"The yard is tiny 30 by 45"

Errr, 30 by 45 what? Metres? centimetres?

Resin

sorry, the yard is 30 feet deep by 45 feet wide.

The canal is in which direction from the house?

Dan

i would go with smaller flowering trees like dogwood or redbud ....

nothing called 'fast growing' for sure ...

ken

the canal is 30 feet from back of house. The back of the house faces west, the yard gets plenty of sun. Any feedback on Kousa dogwood, Local nursey carries them.

The only height I'd be concerned about is within 25 feet of the house and you are planning on solar collectors, you want a tree under 25', provided it is a one-story. Conversely, a large tree close to the back may impinge on the solar access of the neighbor. Otherwise tree height shouldn't be an issue.

Dan

My garden is about half that size. I have a weeping birch, Betula pendula 'youngii', A medlar, 'Large Russian' and a mountain ash/rowan, Sorbus vilmorinii. There was a crab pple, Golden Hornet but I cut it down because it retained it's brown mushy fruit all through the winter and was not very shapely, not because there was no room. They are growing in my flower beds which are also full of plants. It's amazing what you can fit in if you pick the right trees. The link might be useful but be aware that is for UK gardens. I don't know if Ligustrum lucidum would go down too well in your area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trees for small gardens

Most Japanese maples will fit within those constraints quite easily and many cultivars will tolerate a lot of sun. For a flowering tree, I'd consider a crabapple - most popular cultivars stay relatively compact and offer improved diseased resistance and have a very showy flower display as well as fall/winter fruit. Cornus kousas don't grow too tall but tend to get quite quite wide and spreading with age.

There are no hard and fast rules about tree size versus garden size or even height of structure. A sense of scale and proportion is always a good thing to keep in mind, so something that'll eventually get 50+ feet with an equal spread may not be the best choice. And as Dan mentions, one does need to be congnizant of size and placement close to the house. The front garden at my old house was of a similar size (20'x60') and I had multiple trees planted - 2 Japanese maples, a semi-dwarf apple, Magnolia stellata (another good small tree choice), a koelreuteria and a tree-form cotoneaster. And there was room for a whole lotta other stuff, too!

Thanks for all the beneficial information. We have created a preliminary list of the following trees: japanese maple,
fringe tree, kousa dogwood, redbud, crape myrtle, carolina silverbell, snow bell. We would like to supplement trees with ornamental grasses, hope that would work.