Metasequoia Glyptostroboides - Dawn Redwood will work nicely if you have an urge for a redwood.

Generic answer is an oak. Are you far enough south live oak does well? I want one but cant here in St Louis.

What do you like?

plant as a sapling when I get married (plenty of time there, no active prospects at the moment)

===>>> well.. thats planning ahead.. lol ..

i say oak ...

call your local county Ag or extension office for suggestions about which are the best for your area.. should you get no specific answer here ...

ken

Never too early to start thinking about starting a new tradition or two. ;)

There are definitely oaks in the area (my old church had one by the parking lot that was the bane of old people everywhere with the copious amount of acorns it dropped on the pavement every year), so thats always an option.

I'd love to have something unusual though, either in appearance or in shear size. Was looking into a durian tree until I saw that it couldn't take the winters here (not unusual to have at least a few nights a year that get down into the single digits).

The dawn redwood looks very nice, although another garden site rundown on it says it likes wet feet, and while I have areas on the lot that would suit it, none are close enough to the house to be overly practical. Up on a hill, so its pretty well drained. Area was mostly pine up until about 10 years ago when that pine bark beetle plague hit us pretty hard.

Would love to have one of those hundred foot tall trees that could be seen for miles away over the rest of the forest canopy (even if I wouldn't live to actually see it).

in my world.. trees with 100+ foot potential.. should be planted about.. wait for it.. 100+ feet from the house ... no matter what spectacular pix you might see ...

how big is the property ...

ken

About 25 acres. Planting 100' from the house would be simple enough. Just the driveway is a quarter of a mile.

You have enough space to plant a grove one for each kid and grand kid. You can different varieties.

sycamore........

I would try Live oak somewhere on all that land, there were posts in the past, where some people in Tennessee can grow them, they are supposed to be zone 7. I would try at least, I want one also, but I'm in Pa zone 6. White oak is great too, I have a few of them. You can probably grow tons of trees, one of each species. Sycamore is fast growing and can live up to 500 years under good conditions.

Redwood might work for you if you're really in zone 7A. It might be risky, but worth a shot as an experiment.

Oak seems like the traditional way to go, though.

No guarantees even with oaks:

Oak Wilt www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/howtos/ht_oakwilt/toc.htm

Sudden Oak Death web.utk.edu/~mtaylo29/pages/sudden%20oak%20death.html

Oak Decline www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/oakdecline/oakdecline.htm

Red Oak Borer www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/Red%20Oak%20Borer/redoak.htm

One thing you've got to consider in your locale is what trees are the best at surviving tornados? Anything tall and slender like a Redwood or Sequoia is likely not a good choice. Along with several others here I'd suggest one of the native southern/south eastern Oaks. Not sure how they do in tornados but the southern evergreen Magnolia gets pretty big as well as having great flowers.

for once.. a peep with a dream forest.. and the property to put it on ... whats that all about ... lol

we are usually dealing with someone who has 200 square feet and wants a 385 foot tall redwood.. lol ...

get ye to as many local arboteum as you can ... i am sure brandon can list some out .. and go explore what grows naturally within your area ... thats my best advice ...

and its a nice way to waste a day outdoors ...

if you can not find a labeled collection .. try to find and take a picture of a leaf .. and the trunk .. and many peeps here can probably offer an ID ...

if i had 25 acres... i sure wouldnt wait until a marriage.. to start planting.. whats that all about .... have you already started reforestation???? or do you already have a forest???

ken

Oh, I already have quite the forest. I inherited the land from my grandfather that used to farm part of it, and in the 10 years or so since he gave it up before he died the forest has completely reclaimed the "corn field" (which was never more than a bushhogged lot as far back as I can remember).

Tornados aren't an issue really. I'm in Chattanooga, surrounded by plateaus and mountains. We get the occassional tornado warning every 5 years or so, but there's only been one or two instances of one touching down around here that I can recall, and they weren't big enough to do more than tear up some carports.

I would probable start with White Oak, a Tulip Tree, Blackgum, and a Ginkgo. None particularly uncommon, but all very nice and long lived.

Arktrees

I like the ginkgo idea. They are extremely pest and disease free and tend to be very long-lived. The fruit might be an issue if you don't get a grafted male cultivar.

Check this one out. In winter, they stand out against the horizon like massive living forts. Interesting bark on mature specimens. They line the canal of a town closeby, remnants of when it was settled two hundred years ago. It's a tree for your children's children's children to remember you by.

Here is a link that might be useful: Notable trees

My uncle's neighobr has a coast redwood growing in zone 6 so iam sure you could in zone 7. The only thing about them is that they dont like wind so plant a wind block around the area with some white pine or other conifer type tree. Also there is a hardier variety available of coast redwood that is called "Swarthmore Hardy" that would do great in your zone.

How bout an African Baobab Tree? Ok... just kidding. But seriously I think a Coast Redwood might work. I am attempting one from seed myself. It is 1/2" tall right now. I'll let you know how it does over the next 2000 years or so.

Tulip Poplar is a nice tree that can get pretty big 100-165' and would do well in your zone.

Double your pleasure; for a marriage, plant a tree to represent each of you. Or plant one for you now, and one for her when she 'arrives.' Maybe a sycamore for you, and a tulip poplar for her?

Be mindful of growth rate if you do something like that. A white oak or ginkgo (the latter can take 2 - 3 years to settle in & start moderate growth, someone on the forum mentioned) will likely be dwarfed within a few years by a sycamore of tulip poplar, until it catches up way in the future.

Richard.