Hi Holly, my neighbors have an autumn purple ash that is spectacularly beautiful. I'm not sure how much TLC it will need when it's little but if you can get it to grow it's very rewarding.
Steviewonder

How about a Bigtooth maple? (Acer grandidentatum)

Harlequin Gardens says, "One of the natives, Big Tooth Maple, Acer grandidentatum is a beautiful tree for Colorado. It is not well known, perhaps because it does not establish well in Ball and Burlap, and few nurseries are growing it in containers or in root-control bags. It is native to thin and rocky soils, but would not be a good choice for an exposed, very dry site. However if it gets some water and some protection from all day sun, especially from late afternoon sun, it can be very successful. It can take dry summers, heat and alkaline soils, growing usually to 25�35â². Its orange-red fall color is outstanding."

Here's the link to the CSU extension info on the bigtooth maple: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Trees/wasatch.htm

It might be worth a try. There are a couple of other maples that might work, but all have potential Issues.

If you wander around the CSU extension stuff on trees, you'll find other interesting possibilities, too.

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Trees/seasons.htm for trees with multi-season interest. (And if you find a place around here that sells the paperbark maple, Acer griseum, please let me know!)

The Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) is another tree that might do well for you if you aren't in the mood for a maple.

The Autumn Purple ash (Fraxinus americana) is recommended as a good street tree for Colorado, which means it is pretty tough and self-reliant once established.

The Autumn Purple Ash might be a good choice, but it is disease prone plus gets a lot bigger than I want. I actually did look into the big tooth maple, I had read about it on the Harlequin site - it seemed perfect until you get to the part about it needing protection from all day sun, especially afternoon sun. As I put in my original post, the site is in full sun with Western exposure. :-(

The paper bark maple is a very nice tree, but it likes mildly acidic soil from what I have read, and that is definitely not something I have in my yard, unlikely to find that anywhere in Colorado. Having already had a tree that doesn't like alkaline soil, I am not going to try another one. However, CSU does mention that it does well in heavy clay soils. hmmmm Not sure there would be a source for the tree here in Colorado, but mail order is a possibility, though the tree would be pretty small. (At least for me to be able to afford it. lol )

The hornbeam sounds pretty interesting, I think I will look further into that one - probably another one that would have to be mail ordered. Forest Farm sells it...

Thank you for your suggestions!

Holly

Holly,

I'm sorry to hear about your oak. I planted a Quercus coccinea, Scarlet oak from forestfarm a month ago. It's got red fall color and takes some alkaline, although it prefers 6.5 or lower ph. It gets to 90', but I doubt it will here. It's too early for me to say how it'll do as it's just leafing out now. It's probably too big for the space. The Bigtooth maple got an A on the tree recommendation list Dan posted a while back and not many trees get an A rating. I don't think most other maples would work, because of roots lifting pavement and you'd not be able to get much to grow under them.

Most of the trees that do well here do seem to have yellow fall color. With the exposure I want to say Linden, Catalpa or Honeylocust, but all are yellow. Hornbeams seem to need a more protected site.

How about a Cornelian cherry, Ginko or Hawthorn?

I love Canadian chokecherry, but they are disease prone, are weak wooded and sucker. They would by smaller and new growth changes from green to burgundy.

I'll be back when I think of something else.

A project, yay!

Barb

Hi Barb, thank you for your response. Where did you read that the Hornbeam needed a protected site? Protected from sun, or wind, or....?

I have a Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) in my backyard and do like it; I will think about it for the front yard as well. A Ginko is also a good possibility.I already have a Hawthorn in my front yard - I really like this tree and it seems to do quite well here. I think the Linden and Honeylocust would get too big. The Catalpa would definitely get too big - and it is the messiest tree I have ever had to deal with. (I have one in my back yard, it was here when I moved in, certainly not something I would have chosen to plant, but its way too big for me to be able to afford to have it removed.)

Perhaps I should be looking for an interesting shrub instead of a tree. Or I might just plant a group of dwarf conifers....

It is fun to see everyone's suggestions! Much appreciated.

Holly

I have Autumn Blaze Maples that are the healthiest trees in my clay yard.

They do get quite large.

I also have purple ash, but I'm not sure it's the kind noted above.

My trees were about 2"-2.5" in diameter when planted 10 years ago. I fed them annually in the spring and deep root watered monthly.

The lindens planted in clay in my neighborhood (HOA demanded on a certain street) are struggling miserably, expect the house that over waters. Their linden is beautiful.

Before the HOA could catch on, I planted some silver maples on the street that was designated for lindens. Big mistake. These trees get damaged every year from spring or fall snow.

And these silver maples are experiencing tremendous root heave. The autumn blaze maples have a bit of root heave, but not like the silvers.

