Since you have good soil and an irrigations system and your in zone 5 I would try a Korean Stewartia. It is one of the best 4 season plants available, great bark, flowers and have great fall color. David

Try Cornus Kousa - Chinese Dogwood - nice shape,flowers, bark on mature trees. It has a fine root system so large roots should not be an issue.

please keep in mind that planting to hide foundations.. has absolutely nothing to do with planting too close to the foundation ...

whatever you decide on .... plant it far enough away from the house.. so that it never becomes a problem ...

for stunning effect .. how about a tri color beech .. two pix below ... ignore the dwarf ...

it may get a bit bigger than you want.. in 25 years ... but in my world.. enjoy it for 20 years.. and then get rid of it .... rather than skipping it for such reasons ...

good luck

ken
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For that size, don't forget to consider shrubs that grow large enough to be small trees. Something like Viburnum prunifolium 'Summer Magic'.

This is a native shrub that gets up to 15 feet tall with an very upright form. It has attractive white flowers.

They all sound like great ideas. I just put a Kousa in another garden. This will be it's first season of bloom. I looked up the Stewartia, Viburnum and Beech - any could work well. I think I'll give the Stewartia (is the Korean the one to get? I read mixed accounts of this) a go and I'll keep the other ideas tucked away. There's another garden forming off the patio!!! I LOVE this time of year!
Thanks.

Wow, Ken -- That beech is gorgeous. I've been looking for a small-to-medium specimen tree to replace a big oak that threatened the house.... I think I may have to look into that tri-color beech. Thanks for posting the pictures!

It is really beautiful. Does it hold that color all season? I've never seen anything like it.
Thanks.
Nancy

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