The kicker is that it can't exceed 20ft in width (no restrictions on height) and should have at least one ornamental feature.

I'm considering:
carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
ostrya virginiana (ironwood)

Full sun, heavier soil but well drained, slightly dry, neutral to slightly alkaline.

Arktrees

What kills me is I came across a really nice 6' speciman earlier this year that I wanted but "at the time" didn't have a spot for it.

I'll add that one as another alternative to the Musclewood.

please dont tell me you have seen reference to articles indicating you cant walk under trees???

ken

I plan to plant this tree closer to the walk way. My dog uses that walkway as a race track and its the only way to get to the backyard.

I just don't want to plant a tree that will suffer from compacted soil...for example a Katsura would be a bad choice.

So far I like the Ginkgo and Musclewood suggestions.
Ken, what do you got?

I'll give some that do.

Arnold Tulip poplar (14x70) (flowers, fall color)
Steeple Sugar Maple (20x70) (Fall color)
European hornbeams franz fontaine and fastigiata (15x45) (foliage/shape)
Green Pillar Pin Oak (12x45)(Fall color)
Crimson Spire OAK (15x50) (fall color)
Bowhall Red Maple (15x45) (fall color)

if you plant a young tree.. it will put its roots where it wants them ...

IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING.. that compaction.. from heavy machinery is more of an issue under a 50 to 100 year old tree ... it puts its roots where it wanted them.. and then some machine came by.. and infringed in its root zone ...

i wouldnt worry about you and the dog .... unless its some 20,000 pound behemoth .. lol

ken

Iforgotitsonevermind,
most of those aren't available around here, but thanks for the list of selections. I did come across Quercus robur 'Crimson Spire' but lists up to 35' wide.

Here is a list of plants that perform well in our clay soils (make note of the ginkgo). Most of these are super common, so I am looking for something underutilized in the home landscape (for example carpinus carolina).

Amur Corktree (Phellodendron amurense)
Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra & cvs. )
Blue Ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata)
Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana & cvs.)
Chinakapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)
Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis & cvs.)
English Oak (Quercus robur & cvs.)
Eye Stopper™ Corktree (Phellodendron lavallei
‘Longenecker’)
Freeman Maple (Acer x freemannii & cvs.)
Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba & cvs.)
Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica & cvs.)
Hawthorns (Crataegus ssp. & cvs.)
Hoptree or Waferash (Ptelea trifoliata)
Hybrid Elms (Ulmus spp. & cvs.)
Hybrid Swamp x Bur Oak (Quercus x schuettei)
Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioica & cvs.)
Manchurian Ash (Fraxinus manshurica cvs.)
Musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana)
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides & cvs.)
Ornamental Crabapple (Malus spp. & cvs.)
Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum & cvs.)
State Street™ Maple (Acer miyabei ‘Morton’)
Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)
Tatarian Maple (Acer tataricum)
Thornless Honeylocust (Gleditsia tri. var. inermis)
White Ash (Fraxinus americana)
Willows (Salix spp. & cvs.)

Of those listed by "iforgot", I had thought of the maples, but left those off due to the soil possibly being "slightly alkaline". Couldn't tell you about the others.

Arktrees

Arktrees

Its being planted in-between (2) celebration maples with a southwest exposure.

I think I'm happy with either the Ginkgo or Musclewood selections.

If anybody thinks of anything else, I'd appreciate it.

i dont understand this at all .... i have quite a number of friends in northern OH ... that garden exclusively in battleship grey.. heavy.. ugly .. OH clay ... and NOTHING.. i mean NOTHING.. is excluded from their garden based on such ...

they do all kinds of things to 'work' with the situation .. but they have some of the best personal and diverse gardens i know of ...

i dont understand why you are limiting yourself based on clay ....

perhaps a new post specifically addressing said issue will glean you a plethora of opportunity for a more diverse garden.. rather than limiting yourself based on said soil

or not

ken

PS: thats another way of saying that your list is a bunch of ugly green plants that will grow in clay [which i think you are coming to understand in your quest for 'the underutilized' comment] .... WHICH .. IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT.. ALL THE POWER TO YOU ... but there is a much greater opportunity being bypassed.... IMHO ...

But in the case with dog and foot traffic it sounds like its not going to be an issue.

I've added Cornus Mas Variegata to my list. With Diablo Ninebarks in the background that might be a good choice. Cornus Mas is good with heavy soil and drought tolerant to boot.

I'm kind of surprised you are finding them more available in nurseries than the columnars I listed but I suppose columnars aren't especially easy to find. You have to go to growers usually (tree farms).

I don't know where you found that size for the Crimson Spire Oak being 35'. It's a Frank Schmidt nursery introduction so if you go straight to the source, their website clearly shows the expected mature size. I'll post the link below. Forest Farm has them in stock.

The trees on the list you posted that do well in your soils obviously get too wide for what you want but if there's anything I've learned, it's that if it's worth planting, chances are there's a narrow growing variety. But yeah, sometimes you really got to hunt it down. That's part of being a tree nut. That's what separates the tree nuts from the people that plant Cleveland Pears.

Right now here are the pairs that I plan to go with based on availability with my top 2 nurseries.

1st Nursery - Homestead Buckeye and Yellowwood
or
2nd Nursery - Briotii and Musclewood

Trees still in the running:
Ginkgo Princeton Sentry
Crimson Spire Oak
Cornus Mas Variegated

Its amazing how you progress with your tree selections. I started with the basics, Maple, River Birch, Pear....then stepped up with Serviceberry, Hawthorn, Magnolia...then Ginkgo, Katsura, Seven Son Flower.

I guess this could all depend on area as well.

Didn't you say it couldn't be more than 20' wide? The Homestead Buckeye is alright but the Hornbeam is right at the max. And The yellowwood, although many online sources would put it at your max or a little bit beyond, a recent posting on here revealed that they can get much larger than that. The Brioti HCN has a much wider spread than you want. These are all worthy of planting but all of these are slow growers and may not exceed the size for a real long time but I just thought I'd ask what happened to the 20' spread requirement.

Either the Homestead or Musclewood goes in the tighter area (20' width). The Briotii or Yellowwood goes in a spot that can accomodate.

The tree that is common between the two nurseries in the Musclewood.

Another good choice to consider. This is what they have to say about it...

Small-scale tree or large shrub with an oval to round-headed habit. Rich dark green summer foliage changes to an extraordinary display of brilliant orange and purple to vibrant gold and carmine in fall. The miniscule flowers mature into pinkish-purple billowy clusters creating a "smoke effect". Beautiful gray bark becomes increasingly interesting with age having an almost corky texture.