I vote for the Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac. The smaller mature tree size will fit your cottage just fine and the fragrance is lilac kind wonderful.

Thank you Christopher C Nc! I was thinking the same about the fragrance and size. Do you think one or two?

I think one would be fine with the three other trees you have. I'd have to know what the view is looking out the front windows before being positive about that.

Thanks Christopher! The view across the street is residential. I see my neighbors' homes.

A moment ago, I thought someone had posted an idea. They noted the lilac could look "weedy". Perhaps you deleted your post, but I appreciated your thoughts! I wondered if it could appear floppy and not as structured as a tree. You suggested the coffee would be really pretty in the winter and would be structured, but airy and a compliment to the house. It's funny, because be fore I knew that tree had pods, my gut felt like that could be a good fit. But...the pods falling in the yard scare me a bit....could be messy.

That was a thoughtful comment. Shame it disappeared.

Plant a big tree

Smell an example of the lilac in flower before deciding you want one there - Japanese lilac smells like privet rather than common lilac.

With the small size of the current plantings your house actually looks like it is under attack from the bigger buildings flanking it. A large tree out in the center of the lawn might actually help integrate your house into its surroundings, provide something on your property that was in scale with the other architecture.

And tie it in with the existing trees behind.

Of course, at this point it will take decades for a newly planted, large-growing tree to size up. Nevertheless...

I couldn't agree more with these last comments. You're very lucky to be offered Kentucky Coffee Tree, but Linden is also a lovely tree.

It's a curious list, combining as it does some potential giants with a quite modest grower.

Lindens are lovely but, here at least, they are notorious for dripping honeydew from aphids and consequently getting sooty mould.

I have an Ivory Silk lilac - it’s a slow grower but is definitely “tree shaped” and not shrubby. Have fun choosing!

Maples are always lovely! ;) Red maples grow relatively quickly. Keep in mind that the species on the list is a cultivar of native red maple; it is NOT the type that has red leaves in the summer, but it will have a beautiful fall display. The leaves create more mess than the keys do, if that helps.

Agree with other posters that the Ivory Silk Lilac is lovely, very showy when it blooms, and most definitely a tree (albeit a smaller one than, say, the planetree).

Kentucky Coffeetree is a threatened species in some jurisdictions, meaning you cannot build within a certain distance of them - plant with caution. They are dioecious (male and female trees), so if you plant a male you won't get the messy pods.

I love hackberries and don't think they are particularly messy. The berries are small and hard (but tasty), loved by birds, but can act a little like marbles or ball bearings if they land on walkways or driveways.

Don't confuse Jap. lilac with common lilac. The former is definitely a tree, highly regarded and not weedy or "shrubby" looking, though on the smaller side of most others listed.

usually you can not plant in the exact spot.. because you probably.. wont be able to dig a hole .. though they ground the surface of the stump ... most likely.. they did not grind deep enough.. to get rid of the root mass lower ...

also.. in tree time.. the decades it will take for the old roots to rot.. you might have a hard time watering... as the decomposition process might rob available water ...

again.. in tree time ... a large tree.. might create a lot of shade ... and impact your established plantings ... that which is there. is now in full sun ... as a large tree grows.. this stuff might start to go down hill as shade increase ... again.. decades down the line ..

maples can also be shallow rooted ... and a bad competitor for water ... and make some shade plants hard to grow under them ... e.g. hosta ... so you are in a sort of catch 22 ... as the shade grows.. you have to have some thing to grow under the tree and in the shade ... but you have to make the tree decision now .... if it were me... i might forego the free tree and invest in a great tree... and i favor oak ... sometimes free.. isnt the best deal .... and really dont grow as slow as their reputation suggests ....

also....... a tree to your west.. will shade the house.. in the heat of the day.. and might save you a lot of money in A/C ...

imo.. all trees demand maintenance .... you are not going to find a tree that wont require some level of such .... but if you can stay away from heavy seeders.. all the better ...

below is a primer planting guide ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Probably it's just me, but I never understood why people are making a huge issue of "messy" trees. I know that raking leaves, twigs and whatnot is not everyone's favorite activity but I believe there are more troublesome things to do in a household.

Oh and I second Ken's idea of planting an oak tree. :)

Be aware that oak wilt is increasingly a problem in some areas (e.g. Michigan). I'm not sure if it has reached Chicago yet, but you might think twice about planting an oak tree.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/plant-pests-invasive-species/diseases/oak-wilt/fact-sheet/eng/1325629194844/1325632464641

The Japanese tree lilac is the last tree I would choose from that list. I work on a college campus on the NH sea coast (z5b) where a large number were planted, and while some are lovely, more than half haven’t aged well, damaged by heavy snow and ice. The ones planted on my mom’s street in the Cleveland area haven’t done any better over time. And as someone mentioned above, the scent doesn’t have much in common with lilac shrubs, and I find it decidedly unappealing.

I have no experience with hackberry.

I think the London plane trees are too large, based on the ones in the Cleveland suburb where I grew up.

