I was just thinking how nice a large local Ginkgo in southwestern KY would look in the center of that yard, but they're not fast growing. If Ken were here, I think he'd warn you large maple trees have dense, fibrous shallow root systems and it's often not practical to garden under them (e.g.: hostas), if that's your thing. That can be a hassle with most any tree, I suppose, but especially the large maples (e.g.: red maple). An oak tree would offer some options. I recently planted a Blackgum tree near our house, as something to tolerate a wet area and be perhaps big but not huge, strong-wooded since near a house, and while not rare, a bit unusual and with nice fall color (some cultivars have reddish new foliage and are preferred over regular species for this reason). If you want tall, one of the better regarded fast-growing trees, with a somewhat pyramidal form (if memory serves, at least young) and deciduous/broadleaf, a Tulip Poplar (a.k.a. Yellow Poplar) could fill the bill. There's a variegated cultivar available; I saw some recently - think yellow margins around a green center, if memory serves. If you want something to compliment the river birch, perhaps you could squeeze in a paperbark maple tree somewhere. If you could heavily customize your tree, how tall would it get, how wide would the canopy spread be, do you like broadleaf (e.g.: maple, oak) vs. needles (e.g.: pine) or something else, and how dense would the shade be? Richard.

"Unfortunately the last batch of storms gave my monster 100+ year-old pin oak tree a beating, causing it to lean unsafely towards my neighbor's house." Are such windstorms fairly common? I'm think if you often get winds strong enough to hammer a big oak, then you should NOT get a weak wooded tree (e.g.: true Poplars like Cottonwood, or a Silver Maple). In fact, another oak of some sort (likely the red oak group) might be a good balance between size, growth rate and strength of wood. Pin oak are famous for sending limbs down too low for yards. I wonder how a Shumard oak would do in your area? Are acorns unacceptable to you? Richard.

If you want a weeping willow, I would recommend the golden weeping willow. I am sorry, but I am confused about the names of some of the weeping willows. I have seen golden weeping willows called Salix alba "tristis" or Salix albs ""Niobe," and "Salix sepulcralis chrysocoma." I am sure I have seen one or two other names for it. One source suggests there are more than one cultivar involved, another says it is just name confusion--I don't know. But don't let the confusion about the names of this tree confuse you. The one I am recommending has golden color winter twigs, golden color catkin bloom in spring, and if the weather is half-way favorable, wonderful long-lasting gold leaf color in the fall. It is very fast growing and gets quite large. The popular Babylon weeping willow can have some bad dieback in Z6 or 7 during a cold winter. It has greenish twigs. In the south where it is not damaged by cold, it is a fine tree. As for soil and moisture--if you have a good soil that is not too sandy, your willow will do fine. I planted two from a cuttings 5 years ago out in a field that used to be an apple orchard--nothing about the site suggests that it is any more moist than any average site. The largest is now about 20 feet tall and 5" in diameter--the other is almost as large. If you have a willow growing that you really like that has golden twigs and can get some good strong cuttings from fairly high up, come back here and ask me for instructions. --Spruce

Thank you for these many kind thoughts. I do love the Chamaecypari nootkatensis pendula -- we put one in the front of our house -- but thought the cost of a bunch of these would be prohibitive. On the other hand, no solution will be inexpensive and at least the one we put in under similar conditions seems happy. The one hemlock I have planted has been attacked by the adelgid already, despite dormant oil sprays. Has anyone had experience with the adelgid-eating beetle, and doesn't that seem like a risky intervention? Easy to imagine bamboo escaping my control and then we'll be living on something like the set of Apocalypse Now. American holly is great, but have already had some leaf miner adventures with our two. Granted that was dealt with pretty easily. Some Thuja nigra in the front are doing well, in full sun. A mix of the trees you all have mentioned would be best, but have trouble visualizing a good "rhythm" of alternating species -- threes and fives? Some pointy, some pendula? Some colors especially successful when juxtaposed? If a particularly nice combination comes to mind that you have seen, please mention it. Grateful for your good thoughts and suggestions. Lynn