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I'm new here and need help picking out a good shade tree for zone 7. It will be in my front yard, about some 10-15' from the house. No power lines above to worry about. This area gets the full afternoon sun and my soil is pretty much red clay.
Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated because by reading your posts here I can tell you guys are a lot more experienced with this sort of thing than I can ever claim to be.
Thanks!
The fastest ones in our area tend to be Red Maples like 'October Glory' or hybrid maples like 'Autumn Blaze'. Most of the oaks and other traditional shade trees are going to be way too wide to be planted that close to the house. If you could be happy with a shorter shade tree, some of the cherries (like Kwansan and Okame), the plums (like Thundercloud), pears (like Cleveland Select) and taller types of crapemyrtle (like Natchez, Muskogee, Tuscarora) could all be possiblities. I know an excellent nursery in north Raleigh that would be more than happy to show you a few plants :)
Thank you very much for the information and advise. It really helped me decide and now all I have to do is plant the trees in the front yard. Finally went for the Cleveland flowering pear tree. Like I said, once it stops raining, I'll have a lot to do but couldn't have done it without your input. Thanks!