My choices would be the red maple, and then tied for second place, either the elm or the Kentucky coffee tree. My experience with the KCT is only with young trees, less than 15 years old, both in NH and in WI, and they are a bit ungainly as young trees. I like the fall color, and don’t view the mess as any more than any other tree. Trees by nature drop leaves and seeds and branches and some drop bark; it’s in the nature of trees.

PS. If your neighbor lives in one of the homes that is on either side of you that replaced similar cottages to yours, I wouldn’t trust her taste. ;>)

I'd consider other trees even if they're not on this list. Perhaps a White Flowering Dogwood, or a Magnolia. If you want a maple I'd suggest the Sugar Maple before the Red Maple. I have a dozen reds here. They're all yellow in the fall except one which is red. I was led to believe the red's a male.

Another suggestion is a Japanese Cherry. A similar tree is the Niedzwetzkyana Crab Apple with 4-5" red blossoms. If you have lots of deer they'll clean up the fallen red fleshed apples by morning. Without the deer I wouldn't suggest that one. That tree won't be easy to find but they have a scion of it at the USDA ARS site for free. You'd have to graft that but then you could pick the size of the rootstock to get a tree the size you want.

If you want to plant on the same spot I'd explore there with a spade. Unless there's a tap root the roots may have fanned out and the stump when ground up will leave a planting hole. If there's a tap root I doubt they'll grind that up and you won't be able to plant there....easily. If you do plant there dig out all the grindings and replace with dirt. You could use the grindings for mulch when you're done.

I like the red maple. Beautiful fall color, grows in poor soil.

John, I lie other trees too, but I think that she want to use the tree program from her city

One thing about the Linden is that it does have a very even shape and very pretty leaves. I would check to see how it does in your neck of the woods as Michigan is quite different England.

Red sunset is a selection of red maple chosen specifically for fall color. I doubt that you would be disappointed in the fall foliage of this selection.

When the perennial plant association conference was here a few years ago one of the tour gardens had a mature kentucky coffee tree. Beautiful gardens underneath, healthy lawn and a nice filtered light. That would be my choice. As mentioned before the tree is dioecious so, theoretically, a 50% chance of getting a fruitless tree. Or if allowed go out and buy a male selection such as Espresso, Decaf or True North.

Red maples (like Red Sunset) are going to be prone to chlorosis in the higher pH soils in the Chicago area (Red Sunset does not perform well here except on the more acidic soils). Redpointe is more adaptable.

You could ask your Village if the Coffeetree would be a male selection. Also ask if the Hackberry would be a named selection (unnamed hackberries are variable in form). Frontier Elm in my opinion only has limited appeal (fall color) - it's not very attractive otherwise, and not much to offer for the wildlife. If you opt for planetree, make sure it's the variety called Exclamation. I agree with NHBabs that tree lilacs don't always age very gracefully, but if maintained well they can be serviceable for a good number of years.

Schmidt insists their Redpointe = 'Frank Jr.' maple is a red maple

http://www.jfschmidt.com/redpointe/

but it looks and sounds to me like it could perfectly well be at least partly a Freeman maple. With the silver maple part of its parentage explaining its growth characters and soil tolerances, same as with Freeman maples.

Genetic factors involving particular kinds aside theoretically every time two different plants are crossed a percentage of resulting seedlings will look more like one or the other parent than the rest do. Perhaps 'Frank Jr.' is one such example, in this instance it having more of the appearance of a red maple parent. But still being of hybrid origin.

Beginning in 1984, I planted a number of the cultivars of Acer rubrum together in J. Frank Schmidt, Jr. Arboretum in Boring, Oreg. As these grew, they began to cross pollinate and set seed. In the spring of 1992, I gathered seed from these trees that had fallen to the ground. As the seeds of these trees are wind dispersed samaras, it was not possible to determine which individual trees were the parents of each seed. These seed were planted in a nursery seedbed in Boring, Oreg., and quickly germinated. I planted out a number of the best seedlings in a nursery row in the spring of 1993 and grew them on to larger size. Over the 1994 and 1995 growing seasons, I evaluated these seedlings.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=PP16769.PN.&OS=PN/PP16769&RS=PN/PP16769

A percentage of the "cultivars of Acer rubrum" circulated as such are known to actually be Freeman maples, maybe one or more of these was included in the aforementioned planting. Or there might have been a Freeman maple growing somewhere near the planting, that became involved with the crossing. By either means some silver maple genes being introduced to the mix from which 'Frank Jr.' came.

Wow!!! Thanks everyone for offering your ideas, insights and helpful information! I'm so very grateful for the time you took to help me learn about the trees and to give me some factors to consider based on weather, tree characteristics, and my home's size & scale!!

As a point of clarification, the trees are not free. Residents pay 25% (approx. $80) and the Village pays 75% (approx. $270). I have not yet talked to anyone in the forester's office, but I don't think I have a choice other than their list for planting in the parkway. Technically the parkway is Village property; so that's why they pay the majority. If I wanted to plant another type of tree, I'd likely need to plant that in my yard. The front yard is so small, I wouldn't want a tree smack in the middle of the yard, plus...with all the other projects currently on the list, I appreciate the lower cost point for me to add a tree or two.

