No - you will soon get a David and Goliath effect plus the vigorous and robust linden will go on to shade, deform and spoil the magnolia. Silver linden is genetically programmed to produce a towering landscape object, I have seen a planted one on the order of 112 ft. tall in my region (USDA 8 in the parts where most people live). If you do not have a suitably large lot for a tree of this scale you probably should just plant the magnolia there.

Uh oh...ok I need to look for a different spot for the linden tree. I’ll plant the magnolia near the patio. How far away from the house should I plant the linden tree?

It’s a 2-story house probably 1800 sqft on 1.3 acres. We had several large oaks and random shrubs in the middle of the backyard that we got rid of - because they were right in the middle and very crooked. Now I’m left with no shade and no privacy (I did plant arbovitaes along the fence to help with that and they are doing well). I fell in love with the linden trees’ fragrant blossoms so I brought it home. It’s only about 6’ right now but I do want to place it carefully since it’s supposed to get big. I don’t mind the house looking small. Just want to be careful not to place it too close to the house or the sewer pipe (cesspool).

What about putting it where the oaks were?

I wouldn't, we're talking about a quite large tree. Unless "off the corner" = some distance away. Picture a lot of that 50 ft.+ crown spread right over the roof.

And gutters.

Are yours covered? As soon as I get any leaves in my gutters each fall they block the downspout intakes.

Maybe look for a smaller growing kind of linden.

By the way the magnolia is called 'Butterflies'.

What is your location?

Silver linden is a slower growing shade tree in my zone. The one at the Morton Arboretum can't be more than 30 feet wide with decades upon decades in age.

How much space do you have between the panting location and your house?

Additional NE US records are one in PA 125 ft. tall with a trunk 19 ft. 6 in. around in 1980 and another in NY with a trunk 21 ft. 1 in. around by 1972.

Whaas - I’m in zone 7A Long Island NY. Lucky that you live near Morton Arboretum! The spot I was thinking about is 20ft away from the house, in the backyard. I am either going to return this tree or plant in the front yard in a large open area that gets a lot of sun - probably too much sun since the grass is burning. I’ve checked numerous websites where the size of this tree is listed anywhere from 30’ tall to 80’ tall - so I am not sure what this tree I have will turn out to be, but I think should be prepared for the possibility of it getting very big.

21 ft. around is a trunk approximately 7 ft. thick. This was measured in Eatons Neck, specifically.

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/tree-heights.pdf

Tilia Cordata is the species they make the tea from, so it is probably the most fragrant one. I found the cultivar of Tilia Cordata called 'Halka' aka 'Summer Sprite' that is supposedly only 20' high but I have no luck finding an adequatly priced small tree anywhere in the US. A couple of places sell huge trees for a few hundred bucks only.

Ron, posted an article above that makes many good points

There is great variability within print resources regarding mature tree height
• Production nursery tags most likely contain species performance information relevant to that
nursery’s geographic location
• Genetics, geography, climate, and plant competition will all influence the maximum height any
specimen will obtain
• To determine the most likely height range for a tree in your landscape, observe how that species
performs elsewhere in your location
• If no local landscape specimens exist for a particular plant, look to the internet for plant
performance information from similar climates elsewhere in the world.

T. tomentosa is one of the more drought tolerant lindens.

It could be 60 to 100 years before your tree reaches 40' in width. If it survives.
The one I planted is roughly 15 years old and is a mere 7' wide.

Trees are like races. They have a typical average height but rarely will you find a 7 footer. It makes no sense to plan on a tree reaching a particular size based on best case records.

The Morton is still quite the hike but I've been there quite a few times. Usually get my fix by going to the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

If the tree has nice form and good roots plant it!

Sometimes it grows short and sometimes it grows tall. With there being multiple records in the literature of examples over 100 ft. high in various locations, giving me the impression there is a genetic imperative to grow that big when the tree can - that this is its most characteristic or typical state. And with a 21 ft. stem circumference having been recorded in NY it shows the original poster is located in a region where large ones have been seen.

You have 1.3 acres. Don't listen to them You have more than enough room!

Trees in landscape settings register as accent points that produce another psychological effect called sphere of influence. A sphere of influence that is considerably wider than the tree's height. Overlapping of these spheres produces an appearance of trees being too close together. Except when such trees are part of a grove of one kind of tree, in which case the grove is seen as an individual landscape feature rather than each tree by itself.

Embothrium, does everyone equally experience the “psychological effect called sphere of influence?” Is it possible that someone might not experience this effect at all? It’s an intriguing concept. Landscape architecture?

Treetoronto, when you say your trees are huge, how big are they? Stunning is a garden look that I’ve found elusive; it would be great to see stunning.

Think about how large it is likely to get in your lifetime. Unless you have your property entailed to your heirs, who have a tradition of keeping things intact (think English landed gentry), you have no idea what will happen to your property after you die (or sell it). Whether a tree will reach an unwieldy sized in 100 years doesn't have to be part of your calculus. The next person may cut them all down willy-nilly.

Aborists and curators of public spaces or universities and such have a very different challenge and do have to consider ultimate size and time horizons past a single lifetime.

I would ignore the "record" sizes :-) Those happen so seldom in real life garden situations as to be a non-issue! Base your planting on the stated average/typical mature size that is revealed on most websites. Even those are unlikely to be achieved in your lifetime and as Sara noted, subsequent homeowners will make their own choices to keep or remove.

agree with GG and Sara...

BUT as a general warning, agree with Embo's comment. Americans DO tend to plant too many things that get big, either too close together, or too close to their house!

Jae SK, you should visit the Planting Fields Arboretum to see how big some 'specimen' trees can become on Long Island. And just to see one of the best collections of plants in the NYC area.

Public parks and most home landscapes look like they do because of a widespread inherent view that a comfortable setting for people is a pastoral one. That is one consisting primarily of trees and grass. This phenomenon has been called the Savannah Mentality and said to be rooted in our biological origins in parts of Africa were the landscape consists mostly of parasol acacias scattered around on plains of short grasses. Consistent with this the name Weeds, Trees & Turf chosen for a landscape maintenance trade publication recognized that these three were dominant elements in what operators were dealing with on job sites.

This ancient experience seems likely also have something to do with the recurring tendency to try and make diverse kinds of trees in garden settings have some kind of approximation of a parasol like crown. Including excessive stripping up of the trunks of conical conifers and hollies into "Calgary Palms" and other aberrations.

David, I see the opposite. Americans tend not to plant any woody trees now! 1/2 acre homes have 1 ornamental planted on the lot.

My father and law planted 10 trees on a 1/4 acre and the canopy of shade is very pleasant now. Sphere of influence doesn't come into play based on proximity and the surrounding environment

David, I see the opposite. Americans tend not to plant any woody trees
now! 1/2 acre homes have 1 ornamental planted on the lot.

I agree the trend may be changing. I suspect that, nowadays, people are often just too busy with "their lives" (i.e., facebook and other such nonsense) to spend as much time on gardening at all.

But historically and in older neighborhoods it is easier to find the too dense type of planting. Or things like leyland cypress used for 'screening' on small townhouse lots, etc.