For the names of the maples you'd have to ask the nursery owner. But he may not know; so what you can also do is look at the growth habit of the tree and try to project out 20 years... and maples also lend themselves to pruning. If you want a high canopy, then all the branches you are looking at today will eventually be pruned off and a similar shape will be over your head. That is why to me the second maple/third picture looks more like what your property needs. But you could accommodate them both, or all three, if you manage them (once the other Bradford is gone, and honestly, it will likely be a lot cheaper to get rid of both at once - on the other hand, letting a new tree grow in for a few years first means you won't have to go through a moonscape phase). It actually looks like you might have a little new tree by the fence? Maples aren't always appreciative of being gardened under so if you want a flower bed I would be more inclined to remove your foundation hedge and corner pyramid evergreen, and make a nice garden there - those plantings weren't genius choices to start with and are getting past their best-before date. Removing that corner evergreen especially would open up your front door area nicely. Tree removal is always a good opportunity to rethink the whole property landscaping. If you do a plan view diagram and draw circles on it to represent the future canopies of your trees you may find it easier to think of options and placements. Consider sun direction and where you want shade. True you don't have a lot of room but there is scope for much better use of what you have. KarinL

Why are you making more work for yourself? Why do you need a terrace in the front of the house? Build a retaining wall on the end and plant with potentilla to give some color to a dark area then make a curved bed starting at the steps and going down the drive with low growing spreading junipers, plant bulbs in the fall and leave the spruce alone. Sometimes simplicity is the best answer to complexity.

Hello FB1- A white oak is very, very beautiful and must have acidic soil, from my understanding, so I am assuming that's what you have. Out here, you can only find them in East Texas (acidic). But the OP said his soil is alkaline. They can be successfully grafted onto a bur oak rootstock, and I'm considering getting one of these (probably the next tree I plant). My hunch is that your microclimate doesn't resemble the OP's at all. A black walnut gives off a toxin harmful to other plants and trees. This effect will likely be more pronounced in SLC. A tulip tree requires a ton of water in the heat and and will drop leaves in mid to late summer, when shade is needed most. A hackberry is very common here and plumb ugly. I hear that a lot. I think all native trees have their uses, but I personally wouldn't plant one in a front yard. A sycamore is a beautiful tree, but with a destructive root system. Any maple that is not native to an acidic soil is going to be shorter lived in an alkaline/droughty soil, and are known to have shallow and greedy roots. Many well established maples (that are not on the list I provided earlier) died recently in the drought of the last few years. here in Texas (10-20 percent, statewide). There is plenty of information on this forum, OP, why smaller is better. Interestingly, small seedlings of gingko (non-named cultivars) may turn out to be female, but aren't as slow as one might think, at least here in Dallas. It's a "must-have" tree, imo. It should be planted where shade isn't needed quickly. It would be real easy for me if I lived in SLC, given the information provided, what trees I would chose. The last thing to think about, and this might not be as important to you, is how responsible is it to plant a tree that wastes resources in the form of irrigation. Costs money, and is a lot more work than a tree that you can simply let go for the most part, and will thrive and be happy, healthy, non-destruvtive, long-lived, and BEAUTIFUL, as well. Never undertstood the fascination with most maples planted where they were never meant to grow. If you don't give them a lot of tlc in that type of environment, they're chlorotic and ugly, imo. All for a few weeks of fall color. You can tell a yankee down here, lol, by the type of maple in his front yard. Best, best wishes, OP, I've exhausted the subject or at least my experience/knowledge on droughty/hot/alkaline microclimates. M This post was edited by Mackel-in-DFW on Wed, May 14, 14 at 9:42

We have a locust in our yard. It is quite big and was here when we moved in. It suckers EVERYWHERE! I, who have always loved trees, am seriously thinking of having this annoying tree cut down. I hate to do it but this locust is one of the most invasive plants I've ever encountered. Sorry, just venting...