There are many possible choices. A browse of local nurseries would go a long way to indicating what's available, although no nursery has every possible option.

The list you posted is a good start. Are there other choices? Yep. Linden and elm, for example. Honeylocust. Katsura. Tulip tree. Horsechestnut. Sweet gum.

There's nothing wrong with choosing two. There's nothing wrong with planting one of each. One can bake a case for planting what's already common (known adaptability and sense of belonging) and one can make a case for planting different selections (diversity and why not). Or you can develop any planting scheme you choose.

I'd stay away from English Oak on your rural Niagara road...it gets powdery mildew and isn't generally as well adapted as the native oaks. Horsechestnut as well, tends to have pretty ratty looking leaves by mid to late summer and has been known to escape cultivation in southern Ontario. Yellow or Ohio Buckeye's would be a better choice. Sweetgum might be a bit tender in your area unless you buy 'Moraine'.

Where you are, the selection of native trees options is really good

For Oak, White, Bur, Chinquapin, and Red Oak would work well. Your clay on the top of the escarpment may not suit Pin, Northern Pin, or Black Oaks. If you can find Shumard Oak, that would be a good choice too.

For others, American Elm 'Valley Forge', American Sycamore, Tulip Tree should be easy to find at local nurseries.

If you went to St. Williams for trees, there are the Hickories (which aren't generally seen at mainstream nurseries.) and Black Walnut.

Honeylocust, Black Locust, Kentucky Coffee Tree are options too.

Thanks for the recommendations. It sounds like I have a lot of options. I've decided to choose only native species, so I'll stay away from the English Oak.

My next question is about spacing. The former trees were planted 17' apart, and there were 13 in total. It looked nice with 30-year-old ashes as the crowns had grown together, but is that too close for maples and oaks?

Besides spacing, are there other considerations I should keep in mind when planting multiple species in a row? Should I choose species that have similar growth rates, so that the fast growers don't crowd out the others?

Thanks for all the advice so far!

Another idea might be Northern Catalpa. It's a fast grower, with large lush leaves, and abundant orchid-like blooms in late spring. Hardy to zone 4.

In the midwestern U.S., catalpas are often seen around old farmsteads, where they were once a source of rot-resistant fenceposts.

Open-grown trees develop a picturesque gnarled look with age. The large leaves and bean-like seedoods can be messy for a small yard, but may be no problem for a country road.

As far as I am concerned, almost nothing beats a sugar maple.

A shame on the ash trees. Sugar maple will replace the fall color......I can't see road salt being big thing on a country road but our winters aren't what yours might be.

I also applaud your decision to go with multiple species as a lesson learned. The idiots who plan the Gateway Arch grounds here failed go learn it.

Not sure if they will be reliable in your area, but look at flowering dowgwood, eastern redbud, serviceberry, japanese maple, and kousa dogwood. As well as rhododendrons, azaleas, and euonymus alatus. For shade, sugar maple, white oak, and canadian hemlock. I know I suggested way more than trees, but, hopefully you will take them all into consideration.

Is road salt an issue there? Do you have overhead power lines? Both could limit your options.
Red oaks tend to be more vulnerable to oak wilt while gypsy moth
are a particular problem for white oak. Are either an issue where you are?

White Oak (Quercus alba ) is a better choice then English Oak. What about Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica )?"

Scarlet Oak, White Oak, and Northern Red Oak ted to have the best
fall color...but none are in the same league as Sugar Maple or Black
Gum. Northern Red transplants more Easily but White lives longer and resists disease.

I also like male American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) and Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera ).

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) and Black Walnut are good if you can handle the mess of the nuts.

I tend to prefer planting trees with very different life expediencies and growth rates...they don't look as neat in the short term, but in the long term the slower growing/long lived trees can be "understudies" for the faster growing trees (that usually are short lived). This also helps with spacing...the spacing that looks best in 5 years will be too crowded in 30. This strategy works best if you have space for two staggered rows. Stick something long lived and shade tolerant like sugar maple, Black Gum, shagbark hickory, or white oak in the back row, with something faster growing (like tulip tree, freeman maple or American persimmon) in the front. The back row trees will be there when the front row trees die off or the road is expanded.

Thanks edlincoln.

No overhead power lines. I'm not sure if road salt is an issue or not. Traffic is light, I'd say less than one car per hour. The previous trees were 25' back from the road and I was planning on keeping that distance.

Gypsy moth is an issue but it's been a while since our area has seen an outbreak. No oak wilt that I've seen.

I have the space for two staggered rows, but not the budget this year. Would it be unwise to mix fast and slow growing species in a single row?

Here's a picture of the site for reference. This was taken just after the ashes were cut down :-(

The warning signs that road salt is an issue would be White Pine and Sugar Maple along the street that look terrible, and a road that is really clear and easy to drive in the winter. Would be an argument against sugar maple (which hate salt) and for oaks and Freeman Maple.

Mixing slow and fast growing trees in the same road isn't a bad idea...it's a trade off. It looks less "neat" but you have less chance of losing everything all at once down the road like you did with the ash. It's a question of what your priorities are.

What faster growing trees had you been
considering? Most of the trees you've suggested in your initial post are
slowish, except for Freeman maple.

As for not having the budget to do two rows this year...you don't have to do it all at once. You can always put in an additional staggered row in a year or two.

Definitely looks like sugar maple should be one of the species. The
question is what you want to put in as the other species. White Oak or
Red Oak as the obvious safe other choice? Black Gum for a great Fall
show? Something unusual like shagbark hickory? American Persimmon and
Tulip Poplar for fast results?

