Sounds like your dry, sandy soil will be the primary limiting factor. A magnolia would probably not be a very good choice in dry soil. American smoketree will tolerate dry soil, but keep in mind that in time it will have a tendency to send up suckers from the root system (may not be a problem if it is surrounded by lawn); it may also be hard to find. Redbud will probably be OK, although it prefers less sandy soil and higher pH. A crabapple would be fine, and there are many varieties to choose from  look for one grown "own root" to avoid suckering from the rootstock. Blue beech is probably OK, but may need extra watering during establishment. Shantung maple is a nice tree, but you probably wonÂt be able to find ÂFire Dragon locally, and even finding the straight species is difficult. If you ask your local nurseries for it, they will probably suggest ÂNorwegian Sunset or ÂPacific Sunset which are both Norway x shantung hybrids  these may be too large at maturity for your location. I agree with basic that Korean maple is a beautiful tree, but it wonÂt be very happy in dry soil. You may want to consider one of the tree lilacs  ÂIvory SilkÂ, ÂChina SnowÂ, or ÂBeijing Gold  I think ÂChina Snow has the best bark color of the 3  they will also need extra watering during establishment. Serviceberry does reasonably well in sandy soil, and a few varieties are available in "tree form" (single stem).

Canadianplant makes a good point. If you KNOW you'll take down the lindens, plant something that can survive in the understory, then take off (literally) once in full sun. There are some highway roadsides here that when the state came in to cut down all the invasives, there, in the understory, were DOZENS of healthy, although shade-stunted white oaks of 2" or so caliper that are now free to grow to their potential. Sugar Maple and White Oak are both good for this. In fact, although Sugar Maple is only marginally native here (you really have to go about 20-40 miles to the north or west to see native trees in any real numbers), it has colonized the understory of most of the wooded areas around here. I noticed it last fall. At first I just assumed (this is normally in my car, driving down the road) that they were Norway maple. However, in fall, they're orange to red - so they're NOT Norways, the fall color is a dead giveaway. Sure enough, I went up close, and they're sugar maple, not Norway. If nothing else changes, they will be mature Sugar Maple forests in another 100 years.

Greenthumbz, those are gorgeous pics! I've heard that there are a couple of trees that are not native to North America but are used by significant numbers of native insects. 1) Malus/Crabapples - native, hybrid, or exotic, Douglas Tallamy's book stated that the leaf chemistry is so similar that North american insects will use all species. This certainly bears true in my experience. I've got lots of crabs, a few specimens and a crazy wild thicket full of them in back,and they are bird magnets, not just for the fruits in the fall but for the nectar and insects in spring and summer. 2) Picea abies/Norway spruce - don't have any personal experience, but was told this by an ornithology student at Cornell who was doing a study on the subject

Some sort of dogwood - Cornus drummondii, or Cornus racemosa, maybe. Cotinus obovatus is a native smoketree, but would get too big for your spot. Redbuds generally stay compact, and Cercis canadensis is definitely a local native. Bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) is probably not big enough for what you have in mine. I am guessing that there has to be some sort of Holly or Viburnum that would do well in that type of situation as well.