The white oak group is more resistant to oak wilt than the red oaks. But if you plant a few red oaks off by themselves they should be fine as long as you don't prune them in the spring or summer. Norway maple is considered invasive in many areas. Silver maples grow fast and turn yellow, but are weak compared to other maples. There are many varieties of sugar maples that would fit your bill. Some turn mostly yellow - pick one out at a nursery in the fall that has the color you want. Also check out hackberry and american linden (basswood) for yellow-in-the-fall shade trees.

Good eye on the EAB destruction around your property. All we can do is learn from it. What I take is not to plant more than a couple trees of any one species so when the next oak/maple/ash/chestnut/xxx ruby blight moth comes along it may get one of my trees but not a good number of them.

FWIW Silver maples have their place. They can be your fast growing trees. The ones on my street had a fifty year life expectancy and then became real liabilities. Still I miss mine and their high quality foliage, interesting bark, decent early spring show and good yellow fall colors. Just don't plant them where you or the next person will have to pay an arm and a leg to have them removed.

Nurseryman, thanks so much for the input. I will definitely look into the others that you mentioned.

Toronado, thank you. I'm with you on not planting too many of one thing.

A quick follow up question on the Maples - I've read that their foliage is so dense that eventually not even grass will grow underneath them. At what point would this start to ocur? I'm not sure that's something I would want, but if it doesn't happen until the tree is mature in 20 years, it might not be an issue.

Thanks again to you both, I appreciate the advice. I have lots of research ahead of me!

hey.. welcome

grew up in livonia.. down in adrain now..

can you be a bit more specific where you are

norway maples are the ones that grass does not grow under

do you plan on doing any gardening under your trees ???

pics would really make a big difference in how far we can go with ideas ....

some of these peeps can even ID your dead ones on bark alone ...

ken

Hi Ken, fellow Michigander! I'm in a small little country town called Deerfield Township, just north of Hartland, but grew up on the east side. I know exactly where you're at! I don't think we'll be doing any gardening under the trees, but I don't think I want to kill off the grass like that. The Norway might be too much shade.

I think I've narrowed down to either Oaks or Maples, or maybe one of each? I don't know! I prefer a fuller leaf and a taller canopy which is why I'm partial to those I guess, but I'm trying to keep an open mind. I want to make sure it's a nice size and fit for the space above all else. I'd also like to plant a smaller ornamental tree towards the left side yard. Here are some pics of my yard and trees. I added a description to each pic to help describe things. You'll have to click on each picture to read them. Hope this works!

http://s714.photobucket.com/user/adpetrucci/library/Yard

Whoops. Here are the individual pics.

Left side yard
{{gwi:422018}}

View from left side yard - those couple pine trees look like they're creeping into the yard, but they're not. They're off to the side.
{{gwi:422020}}

Middle yard - Here is where I'd like to plant the two large shade trees. They'll go as far back as possible, just in front of the high weeds, leaving room for a potential pool one day closer to the house (big maybe on that). Starting at the high weeds is all protected land therefore we can't even clean up the dead branches back there. This makes me worry about not being able to control what invades my trees.
{{gwi:422022}}

Right side yard - Here is where I'm thinking of planting a third smaller tree, possibly ornamental. Our property line is at the lowest point of that ditch, you can kind of see the mow line.
{{gwi:422024}}

Closer up you can really see the damage. We're afraid eventually we'll lose all of these in this area.
{{gwi:422026}}

Close up of dead branches - We're not sure this is a dead Ash or part of the existing trees.
{{gwi:422028}}

does anyone in the family.. have the ability to cut done the trees for free??

if so.. get rid of them ... BEFORE you start adding things ...

if you click on the pic.. then hit the + sign.. the ID peeps can get some great closeups.. i do think they are ash ... get rid of them ...

you are rural.. cut them down.. and burn them.. right there ... you can regrow the grass next season ...

once gone.. there is no limit of what trees you replace them with...

ken

Ugh, I was afraid that was the case. Well, as I said, that whole tree line is protected by the local land conservancy, but I think we could get rid of the dead branches without drawing too much attention. When you say get rid of them, would cutting down just the visible dead branches be enough or do you suggest getting way back in there and removing every last piece and stump? I think my husband and a couple helpers could do the job. However, if we were to leave things as is in that area, will the trees we plant be in jeopardy? Even though they won't be Ash? We don't plan to plant any trees directly in or next to the tree line. They'll be in front of the patch of high weeds, where we mow back to.

Thank you very much for all the feedback. I greatly appreciate it.

Congrats on your first home! What a pretty spot you have. I am in a similar zone with sun and sandy soil, probably slightly colder than you. One tree we have really enjoyed is prunus maackii. It is growing very fast since we planted it 2 years ago. Love the shiny brownish red peeling look to the bark and the foliage is pretty. There have been no pest problems for us. Put it on your list to consider!

The spruce ("pine") trees you have are also looking healthy. Do you have any idea if they are Colorado Blue Spruce versus a dwarf version of a blue spruce? If they are CBS and only a few years old, please keep in mind these get really big, pretty fast. It might impact where you put other trees if these are not a dwarf type. :) Rachel

Thank you, mustard_seeds! Those pine trees are quite the topic of discussion around here lately. The line of them actually extends from the beginning of our drive all the way back to where the picture shows. There's 18 of them. The previous owner just planted them two years ago as she didn't get along with the neighbor. Can't imagine the cost for so many large trees! Anyway, my husband would like to remove some of them now before they get too big. He says there's too many of them too close together. I on the other hand am not so sure we should do that. I like the privacy. But now after reading your post, I'm thinking he may be right. (darn him!) The ones in the pics are very healthy, however, the first two are diseased and have to go. To answer your question, I have no idea. I would assume they are not the dwarf versions, which now has me very nervous. But thank you so much for bringing this up! We'll have to decide what we want to do with them soon. And thank you for the suggestion of the prunus maackii. That is a very pretty bark indeed. I will put it on my trees to research list!