Sounds like you have relatively few constraints. Few trees will really object to well drained clay. The problem with clay usually comes when it is badly draining or heavily compacted from construction.

Thanks again, edlincoln.

I don't think salt will be a problem, but I'd rather not risk it. That rules out Sugar Maple, though I do love them. There are many other sugars on the street, but they're quite old and most of them look to be in decline. I've noticed this with sugars in the forest as well. We've had two droughts since 2012 which I suspect has something to do with it.

The fast-growing species I'm considering are Freeman Maple (not sure what cultivar - Autumn Blaze?), Red Maple, and Tulip Poplar.

I'm in the rural niagara region also! In my township they don't use salt. They actually use sand instead. Not sure about your township though. I can recommend going to Earthgen on Canborough Rd in Wainfleet. They are very helpful on tree selection! I've gotten bur oaks from them and am planning on getting a couple trees a year from them in the future

https://www.earthgen.ca

Hi channytee! I actually went to Earthgen the week before last. They're great.

Update: Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Here's what I've decided on, based on preference and availability:

• Freeman maple
• Red oak
• White oak
• Tulip poplar (maybe)

I intend to plant them in the following arrangement:

Freeman Maple – White Oak – Red Oak

There are 13 spots total, so I'll repeat the above pattern, mirrored after the middle, beginning and ending in a Freeman Maple:

F - W - R - F - W - R - F - R - W - F - R - W - F

I might swap two of the Red Oaks with Tulip Poplar if they're available.

Does this sound reasonable?

Packagethief where are you looking at getting the tulip poplars from? My neighbour just got a huge one probably 25 feet or so and I love the way it looks. So was thinking of getting one myself. But definitely not looking at getting one that size and have no idea where to find one around here! Thanks.

I don't like the idea of patterning these trees together....... just seems like it would look like a forest after awhile, not to mention the amount of leaf and acorn cleanup from the oaks (maple and tulip poplar aren't too bad). Why not the freeman maples, along with something like gingko, and then some understory trees?

channytee: I think Earthgen has Tulip poplars. I'm going there today so I'll let you know. I've been working with Brayden from Phillips Tree Farm in Dunnville. He's got several native species on his farm and contacts at the local wholesale nurseries.

Logan L. Johnson: Thanks for the feedback. I don't mind it looking like a forest. I'd prefer that to a row of the same species, which looks a little too neat and uniform for my tastes. For me, the uniformity comes from the spacing, not the species.

edlincoln: Thanks for the sanity check. You've convinced me that I need to plant some Sugar Maples. I'm going to replace two of the Freemans with Sugars and see how they do. I realized this is the main reason I want to diversify, so I can experiment and see what does well without putting all my eggs in one basket.

Here's what the arrangement would look like:

S = Sugar Maple
F = Freeman Maple
R = Red Oak
W = White Oak

S - W - R - F - W - R - F - R - W - F - R - W - S

Pretty decent arrangement.

This is my suggestion, with the lowe case letters indicating the "back" row and "T" being "Tulip Polar. I'm trying to alternate the long and shorter lived trees so that the shorter lived ones fill out space in the short run , and when they die the white oaks and sugar maples can spread out and fill them

w - F - s - R - T - F - w - F -s - T - w -R - s - R

I agree with. you..a forest look isn't necessarily a bad thing.

IMO those trees just don't mix planted together, but to each his own.

Since with the exception of the Freeman maple, they are all native species that share a very common native range and could easily coexist together in a natural setting and often do, they most certainly DO mix well together!

You could do literally nothing and you would have an unruly forest in a matter of several years. Maybe I should've phrased it like "they don't mix together, aesthetically".

Says he who recommended Euonymus alatus...

This is a question of priorities. One species in a strait row forming an allée looks neater and is stunning but is a bit of a gamble...as you learned with the Ash. (A disease or pest could wipe them all out and they all die at once.)

Personally, the look I like is a "simulated old growth forest", skipping past the brushy phase, or an old neighborhood lined with grand old trees. That's a personal aesthetic decision.

When choosing, think strongly about this...

Trees with nuts and sticky balls and black staining pods will attract rodents (squirrels, rats, chipmunks, etc) and create a really messy road under your car and dangerous under your feet/bikes, etc. I ripped my entire shoulder slipping on a hickory nut. Just a warning.

I agree, edlincoln. "Neighborhood lined with grand old trees" is a good description of the aesthetic I'm going for.

I'm thankful for the old farmers that had to the foresight to line these roads a hundred years ago. Some planted endless rows of sugar maples, but others saw fit to diversify, mixing in red and white oaks, often alternating them with sugars. While the sugars are now showing their age and several have succumbed, the oaks are growing strong, providing a canopy over the road.

I'll be long gone before the trees I plant now reach such a stature, but I hope that one day they'll look as majestic.

channytee, I went to Earthgen yesterday and inquired about Tulip poplars. He has some growing, but they're not ready for sale yet. I'll let you know if I find some elsewhere.

St. Williams Nursery...5 gallon Tulip Trees @ $30 each. Minimum order is $250 (it's essentially a wholesale nursery). You could get everything from them?

https://stwilliamsnursery.com/

Thanks packagthief!! I appreciate it. I've heard of Phillips tree farm but haven't visited yet. That's good to know about the tulip poplars. I'll have to inquire on when they will be ready.