when i was first learning ... there was no WWWeb ... i left everything for my MI winter ... and then in spring ... cut back to live tissue ... which was usually below snow cover ... it was the only way to insure that the catch 22 you mention ... how would i know.. i wasnt cutting off the only part that might live ... and 30 years later ... i still use that system ... i do not keep a retentive garden .. i revel in what a plant looks like dormant.. and in winter.. else i would just have a flat garden to look at all winter ... and half the time.. i never make it out there in spring to clean it all up ... what lives.. lives.. what doesnt doesnt.. and i dont really worry about it ... if it wants to die ... so be it... i didnt want it anyway .. lol .. yes.. you can spend hundreds of hours.. researching every know plant by name ... and cutting them all down ... but for me.. gardening is about turning off the technology.. and intuiting it all .. and enjoying being out in mother nature ... not going blind reading up on the computer ... buying zone appropriate plants.. and relying on ma nature to provide said zone.. is about all i do ... and though i may think about things all winter long... i dont worry about it all ... and it only took me 20 years to get to that point.. lol ... what one might call.. zen gardening .. [she really screwed with us last winter.. and sent us a z4 winter .. in my z5 ... lots and lots of damage.. oh well .. what can you do.. would worry have made a difference????] good luck ken

The short answer is that you will have to fence anything you plant. I lived in the mid-Hudson Valley for several years and understand the deer problem you face - it's miserable. If you want a tree, choose the tree you like and put a five-foot fence around it to protect it until it's no longer vulnerable. Consider a magnolia - 'Elizabeth' and the other Brooklyn Botanical cultivars are beautiful, very hardy and bloom late so the flower buds don't get frosted. Deer don't particularly love them. Serviceberry is an excellent choice and, once the tree is of a reasonable size, won't be terribly vulnerable to deer. You see them everywhere in the mid-Hudson. Flowering crab is another possibility. Choose one that's got good resistance to fireblight and rust - there are a number of them. Birds will enjoy the fruit; deer will leave the tree alone once it's no longer a baby.

forget the tree idea if you are that close to the neighbors .... 4 4 x 4 treated posts ... some 'two by' stock .... width depending on span ... and some shade cloth .... and clips .. check out amleo.com ... shade cloth comes in a variety of light blocking thicknesses ... depending on how deep you want the shade to be .... trust me.. you will never need to prune it.. lol .... pic below of what i had to build for my red headed white skinned boy .... on 100 degree day ... it feels like 80 under it.. not only will your shade plants be happy .. it would be a nice place for a couple lawn chairs and a cooler full of adult beverages.. but i digress ... this one has 4 x 6 posts.. because the span is 17 feet .... i doubt you would need the interior structure on a smaller version .... you need to talk with a carpenter... engineer or the lumber store guys for span suggestions if you are going to build it large ... good luck ken