Upon reviewing my list closer, the Kentucky Coffee being offered is the Espresso, which I've learned is seedless, which is helpful. I totally understand and even appreciate that trees are messy. :-D I'm someone who enjoys raking and greatly values all the seasons. I love watching the life cycle of nature, including the leaves coming into bud and then falling. The "messy" concern is knowing some trees do tend to drop even more debris and/or can be a bit problematic with their seeds, berries, etc. As one who also loves the bees, butterflies and birds...some berries and seeds are lovely as they help sustain my flying friends.

This afternoon I connected with a local arborist who is coming to trim a few trees in the backyard. He echoed many of the comments listed above.

So....after reading all of your feedback, considering the arborist's comments and tuning into my own heart voice, I've ranked my choices to the Village in the following order (The form asks us to rank each 1-6)

1 - Espresso Kentucky Coffee

2 - Common Hackberry

3 - Red Sunset Red Maple

4. Frontier Elm

5. Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac (While this is available for everyone, I think this one added as a choice for homes that are near overhead utility wires - based on a note on the form)

6. Exclamation London Planetree

Again! I greatly appreciate everyone's time and assistance! If there are any final comments, I'm sure I could wiggle my selection based on availability up until the end of March. :-D Thank you!!

whsaa_5a - please don't stop posting! I very much enjoy reading your posts! Not sure what happened, but you are hands down one of the best posters on this forum

Yes, just because one person flagged something doesn’t mean anyone agrees Or that they are correct. Or it might have happened by accident. I am another who would appreciate continued input from you. Comments like your experience with red maples in higher pH soils are valuable in helping folks avoid unsuitable trees.

whsaa_5a, thank you for reposting your ideas. I'm still learning all the ins and outs of Houzz posting, so I'm not even sure what it means when you say you were flagged. I see the little flags by people's postings, but I've never used them. As I ponder this idea, I think of email and in that tool a flag is a good thing, indicating a desire to go back and re-read or take action. Might someone flag something because they want to go back and reference what you wrote?

Thanks for affirming the coffee is a good choice and sharing more info about the tree. While I'm a little sad to hear of it's short leaf cycle, I think all the other positive comments from you and others still make it a top contender. I like the notion posted above that while the tree is large (or will be one day) it also has a "lighter" presence...which might be a nice duality for my house. I also like the idea of the pretty winter silhouette. We do have long winters here!

I have no idea what the ph level of the soil is in my yard. At this time of year, I'm not even sure I could get that measurement. My neighbor has a maple in their parkway that seems to be thriving. I have a Japanese maple close to the house and in the last 1.5 years since it's been planted, it's doing well. As an entirely different tree with only the shared word "maple" that may be a totally irrelevant and ridiculous connection. lol :-)

I love the Chicago Botanical Gardens, and do not go there often enough! I'll have to look for that gorgeous Frontier Elm you mentioned. I do like the idea of long-lasting burgundy, purple leaves, but am not excited about beetle potential. Hmmmmmm..... There are so many elements to consider with all of the various trees! One's head could spin and spin. :-D

The leggy tree/bush you suggest I replace is a new Eastern Redbud. It was just planted 1.5 years ago so I'm not in a hurry to replace it. LOL. :-) I love the pink blossoms and anticipate it will grow to be lovely in that spot. I did look up the trees you suggested just for fun. They're pretty too! Thanks for your help!

The only way one would know a post is flagged is if it is deleted by the forum administrators. There is no way flagging shows up otherwise other than to the one who flagged it. And a "just because I didn't like the comment or the person who posted it" flag gets extra scrutiny from admin before anything is done.....and that is usually nothing unless outright name calling, overt rudeness or an inappropriate (political, racial, religious) reference is involved.

IOW, you can't flag and have a post removed because you a) don't like the person posting, or b) disagree with what was posted.

"I'm someone who feeds the birds (and the squirrels) and tries to garden with the birds, bees and butterflies in mind."

Then I would agree with and urge you that it is absolutely imperative you select the native trees! Because 96% of all terrestrial birds rear their young on insects, of which 90% of the plant-eating ones require native plants to complete their development. So, as native plants drop to ~70% (or less) in an ecosystem, the whole food chain collapses from the bottom-up!

And all the "mess" from them is what help propagate their species and also form forest floor litter that serves as both vital wildlife habitat and compost that slowly retains rainwater to help slowly form more topsoil (of which 1" can take 1000 years).

In short, plant native trees and LEAVE their Fall leaves (and other droppings)!

Another vote for the native KCT. Here’s a pic of spring buds on mine from a couple of years ago. I am ready for spring!

blakrab centex reading your post affirms my top three choices! According to the Morton Arboretum, all three are native to Chicago area. :-) This fall I did leave my garden plants alone for the winter, both in the front and back yards, in hopes to help the bugs & bees. I also usually leave the last burst of leaves on the lawn, but I do rake early in the autumn.

indianagardengirl, thanks for the photo! Indeed....ready for spring!!! :-)