Okay, finallly after all the great suggestions I ended up spending some money....and wishing I had still more room for a few other great suggestions. The Dogwoody shrub that wants too be a tree thing has been moved to the far back yard with other shrub Dogwoods. In it's place is a young Fringe Tree, Chionanthus Virginicus, about 5.5 feet tall from a local nursery. Because there were so many good suggestions, I also picked up a Red Buckeye that was on sale at the same local nursery as it was leftover from last year. Looks good, lots of good buds. It is on the north side of the Virginicus, towards the back. On the corner, between the two, is a rather columnar and tall 11' Tricolor Beech that I found after checking several Menard's stores (the first two I found were gone when I went back for them). It's in a great location, but sadly, I don't think it will end up working out too well. The tree has lots of good new buds, but I wasn't able to check it out real well when I saw it as it was raining pretty hard (the beginning of the deluge y'all saw on the TV of the Chicago area getting hammered). Once I had the hole dug and started to unpot it, I saw that it had been balled and burlapped before being put in the pot. Removing the burlap, it didn't have much of a rootball and looked to have a graft section that had been cut off when it was dug up. Hmm. My first thought was to bring it back, but then what else would I put in the hole I'd dug? Then I realized I have all year to see how it does before I have to bring it back. So I planted it and am anxious to see how it goes through the spring and summer. I've had some things with a lesser rootball that survived well with some extra attention, and I figure I'll give this guy a chance at a happy life first. Picture is of the tree in the yard, trunk still wrapped and some staking in case the wind gets tough. Kind of hard to see with no leaves, though. Next picture is of the rootball and graft section. Should be an interesting spring and summer, still need to find room for a Kousa, though...

What I have learned about planting a tree: There is ALWAYS a reason not to plant a tree. Most of them are poor ones. Most of them come from people with an agenda. Yet by all means, never trust anyone from a nursery. They are money grubbing ignorami who are never hired for actually knowing anything. Yet there is only one reason to plant a tree that means anything: Do you want to? For any reason? (fall color, flowers, screening, wind, shade, innate beauty, etc.). Walk down practically any street in practically any city in practically any country, and I'll place odds you can find something wrong with just about every tree you see. Just peruse the explanations cited above: It's planted too close, utility lines of one kind or another, too large, wrong kind of tree for whatever reason, most of them personal and highly subjective. Yet lost in all the clutter are some of the best reasons, and they are reasons to plant a tree. A sociologist at the U of Illinois has conducted some research that says a view of a tree, even a pitiful tree, leads one to a happier outlook on life and a greater likelihood of civility to neighbors. So, to draw the insane conclusions that people seems to love, plant a tree, save a life. Surely that's not too high to save a life? Also, it's estimated that a healthy urban forest can reduce the temperatures of cities by up to 20 degrees. Given the number of headlines regarding global warming (including how elk contribute to it), that would darn near be enough to scare me into planting far more trees than needed. OK, enough of the hyperbole. There is one practical rule to follow when planting near a house: Don't plant a tree that will grow taller than the eave under the eave. Everything else can be influenced...or pruned.

Is the 'limbed up' thing just about preventing it from taking a lot of ground space? If so, what about a columnar evergreen conifer like an emerald green arborvitae? Or something similar that'd remain green & attractive during winter, without bushing out too badly. Of course, if you want a tall naked trunk under the crown of the tree, that's not going to work out. What is it about the Purpleleaf Sandcherry that you don't like? I'm not pushing the plant, just thinking that knowing what you don't like about it might help rule out some of the other options. Richard.

If you are thinking of fruit trees, I'd think about American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)...one of the few native fruit trees, and one of the few tough fruit trees. Put some males near the road and females elsewhere. I like American Holly (ilex opaca) for areas you want an evergreen for screening.