Living in Wisconsin I do adore so many different trees. But my Mom had a gorgeous flowering mini crab apple tree that in spring would smell so wonderful, like almost a musky Hibiscus type scent that would last about 4 weeks. The fruit on this tree was about as small as a pea and was very abundant as the tree itself in bloom would look like one big huge flower on it's own. But most of the pea sized apples that would never have any issues with scabbing or insects would stay on the tree through the winter that would be a #1 staple of the bird life that never flew south for the winter time as my Mom would also have bird houses and Cardinals would stay along with Red Winged Black Birds and others. When the trees were flowering they would attract so many butterflies, humming birds and honey bees, that the next door neighbor would surly get his fill from, and even offer up honey to my Mom, otherwise he wouldn't have had so much honey and bees wax to sell at the farmers market. But unfortunately in 2012, my Mom's condo association voted on removing her wonderful bird and furry ground fellows tree (Yes! Also the squirrels of at least 3 to 5 different kinds would take advantage of all of the tiny apples that had fell to ground, along with chipmunks and some other furry ground animals, so I never did see what the big deal was. They had said that tree had made a mess. Well I beg to differ, and the closing vote was neighbor that actually got kicked out by the banks foreclosure no more than 4 months later. Now my 2nd favorite tree would be the lilac tree, not the bush but the actual tree. I remember when I had one right outside my bedroom window and the scent of lilacs would come in through out the lilac season, and my Dad had planted them to flower 2 weeks apart from each other, so I had that scent in my bedroom going for a good 4-6 weeks long at least! Now Wisconsin has a law in place that no one is allowed and will be fined if they are to plant any sort of troublesome tree. One big one being the darn Cotton Wood Tree. And for those that have them on their land that are in neighborhoods that clog up gutters and fly over to parks in which the fire departments HAVE to do a controlled burn to keep them from growing out of control every single year. This junk get into your air filters and in your cars, garages, homes and all over the place. I really hate these trees, and I just don't understand why people would take advantage of free removal by the city, especially if they have a fire place, free wood to burn for them for the winter time. And now these trees are huge! It's just unreal what you pull out of your gutters every year. Even though we want to enjoy our spring times and not have our usual floods as that is what usually happens here, but when you have Cotton Wood trees, you almost beg for rain every day so these seeds will only drop on the owners home and not yours when floating through the air and causing allergies with watery eyes, sneezing and being all stuffed up from just trying to enjoy the outside, which is impossible when you have a cantankerous neighbor that just won't take down that damn tree, even though it almost looks like it's 1/2 way dead anyway. Maybe some day it will get hit by lightning, and then he will have to use his home owners insurance to fix what ever damage it has caused and Karma will win in end. Just because he didn't do right by others. I know if I bought property, I would surely call the city and have them come and take it down as soon as they were able. And one more tree I don't care for all that much for at all either, is the Maple tree and for some reason, the seeds or what some people call whirly birds or helicopters I think they are a real pain in ars and for some reason the are falling off all year long and are green and slimy. Leaving the steps and landings all stained with this slimy mess so you can't even sit down and dry your hair naturally in the nice weather. And sometimes they even drop in clumps but when they do that they are too heave and drop onto the lawn, or what ever is left of it, when it rains it's a muddy mess on that side. I am doing my best to get the heck out of here, but I have some issues I need take care of right away! Heath issues that are stopping me from doing the simplest tasks. I never thought I'd need to be calling the HDRC for help like this. But I need to get out of here. Plus I just got a letter from my land lord that my rent is going up (only by $5.00) but still, I've been here for 14 years now. And I have been so unhappy and haven't had a single update done since I move in here. Sorry for over sharing, but she knows she has me over a barrel here, I have 3 auto immune disorders and many other medical issues that she used to be very empathetic to and I don't know what's happened to her now. She just no longer cares anymore at all! Now my Thyroid is effecting me. I knew years ago they found a nodule on my thyroid, but I went to a specialist and he said it's very common. My Dr. then always kept up with the testing. He now moved and I'm left with this flippent woman of a GP that is only in it for the money. Need to get rid of her now, and see if I can get a blood test tomorrow while I'm at the hospital anyway with 2 appts. back to back. I did feel so sorry for my Mom, she not only had a shade tree that she loved watching her birds every morning, but it was also a tree that gave her some privacy from her kitchen window and I think that was totally unfair for them to just take that away from her. She loves wildlife and birds, and loved waking up to it, watching and hearing the Cardinals and seeing all of the beautiful butterflies and other germinating creatures. Even the honey bees seemed very docile and as if they were trained to be non violent and just be busy worker bees along with all of the humming birds of every color of the rainbow that would stay still just long enough to make out their colors, I even saw a turquoise one, my favorite color. I went on google maps and they really need to update their pictures. That tree is still there on Google maps. I couldn't believe that when I saw that. Oh well, It's been awhile and they must have taken that picture right before they took that tree down. All I see is people raving about how much the love those trees and how glad they are they chose them. Mom moved in when that tree was a bit young yet. I wish I could turn back time, and announce her neighbors were being kicked out by the bank. That would have changed things a lot back then. They wouldn't have had a voice or a leg to stand on. And I believe the bank would have said "Keep that tree!" It only adds to the curb appeal and beauty for the next buyers. Oh well, to late now, Thanks for taking the time to read this. And God Bless to all those that have or have chosen the Mini Crab Apple Trees, you know what I'm talking about!