A negative experience this year with the autumn blaze maples was the seed dispersal. It was IN SANE. My trees (4 of them) looked like they hadn't lost their leaves - there were so many seeds.

Have you thought of the Serviceberry? Though I had heard of them, I had never seen one prior to moving into my new neighborhood. My neighbor has 2 of them in his front yard and they are beautiful. I ended up getting a multi-stemmed one which IMO gives it just that much more interest. It's only 2 years old and seems to be doing great.

I don't know if other serviceberries have the great fall color but we ended up selecting the Autumn Brilliance (easy to find too). I included a link with pics (no affiliation with the Tree Farm but they have nice pics). Lots of info on how easy it is to grow here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry.

I have a Paperbark Maple that I planted 3 years ago in alkaline clay and it's doing well. The Colorado state champion is only about 8 blocks away and is also obviously doing well, so the trees can definitely grow in Colorado. However, both mine and the state champion receive protection from mid-day sun which I think is necessary to prevent burning of the leaves. Even with the projection, my tree stops growing in the heat of summer and puts on most of it's growth in the spring and early fall.

BTW, I got mine at The Tree Farm in Longmont. They don't currently stock it, but I would ask to see if they can bring some in.

It's a beautiful tree!

I just planted a Gingko a few weeks ago and so far so good. I did read that they also require some sun protection so may not be good for a western exposure.

Bart

Holly,

This is the site I checked out. It lists a couple of Hornbeam cultivars and has "needs protected site" in the comments. I don't have any experience with the species.

http://www.coloradonga.org/sites/default/files/tanya/Tree Recommendation List.pdf

After pasting it, there are characters that weren't there before. Thank you GW! I've deleted them and hope copy/paste works.

Barb

Thank you for that link, Barb. I actually have had it bookmarked for a while, don't know why I didn't refer to it before now.

So, the hornbeam needs a protected site and, much to my sorrow, I see that the soil chemistry for the Autumn Brilliance cultivar of Serviceberry is listed as a critical factor: "prefers acid soil, develops chlorosis in alkaline soils...." Apparently you have lucked out with a spot for your tree that does not have alkaline soil, aloha2009, but my garden definitely has alkaline soil. :-( Although the native Serviceberries don't have a problem with alkaline soil, they do sucker and I am not sure I want to deal with that - I have a white poplar (no, I didn't plant it, either, another trash tree in my yard that is way too big to remove!) that suckers all over the place - what a pain. The Autumn Brilliance suckers too, but has better fall colour and doesn't sucker as much as other cultivars - figures that it would be the ideal tree except for its need for acidic soils.

Back to the drawing board....

Holly

What about the Hawthorne family.

"Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) - The Washington Hawthorn (sometimes spelled Hawthorne) produces white flowers late in the spring. Its leaves, which emerge reddish-purple before turning dark green, turn a brilliant shade of orange, red, or purple in the fall. It also produces a bright red fruit that attract a variety of wildlife and stay on the tree into the winter. Washington Hawthorns will grow about 25 to 30 feet high, with a 20 to 25 foot spread. They should be planted in a full sun exposure. It does not require much water and has a high tolerance to salt and alkali soils. They grow best in zones 4 through 8"

Unless you want the tree for climbing, I think the beauty of this tree makes up for the thorns. Check out the beautiful almost year round color! I planted one of these by my backyard patio. I linked the Washington because they had a load of pics. All the Hawthornes seem great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Washington Hawthorne

Hi aloha2009 - As I mentioned in one of my posts above I already have a hawthorn growing in my front yard, though I am not sure of the cultivar. I really like it but don't want to plant another one in the same area. I am beginning to think that a conifer would make sense - I realize that a dwarf conifer never stops growing, but at least it will grow slowly and it will be a long time before it needs to be removed having outgrown its spot.

Holly

I had to replace my 9 year old Autumn Purple Ash last year when it fell victim to our odd fall weather (cold, warm, cold). I got a Tatarian Maple and I absolutely love it. Something for every season. Little white flowers in the spring, bright red "helicopters" in the summer and red coloring in the fall. I also have alkaline clay and besides the maple I have a Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry and a Princess Kay Plum which are both doing fine. Of the three, I like the maple best though.

Holly,

I completely forgot about the Malus group, crabapple. There are so many cultivars now, fruitless, too.

Not that I'm enabling or anything, but I have a couple of spare Abies concolor, Abies lasiocarpa arizonica, Austrian Black and Pinon seedlings (I potted them this time) if you want to start a little rock conifer garden. ;0)

Barb

windwhipped - sorry you lost your Autumn Purple Ash. After 20+ years I am going to be pretty sad to take the saw to my Northern Red Oak, but it is time... :( I will look into the Tartarian maple. (I had an Amur Maple here, called Little Elf (a dwarf cultivar) that is supposed to do well here but finally removed it last year - yep, chlorosis again. My soil must be exceptionally alkaline - this one was in my back yard...) And you, too, are having good luck with the Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry. Sigh.

