Sounds like you have a good plan. I've seen these trees get to around 50' high and 40' wide down here, but that's a tree over 40 years old. Younger ones are pyramidal probably til around 20-25 years. Our rainfall of 32"/yr. tends to limit our bigger trees to around 50'height.

I've seen them get as big as about 100' tall and 85' wide up here in Kansas. Most seem to top out at about 75' tall and 50' or 60' wide though. Their younger growth here is the same as scotjute describes. Your plan sounds reasonable to me. In 40 or 50 years or so, you might have to do some major pruning to limb the tree up to above your rooftop when it starts getting wider. Then again, that's assuming you are still in the house!

Only concern I would have would be planting it only 20 feet away from your neighbor's house.

If you do that then you will need to keep the tree's trunk pruned up until the tree grows tall enough for its bottom branches to have reached above your neighbor's roof where they will not interfere with the shingles or house siding it that house is a tall two story.

Planting this tree only 20 feet from your neighbor's house will also mean that you should not let the main leader trunk develop into two modified leaders at a point lower than the eaves of their house. Especially do not let any modified leader develop that is growing in the direction of the neighbor's house.

Shumard trees do fine in the sun exposure you described and do best if they receive sufficient water. The better water access they have, the more tendency the tree will have to produce additional modified leaders. A location, where there is not as generous amounts of water for the tree, will cause it to be less agressive in its canopy development, but also cause its canopy to suffer more damage during ice storms, once it matures to about 25 years of growth in your yard.

The other thing that should be considered, you should be aware of what will be under the tree's canopy once it matures. Especially in your neighbor's yard if you do end up planting it only 20 feet away from their house.

These trees, when planted in the sun exposure you described will begin dropping lots of acorns after about 5 to 9 years of the tree's growth in your yard. The acorns are a huge litter problem for driveways or sidewalks or patio areas. Also any acorns that drop in the flower beds will need to be weeded, or transplanted to a more sutable location.

This tree cultivar's acorns that sprout in a yard will also need to be kept mowed down more often than the grass usually needs.

Katrina,

Sorry I was not clear in my first message. The tree will be about 20 feet from my property line to the neighboring yard. Then it is an additional 15 feet to the house itself. It will probably be about 35 feet total from their house.
Does that help clarify?

Thanks!

Katrina,

Sorry I was not clear in my first message. The tree will be about 20 feet from my property line to the neighboring yard. Then it is an additional 15 feet to the house itself. It will probably be about 35 feet total from their house.
Does that help clarify?

Thanks!

Sorry for my duplicate posting, not sure what happened-- think it was the back button on the browser.

Thanks for all the advice. If anyone else has something to add I am still interested and will listen intently :)

katrina1, thanks for sharing your experiences with the Shumards. Any chance you can share some photographs of them and your Scarlet oak?

I am also considering planting one of these Shumard oak trees.

We lost a large maple tree out at the front corner of our house that was a focal point. The base was nearly 3' across. We cut it low and flat and I found a very large rectangular stone step which we sat on the stump and turned it into a stone bench.

I've been looking for a tree that is fast growing but long lasting and has beautiful fall color to plant next to the stone bench to replace the other tree. I've looked at maples. The Sugar maple is a hard wood and lasts approx 200 yrs so there is less upkeep but is very slow growing so we would never really get to enjoy it as we are in our late 50's. The Red maples are a soft wood so they last only about 100 yrs. They are fast growing but would have more upkeep with the soft wood. That may have been what was there before.

I am thankful to the people who planted the 3 tulip trees on the opposite side of our driveway along the creek. They are beautiful (although the leaves are yellow) and massive and never lose branches or make a mess other than leaves. I want to pass something with longevity on to the next people who live here someday so I didn't really wanted to leave them with the same mess we had with a soft wood, short lived tree that dropped branches all of the time.

First I read that Shumard oaks are known to live 300 yrs and now I'm reading reading less than 150 yrs. The fall color is said to be gorgeous with shades of orange and red. Is that true or are they dull looking? Poor fall color is a deal breaker for me. The tree would be planted approx 28' from the corner of the house and about 23' from the corner of the covered porch. We are in the country so neighbors aren't a concern and the street is a good 30' to the front of where it would be planted.

What is the upkeep like on these trees? I think my other concern are the acorns? Would they make a mess all over the stone bench and in the ivy planted to the sides and back of the bench. The sump pump empties on that side of the house as well so the ground is slightly wet around there at times although my husband ran a pipe to redirect it so it would no longer be a swamp there. Would that be good ground for this tree and if so, would it also be a good planting ground for the acorns which might not be a good thing? Any input would be great or if anyone could think of a better tree to plant please advise. Thanks