There will be 10 trees in total, they will be planted in two long rows together. There is a solid 12 feet between each tree. The soil has a lot of clay, I am in zone 6a. They will mostly be in full or close to full sun.

Ideally looking for them to provide a decent wind and privacy screen and also just be a great thing to look at. It would be nice if you could walk under them (meaning the branches don't start too low). I also need to account for their mature size as 12 feet isn't a ton of spread. It will also be near the house so I don't want anything too crazy tall.

Flowers would be a bonus but not needed. Ideally no fruit or nuts since they will be near a driveway and I don't want too much of a mess.

Lower maintenance (little to no pruning) is best. The trees will have drip irrigation.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

That said, there are any number of smallish flowering trees that might meet your criteria, at least for many years, and any planting inevitably has to be replaced at some point.

But frankly, any architect (landscape architect??) who is recommending bradford pears, I'd be getting a second opinion on the planting plan.

Maybe you should discuss the plan as a whole either here or on the landscape design forum.

Karin L

Any specific trees that might work in this configuration or otherwise?

Thanks again

Karin L

The house is just a ranch so 10-15 feet would be enough height. Although taller than that would be fine.

I am not looking for a major redesign at this point, most everything is locked. However I do have flexibility within this specific area on how many trees, what type, and how close they are to each other.

i cant recall what someone else said.. but it was along the lines of severely used ROTTING GYM SOCKS ...

as to your architect.. this is one of the most basically stupid ideas i have ever seen or heard ... not only in the placement across the front of the house.. but the tree suggested..

and to top it off.. you have 10 acres.. and he wants to put these trees.. just a few feet from the house.. to the left of the diagram, as you say .. there is so much wrong with this.. i dont know what to say ....

i am sorry to hear that 'most everything is locked' ..

and i truly wish.. you had found us earlier in the design phase ...

i wish you all the luck in the world with your new dream house ... and do understand.. its your dream.. and your house.. and your future trees.. to hell with what i think .. but you asked.. so i went ahead ...

ken

ps: you said: . It would be nice if you could walk under them (meaning the branches don't start too low)

===>> then you would buy a saw .... and slowly raise the canopy as time goes by ... unless you are starting with EXTREMELY LARGE STOCK to begin with .... which is mega cost ....

pps: planting time in z6 passed a few weeks back ... and the next proper planting time is fall .. perhaps you ought to hesitate and think this out.. rather than hurry to finish it all ...

BTW.. my 12 year old BPear is going on 30 feet.. good luck with the 15 feet thing ... and yes.. i have one.. 150 feet from the house.. and it was a gift from the inlaws.. what can i say .. lol ..

For the long stretch how about a somewhat staggered row of trees / shrubs. Whatever Holly you like in back and some ornamental tiny trees or shrubs in front. Virburnum and or Japanese maples perhaps?

For the far side there are many choices.

I can certainly plant less than 10 trees in this in order to fit them better if I go with something a little larger if that helps.

Any other varieties of trees that may fit the bill?

Thanks all

Also, the obvious solution is not always the best way to achieve the goals you have stated. As Ken suggests, neither windbreak nor privacy screen need to be right at the house wall, and in fact, given 10 acres to work with, you can do a lot better on both fronts. But again, if that's where you are, so be it.

What I would suggest for what you are trying to do is a mixed grouping of trees. Ideally, you would include some shrubs because most trees are going to leave the 10-15 foot range clear in a few years unless you keep them limbed low. The only other way to ensure you get long term coverage at that height is to use weeping cultivars, say, weeping birches or beeches or elm or juniper or spruce or what have you. I leave it that open, and that mixed between deciduous and evergreen, because I am not clear yet on what the summer need vs. the winter need is. And I don't know what works in your climate anyway.

What I would probably do - and hard to say without more views of the site - is to look at, say, 20-year tree canopy shapes and intersperse them for best effect. Besides form, I'd look for qualities such as foliage contrast and multi-season interest in the form of flower, fall colour, what have you. Your criterion about not dropping too much stuff I would confine to the trees right at the driveway, but skip it further into the group for the sake of tree interest.

I would probably also stagger the placement according to ultimate size, light preference, and pleasing view corridors.

As well as the privacy and windbreak you want, you maybe want to create an attractive frame for the house and an inviting space to be near it. The proposed solution will create, I suspect, both the look and feel of a bunker. I very strongly hope that your "architect" is a house architect who is erroneously dabbling in landscaping because if a landscape architect is responsible for this combination of need and solution, it would be cry for.

You might also want to shade the house in summer - a bonus from tall trees planted to the south and west of the structure.

I suspect you would get good information from a good plant nursery (NOT a big box store, that appears to be where your architect shops) in terms of what trees are available and what they would offer. Keep in mind that some need full sun, others are understory trees. With a bit of thought, you can give each tree what it needs to perform well.

Karin L

These suggestions are some good jumping off points. I will ask some more questions at a nursery and see their thoughts as well.

From a design standpoint something in the size/shape of the bradford is about right (according to the architect), I am just hoping for something less smelly and stronger.

A deciduous tree has leaves in warm weather, and most are bare in winter. So, they form a windbreak in the hot summer, when many people prefer a breeze, and hardly any in winter, when a windbreak is more desired.

Seems to me evergreens are more the windbreak choice, though you won't be walking under those whose canopy starts at the ground. In face, I wonder how good the windbreak will be with trees that don't have branches until high enough adult men can walk under them?

My other thought is that many trees have similar canopy spread and height. So, as a very rough rule of thumb, a 30' tall tree might have a 30' wide canopy, give or take. This matters because you spoke of putting trees 12 feet apart. Unless you want heavily merged canopies (perhaps someone else can chime in about how a row of Shantung Maples planted 12 feet apart in a row would do, for example?), having trees with spreads under, oh, say, 20 feet and can readily be limbed up to over 6 feet in time, could be a challenge.

There are columnar or 'fastigiate' trees, including deciduous, that are unnaturally narrow in spread relative to height. I've seen some maple trees like this. There's a ginkgo cultivar like this. It's not a look I favor (that strong vertical effect can be off-putting, though it can match a tall building in the city), but you might consider it.

Just throwing some medium-sized trees out there to think about - Shantung Maple (can get pretty big), Bloodgood Japanese Maple, Paperbark Maple, Trident Maple, Dwarf Chinquapin Oak (not regular Chinquapin Oak).

Richard.

Tell him we are recommending using thin, untreated cardboard for the building material for your house.

Seriously, if I had someone working for me make the Bradford Pear recommendation, I'd probably assume they were too mentally challenged to do their job (no matter what it was) and would let them go immediately.

I'd look for the cultivar 'Frans Fontaine' (Carpinus betulus 'Frans Fontaine') - it stays quite a bit more narrow over time than 'Fastigiata'.

Karin L