trees are dug up.. when leafless.. when they are dormant ... but i do not know the proper timing for SC .. its either late fall.. early winter.. or late winter.. lol.. that narrows it down.. also.. will you be there to keep them PROPERLY WATERED???? if not.. the timing is IMPERATIVE ... for best success ... with this tree .. you could probably have 3 foot bare root whips mailed to the location rather cheap.. and at the proper planting time ... rather than driving hundreds of miles.. digging them.. transporting them.. torturing them.. etc ... what a nightmare for something that can mysteriously appear at your front door ... see link as an e.g. good luck ken ps: do NOT buy poplars .. tulip poplar is not a poplar .. its actually: Liriodendron tulipifera though fast growing.. poplars ... are fast to disease ... and fast to dropping huge limbs.. and fast to die ... and.. fast in tree terms.. is a decade or two ... but why plant future cost or problems .... Here is a link that might be useful: not that i am rec'ing this seller .. just size to price example ...

You will see, if you read this entire thread, that there is no such thing as the PERFECT TREE (or plant either, for that matter). All have good points and bad. You need to do adequate research and then decide what you want and what you can live with. Of your list, I can speak to three from personal experience. A Natchez Crape Myrtle would be a nearly ideal size for your home and the amount of space that you have to give it. They, of course, bloom (white) in the summer, have nice fall color, and if pruned and trained properly are at their glorious best in their sculptural leaf-bare selves in the winter. Their bark looks like a giraffe's skin before it peels, and the trunks, as they get larger take on the look of human muscle. Your own organic sculpture. They grow fast (a five gallon plant can easily reach 15 or more feet in three years) and are very drought tolerant once established. On the down side, they require consistent pruning, especially in the first few years, but this is not extremely time consuming. Simply choose three or four (or whatever) trunks that you like and keep limbing them up until the lowest limbs are above your head level. Remove other trunks and suckers that inevitably come up around the base of the tree. If the higher limbs fail to branch at a good height, cut them off ONCE and then remove all but two or three branches that form at the cuts the following year. Do not EVER just amputate limbs, or worse, trunks, because someone tells you the tree will bloom better unless you just like the look of a tree that looks like an upside down witch's broom. Give it some fertilizer to make it bloom, and congratulate yourself all winter on the beautiful structure of your un-maimed tree. (Sorry. I just can't help myself. Crape murder is a personal pet peeve of mine.) Anyway, the other downside of Crape myrtles is the blooms can damage the paint on cars parked below them. On very hot days, the blooms just seem to become one with the paint. (Position the tree away from the driveway. End of problem.) And, they create a fair amount of bloom litter over concrete. Careful positioning can solve this, or just be willing to sweep. River Birches are beautiful, multi-season trees. Their peeling bark is a big plus, and the grace of the trees swaying in the breeze is one big reason they are so popular. They are fast growing, and in this case, they tend to be brittle because of it. Expect alot of limb drop in high winds or ice storms. Although most people think of them as small trees, at least some of them can surprise you and get to be quite large. Be sure you know what you are buying. Also, in very moist soil, they can become invasive. I have planted several Red Maples over the years and have a very hard time getting them to establish. This may be because of my incredibly tight clay. I don't know. Check around with folks in your area before plunking down your hard earned money. Most maples are notorious for having very...

Hi David, I might recommend a Chinaberry. We live 10 miles from the coast in southern NC. Some would consider the Chinaberry as an invasive species but as long as you have a frost each year and you are fastidious with weeding out the volunteers every spring, it is fine. We planted a 2 foot stick. It grew straight up with a "mop" of foliage on the top (very odd looking). At the second year it was a six foot stick with a mop. I topped it and it branched out. At five years, it is 20 feet tall with a 10 inch diameter trunk, providing excellent shade. Other pictures I've seen show it as a multi-trunk tree, but you could choose by trimming the suckers. http://www.tennesseewholesalenursery.com/chinaberry-tree/

Fruitless mulberry is listed non-toxic for horses - can be a great fast growing broad canopy shade tree. Biggest disadvantages are that can require quite a bit of pruning due to vigorous growth and the male flowers produce a lot of pollen in the spring; not so good in a small yard, but maybe not so bad for a riding arena. We had one in northern California, so will probably grow well in your area. They generally stay healthy 40 to 60 years in north Texas. Oh... also, they seem to be able to handle our Texas zone 8 100+ °F stretches without supplemental water once established, though will start to drop some leaves where not catching any lawn irrigation.