to have more breathing room, do you think that would let me wait until the keepers were a little bigger so I wouldn't lose the current look/privacy? I just hate trying to decide what to do here! I have trouble culling little bitty baby plants, much less a beautiful mature tree! At my age (3+ years to retirement!), maybe I should just let the next owners decide what to do for their own plans for the yard. I WILL be still gardening for the next 15 years (hopefully in this house) if I have anything to say about it though! BettyLu