Well, there is so much variety with that species, some of them are bushlike and some of them are small yet naturally "limbed up." They can have colorful flowers and seeds, leaves and interesting bark, depending on the variety. But not always easy to find the variety in typical nurseries. And then if you want to order online, what to order, what will thrive. Anyway, that's what I went through. Unfortunately my yard in the back where I have room for the maples is really hot and sunny, so only the most hardy varieties for me, but if I had a more hospitible spot I (one that would support pagoda dogwood, for example), I would definately explore the maple option. Here's a link to the nursery where I bought mine. They were recommended to me by someone on the JM forum. I have only ordered the one tree from them that I have, and it has done spectacularly well. And I was so skeptical that the stick that came in the mail in the fall would even live. The nursery is Herter's Nursery I think in VA? Anyway, below is a link to their Web site My own fireflow or something like that maple has grown by leaps and bounds. It's easily four times the size it was when I got it. It grew a whole lot in the first year, so don't be discouraged by the small size of the saplings. Small saplings tend to establish themselves better right off the bat at a site. They look small at first but make up for the size difference with quick growth and overall health. At least that has been my experience. Sorry I can't post a picture, my photo site is down. I just got a new camera so am looking forward to posting "before" and "after" shots of my maple. Here is a link that might be useful: Herter's Nursery Japanese maples

Great suggestions! The mobile home park I live in is tiered like a three layer cake, and I am on the top level. Each level has a split rail fence at the end of the backyard, and each level also has tree plantings along the rail. My level alternates white pine with Bradford pear, and the Bradfords haven't taken the winds well. A few have died, but that did provide me with more light in my back yard. Not the owner's best choice. I like both the Paperbark Maple and Corylus suggestions - I found a pic at Dave's Gardens of a 20 yr old Harry Lauder's trained into a tree form, and it looked spectacular! Slow growth, catkins, and I've always loved the twisted form - this one may be the winner. I can't believe I never realized it had catkins. Seeing it trained into tree form changed my opinion of it's high cost, it really is a show stopper when not left as an unruly shrub. I've been reading about the filbert blight - trying to find a silver lining I can say that woodworking is a new hobby and if the thing should die from blight some day, I could easily use the contorted wood in projects - lol. Thanks for the great tips, I knew this was the place to come to : ) Now I'll have to start saving my pennies because I think the Harry Lauder's is the winner...

Dwarf conifers are a possibility - there are scads of varieties and many will never exceed 15' in a lifetime. Since they are evergreen, they look as good in winter as in summer, but they don't flower and they don't grow fast. Evergreen flowering shrubs are limited for your hardiness zone but you could look at rhododendrons or pieris. Some varieties are more sun tolerant than others but again, none growth particularly fast. There are any number of deciduous flowering shrubs that could work for you - lilac, forsythia, smokebush, rose of Sharon, chionanthus. These tend to grow more rapidly than either conifers or broadleaved evergreen shrubs but they are pretty much uniformly naked in winter :-) It is hard to find any flowering trees that wil remain below 15'....and even these generally tend to have naked trunks or seldom branch to the ground. Personally, I would opt to create a larger planting bed somewhere along the street side that is appropriate to your screening requirements. And I'd use a mix of plants - something tall and full to provide screening, something that provides seasonal bloom color and something to give evergreen/winter attraction. I know not everyone thinks this way but a tree (or two) or even a large shrub plunked down in the middle of the lawn looks to me extremely awkward and disconnected. Even less appropriate with a small garden such as yours - it comes across as a bit of an after thought instead of a planned landscape. I would much prefer to see a well thought out planting bed with maybe a larger tree to anchor it and smaller shrubs as an accompaniment.

Ornamental grass could work for the full sun area except for the short time after you trim it back. There"s a pic of my ornamental grass posted on a recent thread..one of mine I think. I posted it for Tree. Pots are problematic for me...I am never obsessive enough with the watering.