We have been told we could get a Ginko and pear, which we had a pear too we had to cut because it was a bradford, double trunk . Now I have sworn to put two trees back and am unsure what to choose. I want and need shade, and am older so I want a big tree now that grows fairly fast. My maple choices would be good in my mind. Any suggestions or thoughts as to what we didn't have issues considering we had a maple. I have been told not to put Maples in here.

why? Maples come in every size and shape imaginable. That's too blanket a statement. There are even narrow cultivars of sugar maple if that lets you fit one in a little better.

ladede, what city or state are you in?

Ginkgo is an excellent tree. Long as you plant a male they mind their own business well. Maybe not the fastest growing though.

I did search suggested maple trees they are all beautiful and the color I am looking for. I just don't know if I can find them.

Another option is Trident Maple.

That too is a bit too much of a blanket statement :-) That possibility exists with many surface rooted trees, not just maples. And it tends to be exaggerated. If your foundation is structurally secure, no tree roots are likely to undermine it. If the foundation is cracked or damaged, any type of tree roots could pose problems. Relatively thin slabs of concrete - like driveways, sidwalks, patios - can be cracked or lifted by surface roots, which occur with age on many different types of trees. Slab foundations tend to be thicker than other types of concrete slabs and generally have reinforcement but a potential for damage could exist here also.

Soil type can play a significant role as well. In fertile, well-irrigated soils, tree roots tend to much more lateral growth and surface roots on those species prone to them are much more likely to develop than if the soil were sandier, less fertile and less well-irrigated. In these cases, roots will often penetrate deeper into the soil for anchorage and to seek a lower water table.

Regardless, I would not rule out including a maple if that is your first choice. There are just too many possibilites and sizes of these available to fit all sorts of growing conditions. Maples of all varieties are arguably the most widely planted shade trees in this country - if they were uniformly that bad, that wouldn't be the case :-)

I can find Autumn Blaze and October glory as well as Red sunset. I read somewhere the AB aren't that red, although they seem to be a beautiful color in the nurseries. My original plan last year was Autumn blaze on side where SugarMaple was and Octobery glory on the other side. Two large trees. I love the Maples and am getting one come H or high water! ha

I am thinking about doing another pear on the other side again, this time Aritiscrat. I read they may break in the wind? not sure but the Cleveland aren't as appealing to me.

As for the ginko although lovely, I have in the back of my hosue so many cotton wood trees and they all turn yellow and drop pretty much at once. I think I have changed my mind on it. Although still pretty, want some variety. The back is a steep wooded hill, that we just more or less look at the cotton woods and pick up the leaves.

It sounds like your mind is made up which makes me wonder why you posted here to begin with. An Autumn Blaze maple has an extremely aggressive root system so if you have any reservations about roots invading anything around your house, this would not be the tree to get. Red maples aren't much better in this regard.

As far as fall color, Autumn Blaze is highly variable from tree to tree and from year to year. I have two of them and one turns a scarlet red in the fall while the other one turns more of an orange red color. I've included some pictures of one of them (the orange one) to give you an idea of the growth rate and potential fall color of the species.

From 2002

Earlier this year

From this fall

Look into Apollo sugar maple. It's a smaller narrow growing form. There's also Steeple which only gets to 20' wide.
Avoid the autumn blaze and avoid norway maples. Theyre no good.

i dont understand who you are calling ....

have you called TREE FARMS???

have you called tree nurseries????

i suspect you are calling bigboxstores and small local operations ....

link below to tree farms in ky... slanted toward xmas trees.. but tree peeps are weird.. they probably have holiday maples too .. lol ...

you arent looking in the right places.. if you cant find them

good luck.. even if they are maples..

as soon as the ground thaws in late march.. is just as good as now.. for planting trees .... in z5/6

ken

I called the tree farms I found and were referred, they are mostly out of their speciality trees as they call them. I started late although was told plenty of time here to plant. But they all had sales. They told me most were sold out in Sept. the speciality them. So sort of back to square one.
I wanted originally Oct. glory on the old SugarMaple side, landscaping man suggested Ginko, but as I said above, I have many fall yellow trees on the hill. What to do? I found one farm today that he said he would see what he has and call me tomorrow. Told him the tight front etc. He will want to run by , fine with me. He mentioned a "Paper Bark Maple" look beautiful but small to me and I am looking for shade. I might as well settle for a Cleveland pear on the one side. I am thinking October glory for the side which I need the shade the most. Although I am worried about the sidewalk. Seems from what I read all Maples can be a problem. I don't think I have made up my mind I think I am just totally confused now.

ken

Garden center and nursery selection is at all time low. They're just not shipping the plants. Growers are digging after stuff is ordered, not giving you a chance to pick and choose.

Shipping rates on those mail order twigs are outrageous.

It's a great time to look into native plant rescue, really.

And by the way, if you were heartbroken about having to remove your maple, then you are going to go through the same heartbreak if you buy a Cleveland Pear. They have bad surface roots and prone to severe breakage, the blooms smell very bad as well. Not a tree for planting near homes or powerlines.

Funny thing happened I am tree dumb. We drove all over looking for a Ginko tree two weeks ago, so I could see what they look like with leaves in real life , so I look up the street and walk up the street, and three houses up is a huge one! The gas co. has been cutting on it, you can tell that, its on my side of the street and you can see the odd shape, but what an awesome tree and it survived the hurricane that came through here last fall. I lost 6 trees that I know of on my hill in that event. That weird midwest hurricane. 6 hours of hurricane winds and 5 days of no power. I even took videos of the thing.

Back to the ginko up the street, beautiful huge and so interesting and obviously strong. I think that will be my pick again. On the side where I had a pear taken out. Hard to make a decision until I saw that one up the street. It still even has it leaves!!!! They are falling but what a beauty.

All of the little stores are out of stuff, totally just little shrubs and stuff is all they have. They also won't plant my trees I buy, I have a hard dig. Old tree roots from the maple and tree trunk from the pear.

If you miss having a maple, there are numerous maples in all shapes and sizes. I know Ken says that maples are no good if you like to plant hostas in their root zone but if you don't need to do that, then it's the easiest.

Ginko, tree is about a 4" caliber trunk , fairly good size now.

Yes Gingkos are very slow growing, but they do fantastic in sandy soils (from what I hear).

Why don't you just get the Gingko and call it day? Otherwise be patient and get something in spring when you have more avaialbility. I'd decide on your top 2 choices so you don't impulse buy...for example Cleveland Pear.

If you don't go Ginkgo or a narrower maple (like Celebration Maple) I'd like to see a Wada's Memory Magnolia or Oakleaf Mountainash in there. Both good choices for sandy soils and typically won't exceed 20' in width.

10x30.... flowers... fall color. Some descriptions say pink foliage too although I doubt it.

Also saw another one in town, they must like the area.

I am definately not getting a cleveland pear, decided that already. The more I see them , they are shopping center trees. I hope this guy follows through, I think he is annoyed at me, but I just have to make the right choice. I have to pick out another 2nd tree or wait as the poster above suggested.

http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/AMEGRAB.pdf

I might get a Sweet Gum, they get big but my neighbor across the street has one and its so beautiful this year, I loved all the colors. I think thats the tree for me right now. I still love October Glory and have for years, my love of that tree has not wavered. I did look at serveral others including service berry, need shade not sure how much shade they provide.

I have a small young 4yrs mimosa I was going to get ride of but they say let it go a few more years that it just might be not ready to flower. Its not yet.

thanks for all the help