I will look into the Malus, too, Barb, though, to me they only have one season of interest, when they are in bloom. Kind of like lilacs...Thank you for for your generous offer; nothing wrong with enabling or being enabled. lol I think I need a bigger tree, though, for instant gratification, since I am removing a tree that is probably 20 feet or more high. Not that I can afford to put in anything very big, but something a bit bigger than a seedling (or a group of them) would be good. Otherwise, the Iris will tower over them. :-D

Holly

We have some Prairie Fire Crabapple trees (ours our multistem but they grow as single stems as well) lining our driveway that I think are interesting year round. They flower (pink) in the spring, have maroon foliage with some green (their foliage sort of reminds me of the foliage of Crimson Pygmy Barberries, Red Knock Out Roses, and Husker Red Penstemon), and it gets gorgeous fall color, a mix of orangy-red. I think they have an interesting shape through the winter, but of course it depends on what shape you're looking for in the area you're looking to landscape. I also like Malus Louisa for their interesting shape.

I just planted 3 Lamarkii Serviceberries, so don't have a lot of experience with them yet, but they are supposed to do better in alkaline soil vs. the Autumn Brilliance and other cultivars that are more common. I love the foliage of Serviceberry trees, and of course their berries and fall color.

I know you said you already have a Hawthorn, but like Aloha, I would highly recommend the Washington Hawthorn if you don't already have one of those (and even if you do). We planted 3 of them in our front yard :) It sounds like you're not crazy about Hawthorns in general though.

Of course conifers do well in our soil if you think one would work where your oak is now. If you can get a copy of Plant Driven Design (by Lauren Spring Ogden and Scott Ogden) at your local library, you might want to check it out. I'm pretty sure they have a list of plants (including trees) that do well in alkaline soil.

Good luck with your choice!

Autumn Blaze Maples are abundant and thriving here. We have alkaline soils and wild weather. This is at 7k ft in elevation (Flagstaff).

Your crabapples sound really nice, almondstriations; I agree that multi-stem trees are often more interesting in shape. I actually really do like my Hawthorn. Though I am not sure of the cultivar name, I believe it is a Crimson Cloud - it has red flowers with white centers, lovely in bloom, nice foliage, with interesting, almost contorted branches. It is resistant to many of the diseases that plague hawthorns and it doesn't have thorns. I like it very much as a specimen tree; I seem to prefer having specimen trees as opposed to groups of the same tree.

The Autumn Blaze maple gets way too big, though maybe it wouldn't get as large here. I am also leery of planting anything that has the silver maple in its parentage - I already deal with the fast growing and therefore weak-limbed/brittle white poplar so really don't want to experience this with another tree. Thank you for the suggestion though, marktrot1, and I am glad that you are enjoying it in your garden and that it grows well for you

I went last week to pick up a Tartarian Maple as it seemed like just the thing, but the nursery I went to only had a larger sized tree, really too big for me to plant as well as costing more than I wanted to pay.

Instead, I came home with a Picea pungens 'Sesters Dwarf' to plant where the oak tree was, as well as a Picea omorika 'Minima' and a Berbiris thunbergii 'Golden Torch' to plant elsewhere in my front yard. All slow growing, dwarf plants, nothing like the oak I planted, no red fall colour (I think the barberry is supposed to get pinkish in the fall, lol) but I love conifers, which have year round interest (IMHO,) and the lovely golden color of the barberry was very appealing to me. All three plants will fit well into my small front yard. Hopefully they will survive and be happy here....

Thanks again to everyone who has made suggestions. I have an area in my back yard which might be perfect for some of the trees mentioned; they will have plenty of room to grow there, too.

Holly

Score, Holly!

You did great! You have perfect weather for planting with the rain and long weekend coming. Or not, if the oak is still there.

Now that I look at the calendar, it's getting late in the season for planting conifers. I'm repotting what hasn't been planted at this point to hold over till fall. 2 days of 90's already this month has me thinking it's going to be a long, hot summer!

Good luck with the new babies. You made excellent choices!

Barb

Thank you for the encouragement, Barb. I cut the oak down last Wednesday so the area was ready. I planted the 'Sesters Dwarf' last Friday before the rain started, and planted the 'Minima' and barberry yesterday. It was nice to get a good rain after each of these plantings and hopefully that will help them to survive.

It is a bit late to be planting conifers but I think they'll be OK. Other than some annuals for my container gardens, I won't be planting anything more this year - unless I can't resist and just have to plant something in the fall. :-p

Holly

I know they're in good hands. I don't envy you taking down that tree. It's hard work and sad 'cause you lost one. But the new planting opportunity helps.