Need landscaping ideas!

[KyleY]

Hello all,
We're about to move into our new house that we built. We need to pick out our trees very soon. I would really appreciate any help from the members here. This is our first house and we don't want to mess anything up! We are supposed to get 4 canopy trees according to city restrictions (or fewer canopys and more ornamentals). I have included a drawing of our lot and surrounding lots to show what the land looks like and position of the house:
http://www.edscope.com/other/OurLot.gif

It's an odd shaped lot with a very large side yard but small back yard. North is at the top of the drawing. There's a slight downward slope to the East. So, here are my thoughts / questions:
-- What trees should we get that grow quickly and are strong? We were thinking about Maples and Ash trees. We like Pears, but IIRC they aren't very strong. I like Oaks, but we don't want to mess with acorns. We'd like medium to large size trees (40 - 50' maybe?). I'd also like to keep the price down as much as possible. This area is a little more windy than most areas. My wife isn't too fond of evergreens, but I would kind of like one or two in the back. Any suggestions for them?
-- Where should we plant our trees? There's nothing slowing down the wind from the West, but we'd also like to consider a swimming pool on the West side of the house, perhaps a fence also.
-- Our house is on relatively high ground, and we look down into the rear neighbors' lots despite the trees they have. Neither of us have any privacy because of the shape of the land (worse for them really).
-- Water tends to flow along the south border of our lot.
-- I like the idea of having an open area too (in the west part of the yard).

So, considering all that, where should we place our trees? Maybe around the 4 corners of the house? If you have any other thoughts, I'm really looking forward to hearing them! Thanks in advance,
--Kyle Yamnitz
Expanding the Scope of Education:
http://www.EdScope.com

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

You want them close enough so that the shade will fall on the roof and keep the AC down some. Far enough away so that the mature spread will nor conflict with the building. Trees loose that battle. So a tree that has a 40 foot diameter should not go 10 ft from the house.

Fast frowing has weaker wood so a mix of fast growing and slower would be better.

See if your library has "Modern Arboriculture", "New Tree Biology", "Tree management". They are easy to skim and have parts on selecting small trees for structure.

Look at Dirrs woody manual too for species information.

If possible go with cultivars of speicies because the form is more reliable. The are developed for this very purpose.

Get one large tree for instant effect and the rest small, dormant bare root planting is easiest and the least likely to be done wrong. Planting too deep is one of the biggest cases of trees dieing befor reaching full maturity. Only 15 years old and going through the chipper.

Plan the landscape to be installed in phases, two trees now two more next year, with some shrubs.

In areas with limited space look for cultivars that are; columnar, fasigiate, upward spreading or other form descriptions that indicate they will not be wide, and watch the mature crown spread too. Remember that "dwarf" is a term relative to the parent species, not a set hight. If a pear can grow 30 ft tall, a dwarf could be 15.

that's enough free advise, any more and I'd have to charge. And the trip charge would be a doosey!

One last point relating to the phased plan. Beware of the installer that wants to sell a lot of material. I've had many client curse the landscraping artichoke that sold 10 spirea where 4 would have worked ect...ect...