my experience under a apple .. is that it is surface rooted... a 50 year old tree anyway .... apple/crabapple... no difference to me ...

how about redbud? .. the finches are in a frenzy out there right now ... breaking open the seed pods ...

i have a variegated robar oak that is very slow .... all nut trees are said to be deep rooted ... the problem is that most will not stay at your requested height ....

a tricolor beech could be trained to that height .. if you dont mind a bit of pruning .... picture below ... and its a nut tree ....

very frankly .... join the local hosta club [it always comes down to that .. lol] and take their garden tour this summer .... and see what other hosta nuts are doing ... seeing is better than the web every time ....

if you are a member... or a member of the AHS ... get out your directory .. and call some of the local people ... and ask around .... i cant think of one club person who wouldn't enjoy a call this time of year to talk about the garden ... go figure on that ...

and you might want to try the tree forum .... and if you can post pix ... it would be real helpful ....

good luck

ken

PS: thank god you finally made the right decision on that maple ....

ignore the dwarf .... lol
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I told all the girls at work, "I have to plant a TriColor Beech!" Just look at how beautiful that is!! Thank's so much Ken for posting your pic.(dwarf-LOL-adorable!)

YES...down with the maple.

I have a nice RedBud that my hosta's just love. Keep looking, you'll find the right tree for you.

Laura

What a great tree. I bet it's not hardy in zone 4 though. Love the little redhead too!

Teresa

tricolor to zone 4.. see link

Here is a link that might be useful: zone 4

Wow, Ken ... that tri-color beech is gorgeous!
Redbud's another good idea, Laura. Now, I've had luck with plain old apple trees - those were the two major shade trees when I first moved in and my hostas worked fine under them. One died off several yrs ago and had a large arbor built to replace the tree. I've also got a Bradford pear in the yard that offers a lot of root conflict too.

Ken, help me out with picture posting, would you ... I tried to post directly in my thread and got the big red x ...

if this is my picture link: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/143366957_79016925c6_m.jpg
what do I enter before and after it to make it appear in my post? I thought I followed the directions, but I'm not sure ...

Thanks!

first.. your link could have been put in the link box below the post ... but its kinda small for my bifocalled eyes ...

otherwise.. go to photbucket.com .. sign up.. its free ... upload a picture to photobucket ... copy the html TAG line.. paste it into a post .... when you hit PREVIEW ... if you see the picture we will .. if not, we wont ...

there is a FAQ about it ... and the search function will get you about 1000 posts about photobucket ...

good luck

ken

photo test

Thanks, cowboy!!

... I don't get this board, sometimes ... I can't post 2 things in a row without changing the subject?? guess I'll read the rules one of these days ... can't edit or delete, either?

Well, at least I've got the pic in ...

Red buds are not good trees for a shade garden. Not only are the roots on the surface, they will also sucker several feet from the trees. You also get seedlings like crazy but easy to pull.

Forgot - they are also not the longest lived tree around. I think they say 15-20 years.

Wow! Ken, that is gorgeous,the little guy is awfully cute too!

I've never had a redbud sucker and have 5 in my backyard...wonder why...??? I also have had no problems w/ the roots at the surface. I wonder if it makes a difference in different zones. They definitely ARE seedling crazy!

Check out Forest Pansy Redbud..WOW.

My favorite tree in my yard is a Cornelian Cherry Dogwood. Incredible. Multi-season interest, wonderful umbrella shaped canopy...feed the birds w/ NON-obnoxious fruit...shaggy bark in winter and brilliant yellow flowers all over it in March/April, even w/ snow!!!

This isn't the best pic...but you can get an idea of the shape, etc:
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In this pic, you can see the nice shaggy bark, as well as the yellow blooms:

Talking about the Goldfinch in the last pic LOL I like the pond. I planted a redbud because at the Landscape Arboretum they have them underplanted with hostas. They seemed like nice trees to me and if they send up many seedlings I thought I'd let a couple live to replace the mother tree when it's time is up?? Who Knew!
Hopefully it makes it through this winter and then I guess I'll let time be the judge.
Cheryl

I wouldn't trade my redbuds for anything. I love them. Mine are all underplanted w/ no issues of decline, etc. Here is one of my larger ones:

Wow! Thanks for those redbud pics! Certainly looks like there are no problems with underplanting.
You guys can imagine how frustrating it is to hear rave reviews on some trees, only to have someone else post about the problems they've had. I wonder what makes the difference ... different varieties of the same tree, maybe?

Andrea - what's up with all that grass? I thought you said you were running out of room! I didn't know you had a treehouse. :-0

Teresa

This was almost TWO years ago - summer '05! roflol Oh, that treehouse...DON'T GET ME GOING. neighbors have a H-U-G-E, empty yard and build the treehouse literally on top of us looking over the fence. It was in progress at that point...it now has a little deck area outside of the door that faces our yard.

freeda, I would certainly think that soil, zone, etc, etc, etc plays into it all. Yes, it *is* frustrating though! There are some huge roots to the redbud right up near the trunk that I avoid planting around but other than that, when I dig to plant, I don't run into any roots. If you leave the seedlings when they drop in pleasing locatins, you'll have a nice sized tree in a couple of years! I have one that is only 2 years old and well over 6' tall!

Having seen the Tricolor Beech in Ken's picute in person on several occasions it is by far the most spectular Tricolor I have ever seen. It has to be in the perfect light and soil conditions. It make the two I have look ratty.

Jerry