Location is too open for a Serviceberry. They are too finiky. Even a hardy Cornus kousa would do better there.

I'm just assuming but are those Crapapples lined up on the driveway to the left? If so those are even more plants from the Rose family. Diversify.

Any of the viburnums do well there?

Metasequoia Ogon grows tall and fast. Somewhat thin and is BRIGHT and different.

Azaela? I saw a ton of excellent looking Gibraltar Azaelas in Ohio this spring. Need acidic soil though but it seems enough must have around Cambridge and...where was Dawes....Columbus?

tj

That is a lot of lawn.

Terrance

tornado -I looked at the redwood and that is a pretty tree. I was considering a ivory silk lilac tree. Are you familiar with that?

esh ga and others that commented on my large grassy area....I know. My son is in the army now, so guess who mows it. Me. My husband has a seasonal business so doesn't have the time in the summer.

tsugajunkie and terrance - thanks for the advice about the maple fitting nicely there.

I love your place! That yard is begging for some family flag football action ;-)

John

Such a great space - help it support the things you love. Good luck!

Forget about a multi-stem maple. I don't recommend that, they don't grow like that naturally.

You could always integrate fruit bearing shrubs in that area. There are smaller serviceberry shrubs and viburnums are the king of shrubs in my opinon. The dwarf cutlivars of Korean Spice Viburnum would look tremendous there.

You will find more knowledge here than you would ever expect. Conisder yourself tagged for gardening stardom.

That is actually not a bad strategy in that yard if you don't mind the trees growing into each other like they do in the forest. You can also increase the variety by planting trees closer together. You could also leave it as is, it is a wonderful piece of property. Glad you have a pond in the back. That pretty much completes the perfect landscape IMO.

John

What we have done in our yard is to try to mix zones. We have areas that will be highly shaded eventually, and we have others that are predominately shaded. We have some shrubs, and we mix large canopy trees and smaller trees that are happy in full sun or as understory trees. We have flower beds, with various species i.e gladiolus, native honeysuckle, clematis etc. But we have another area near a drainage channel that we continually add wild flowers to, along with native Iris, Louisiana Iris, and a select tree or two as well. We also try to have something in show, coming into show, of finishing a show all during the growing season. Then we have some things for winter interest as well. Sometimes it's "I want a Sugar Maples" like my significant other said, and so we ended up with two after I did enough homework. Still it's all a work in progress. Trees need to grow more. Shade is just developing. Wildflowers have been a bit slow to take hold. etc. etc.

Start with figuring out what you like, ask questions, and the gaps will fill in over time.

Arktrees

I am not familiar with your area, but you've already got some area of protection on the sides with those conifers. Can you tuck serviceberries in on the sunny side of those?

Viburnums are great, I'd tend to go with the natives, not the korean ones. Shrub dogwoods are huge bird magnets. Oaks and maples are good for the insects that birds need.

You're right in that sometimes you ARE too close to it to see what to do. Try to find someone else to come out and throw out some ideas (like a gardening friend).