My parents will be redoing their front yard in the spring and we're in the process of trying to figure out a good tree for them. The tree will be planted in full sun however the soil is pretty much just clay They would like it to:

- Have a more roundish shape and on the smaller side, maybe 15-20 high and wide
- Have a single trunk
- Any color blooms will do, but have beautiful blooms in the spring
- Have spectacular fall color - pinky/scarlet red would be preferred over yellow/orange
- Would be common enough to find a larger B&B tree or grows fast enough to get enough size for them to experience the tree while they are still in the house (not at the expense of having a really weak storm susceptible tree)
- NOT have berries
- Any winter interest would be a bonus

Hopefully this isnt too hard of a list! Cant wait to help them bet this picked out. They just had to take out a couple of ~25 year old beautiful concolor firs (30+ ft tall and 20 ft diameter) because they got too big for the yard and are missing having trees out front.

Thanks much!

though concolor are trees.. more specifically they are conifers ...

lets start by ruling in.. or out.. conifers ... it will be one of the few options that have winter interest.. other than a naked tree in z5 [but for maybe a hardy magnolia] ... many pix of conifers are offered in the conifer forum ...

next ... understand that nothing magically stops growing at a given height ... its all about annual growth rate .. most size estimates are at 10 years ... so if they say it will be 20 feet tall.. you are usually in the annual growth rate estimate.. by dividing by 10 .. so if they claim it will be 20 feet tall .. in 20 years.. it grows about 2 feet per year ... so in 20 years ...it MIGHT be 40 feet tall .. trees simply dont stop growing ... though many slow down ...

next ... the larger the transplant.. the harder it is.. for the tree to regrow the root system cut-off in the burlapping or digging process ...

if you want to go large.. say.. anything over about 8 feet.. spend the money.. and have it done professionally ... with a guarantee of success .. something tells me parents age is an issue.. and they dont want to be waiting 10 or 15 years for a 2 foot stick to grow up ...

if you want to do it yourself.. stay smallish .. the whole process is so much more forgiving ....

clay is basically irrelevant.. to almost any given tree ... clay involves PROPER PLANTING... which we can address.. nearer planting time.. or if brandon shows up.. he can link you to his planting guide ... if he isnt too crabby .. lol ..

also.. i know much of iowa is z5 .. can you verify that.. or correct it ... some of our southern friends like to discuss all kinds of stuff.. that simply wont grow in z5 ...

and .. a flower is a sexual organ.. by definition.. you end up with a fruit or seed [unless it is known to be sterile] ... so we need for you to be a little more specific as to the relative importance of your variables ... whats more important.. flower or fall color????

which BTW.. you took out 2.. is there room for two.. maybe one for spring flower.. and one for fall color.. should we not be able to find the one single plant that fits all your wants and needs ...

lol.. and you thought we would just give you a list of 5 trees.. and tomorrow you could be ordering it for spring delivery .. lol ..

so .. can you add some specificity.. with the added knowledge i have added????

finally.. most good nurseries.. are.. right now.. ordering spring deliveries ... or able to amend such.. PLEASE DONT GO FOR COMMON ... just because you can find it at bigboxstore ... order now .... for spring delivery and planting .. and get exactly what you end up wanting ...

dance time is coming.. i am going to think about actually giving you some tree names.. in the next day or two ... how about the one at the link.. as a starter.. and mind you.. i hate maple with a passion of a million burning suns.. and a norway maple twice as much ... this plant is used for it summer variegation.. i have no clue what fall color is.. and it doesnt flower.. and i believe its sterile.. so no helicopters... check it out

ken

ps: how could i forget this one ... a tricolor beech .... it also can burn off the pink/white in august.. but who cares.. it is supreme in late may thru july or so .. ignore the dwarf ... who needs a stinkin flower .... and the color will last a month longer than a spring flower .. which usually gets frosted off the day after it opens ...

dance time.. bye

What? So youre telling me it doesnt matter that cacti grow in well draining sand soil, and that they survive and thrive in water retaining clay? You are also saying that all trees are adapted to clay soil, no matter where they adapted to and where they evolved?

Im sorry what you said is blatent misinformation. Yes the vast majority of our garden plants need clay, it helps make up good soil. If you read what the OP stated her soil and I quote:

" is almost all clay"

That definitely will impact the choice on what tree to plant. Clay hold water, and when it dries upit turns to a sortve concrete and pulls apart from itself, making it almost impossible to rehydrate when totally dry.

If your soil is that much clay, you may want to think about adding peat/manure/compost (or all of the above) at planting time, as far around the tree as you possibly can (use the drip line as a guide).

Sorry, I just had to clarify because to different people "berries" could mean different things. Ill see what i can find..

They are thinking of having two trees in the front yard. Lets rule out conifers. I had suggested some type of serviceberry for the tree I'm asking for specific recommendations for, but mom didnt like the idea of the berries.

Thats a good point about a bloom turning into some (most likely that we are trying to avoid here!). We could consider like you recommend one tree to blooms and one for fall color. Although, if for this tree we could have a bloom and foliage that would be great.

I did get moms approval that if birds were to eat most of any berries or such then it wouldn't really be a problem. Its just if a bunch of stuff were to accumulate on the ground that it would be an issue.

