I walk by this house almost every day. They are on a busy street and the corkscrew willow provides great screening and I can imagine them enjoying the deck with good privacy. I would have it trimmed though (and wouldn't have let it get this big). The tree is to the north of the house. (I think this is a corkscrew willow).

You can't see it, but behind the willow the neighbors have a big white ash which is beautiful but round and takes up even more of their yard and couldn't really be cut back at this point to make it narrower. And the ash loses its leaves much earlier.

This post was edited by olreader on Fri, Nov 15, 13 at 11:05

You could consider
Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera)
Redbud (Cercis Canadensis)
Field maple (Acer Campestre)
Amur Maple (Acer Ginnala)
Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
Mountain Ash either American or European (Sorbus Americana or aucuparia)
Various flowering cherries

Thanks for the ideas I will look at Field Maple and Striped Maple, I'm not familiar with those. I like the idea of redbud because of the flowers. And I like Osage Orange because it's something different in the suburban environment.

As I said I like the upward growth, dense branches and persistent leaves of the willows. I know people don't like ornamental pears but they have some of the same qualities. Most of the pears around here lost their leaves with the wind we've had in the last 24 hours but the willows still have their little leaves. Here's a picture taken today.

Crooked Hazelnut?

i had a regular willow at the old house..

it too retained its leaves into a MI winter ...

and due to such.. had horrible damage when ice or sticky snow storms weighed down the branches.. creating severe damage ...

how that all works in CO is beyond me...

but be careful for what you think is a positive ... just because this one has worked where you see it.. doesnt mean it will do the same for you ...

and with trees that can live 100 years.. be wary of those once in a decade winters... that is when this tree.. will be much to big for that yard.. and when it fails.. it will cause severe damage ...

again.. having owned one in suburbia... i came to the conclusion.. that willow are gorgeous golf course trees.. placed where .. WHEN THY FAIL ... [its a given] ... they do not fall on things precious to me.. or more specifically .. ME!!! ... i would NEVER have a willow.. within 100 feet of the house ...

if this is some special type of willow... i dont know ..

ken

ps: willow roots like rabbits in a cage.. if you like this one.. knock on the door and as for a few 12 inch cuttings.. and root them ... but i wouldnt .....

I cut my 15' to 20' corkscrew willows two winters ago after snow damage, and they grew new branches and look fine to me now. I'm planning on cutting some of the tallest stems off again this year to keep them from getting too tall. I hope they will look good after this too. I plan to keep at them as long as I live here, and whatever I plant next to them I will also keep below 20' if I'm still living here when it gets that tall.

My theory was that these willows could handle that kind of pruning pretty well because they sprout new branches easily and have so many upright stems. And I am looking for other decidous, hedge type trees. Trees with one trunk at the bottom, not bushes. And maybe with flowers, berries, fall color or other ornamental interest.

I walk along that street on the way to the dog park every day, one guy has a sour cherry tree that didn't give fruit this year, some have ashes, one has a big round ornamental pear, one has a big pine, one has a big spruce close to the house, one has a big dense columnar oak. I like the pine and ashes etc, but the willow seems like the best solution to the busy street to me, but it's too big now. Putting these photos here is misleading because I would never want one that big.