===>>

the first and the last are two types of the same.. if not the same ... flowering cherry

in my z5 MI ... no such thing as a CM ... dogwoods are variable depending on native or foo foo .. and wind.. especially in winter ...

no cacti grow in my z5 .. except maybe the prickly pear ... if that is a true cacti

the cherry type trees of washington DC ... sometimes they bloom.. sometimes they dont.. depending on my z5 frost freeze after bud set ... micro climate rules on those ... as well as them dying outright in a bad z5 winter ....

so it all matters which z5 ...

many peeps in no drain clay .. plant only half to the root mass in the clay.. and berm above and around .. allowing the tree to live long enough with drainage .. to put its roots where it can cope with the native soil ...

the deal with z5.. is that MI z5.. is much different than say kansas city z5 ... zone is simply put ... min winter temps ... one day .... one minute in time in the dead of winter ... to exaggerate for impact ...

summer in z5 can be the opposite issue.. as to what can cope year round.. though perhaps this issue is not as great when outside the world of conifers ... further south z5 has severe summer humidity problems ...

give us a major city ...

NEVER amend a planting hole ... unless you really know what you are doing ...

the problem with really bad clay.. is that you basically dig a cauldron ... which water will never drain out of .... and there arent many trees that like to live in a tub of water.. roots need air.. as much as they need moisture ... so the half in.. half out idea.. allows the tree to put its roots where it can cope... and if you accept the cauldron idea.. you should understand.. that adding anything into the cauldron.. is NOT going to make water drain any faster.. and many things thrown in holes.. actually RETAIN more water.. like anything peat based ...

to suggest your general area is completely devoid of trees ... and no tree can ever live in your clay ... is probably not reality ... trees can definitely grow and cope with any clay ... and your 40 year old concolor is a prime example..

the real issue is the fact that you are moving and planting a tree.. and can it 'cope'.. due to the transplant.. until it can take care of itself.. which is a short way of saying.. its the human touch that will kill them ...

i still maintain.. there are very few trees that can not deal with it ... otherwise zone appropriate ... if they are properly planted .. and cared for ...

anyway.. if you cant tell.. i am stills struggling to stay awake.. to go pick her up form the dance in a 30 minutes ...

i figured what you meant on the fruiting .. just trying to clarify your ideas into concepts that can be discussed ...

just trying to focus you on the thought process .. without suggesting that everyone elses replys are 'blatent misinformation'...

anyway.. did the variegation do anything for mom .. or is that too far outside the box.. lol ... its more of a walk out there and enjoy it often.. rather than gaze at it from the window type thing.. depending on distance from house ...

redbud might be a very early pink ... seedlings probably wont be an issue in grass ... and my 25 year old one that came with the house.. didnt go much beyond 25 feet ... i cant recall any special fall color on the heart shaped leaves ... see link .. oh yeah.. add 'in fall' to the search .. and its a lemon yellow ... though there is a red one there called 'Charlotte Eastern Redbud'.. and i know nothing about that one ... 4th pic

ken

ps: i suspect we are reading much more into your description of your soil.. than you mean to imply ... have you ever done a perk test.. dig a hole .. fill with water.. and find out how fast it drains ...

and frankly .. if it drains at all.. you do NOT have 'bad' clay ... i bet december is not the best to to try this.. as in my z5.. the soil has been frozen for 10 days already ...

With regard to the clay, I'm not sure. I would guess that you are correct but i just dont know. My folks are in west central iowa, pretty much right in the middle of Des Moines, Council Bluffs, and Sioux City.

the problem with really bad clay.. is that you basically dig a cauldron ... which water will never drain out of .... and there arent many trees that like to live in a tub of water.. roots need air.. as much as they need moisture ... so the half in.. half out idea.. allows the tree to put its roots where it can cope... and if you accept the cauldron idea.. you should understand.. that adding anything into the cauldron.. is NOT going to make water drain any faster.. and many things thrown in holes.. actually RETAIN more water.. like anything peat based ..."

You just totally disregarded your first post with this "adivce". The fact that the soil is almost all clay means you can do 2 things:

Get trees that are used to clay soil

or

Amend to a point.

Peat drains better then clay. Almost ANYTHING drains better then clay. The one thing you should put in clay soil is sand/peat. THis creates air pockets for roots, holds water, yet will still drain.

Also, the debate as to amend or not is HIGHLY DEBATED, yet in many situations is recommended as there are too many places with degraded soil.

For instance, Iowa has some bad soil, because its old farmland. Chemical ferts tend to suck the soil of nutrients, making soils thin, exposing clay. The same goes for the SE and SW, where farming was extensive and soils are depleted.

No matter where you are you will eventually hit clay, its just a matter of how deep. Some places its barley a foot under the top soil, some places its tens of feet deep.

Also @ken "ust trying to focus you on the thought process .. without suggesting that everyone elses replys are 'blatent misinformation'..."

If you read my post, you would have seen i was referencing a certain part of YOUR post, not everyone else. You are going back n fourth about clay. Please make up your mind for the sake of the OP.

@mdchambe I will second the use of an Eastern Redbud (cercis canadiensis). They are pretty adaptable and should be ok as long as the soil drains ok.
Also, I agree with the "perk" test. You may also want to get your soil compostion tested just to make sure. It may not be as bad as you think!