How about a Himilayan White Birch?

Very pretty tree.

How about a Honeylocust like "Sunburst? They will grow vase shaped and provided more of a light, dappled shade instead of the dense shade a maple or Oak would cast. Ash tree or Mountain Ash (for bird food), also a bit "lighter" shade.

View of the house from the street might be good to show (for scale).

Magnolias are gorgeous yard trees.

Hmm.

Well, the slope should mean decent drainage, but what's your soil like?

Where are you located more specifically? A state (or province) at least if you don't want to be too specific. Looks East/Midwestish in your pic.

Yu could fit a large oak or maple if centered well. Sugar maple would work if the soil isn't too mucky. Red maple is more adaptable as long as the ph isn't too high (mid 7s or lower).

For oaks...red, scarlet, white, swamp white, swamp chestnut are all good choices.

If you go the oak route pick one with good fall color.

I wish your reference to "the standard crabapple" didn't have a ring of truth to it. It seems nobody plants big trees anymore, even if they have room. Just dinky dogwoods, crabapples and flowering plums (usually crowded 5 feet apart from each other). Props to you for doing the world a favor and considering something like an oak.

For those who are asking a more precise location where I live. I live in central Illinois. Tornado: what do you recommend for an oak with good fall colors?

I've had two red oaks on my last property. They both grew fast and had great fall color. Another good fall color tree is a Chinese pistache.

Quercus coccinea, Scarlet oak, would be my pick and I'd only plant one tree centered in that space. How big is that lawn area? It looks like maybe 25 to 30 feet from the street to the hedges? How wide is it? Coccinea may get too wide for the space. We're probably getting ahead of ourselves without knowing the dimensions.

Plenty of oak species have good fall color, but generally the most commonly planted ones do not. That's why Oaks have the reputation of "not having any fall color".

Pin (Q. palustris) and Northern Red (Q. rubra) oaks (most commonly seen) can sometimes have decent color, but usually end up brown pretty quick. Individual trees can color quite well, but there are better options for more consistent color.

Scarlet Oak, Quercus coccinea-varies, but at worst, a nice russet, most are a nice solid red.

White oak, Q. alba-some don't have much color, but they are far more consistent for me than pin or northern red Oak. Can range from russet red to almost purple or pinkish-red. Here in MD they usually color pretty well. They add a nice red to the later half of the fall color season in the woods around here.

Swamp Chestnut Oak (Q. michauxii)-about as variable as White Oak, ranging from a rustic brown or yellow to some variation of red, I've seen some that turn an actual deep Scarlet as good as a Scarlet oak.

Since oaks tend to be variable, the best option is to actually select your tree in the fall when they're in full color, to get a good idea of whether it's going to be a good specimen or not.

Shumard oak, Q. shumardii, also can have good color. Although they are overall similar to Northern red Oak, from what I've seen they tend to have somewhat more consistent fall color.

Nuttal oak is good too- not sure if they're reliably hardy in zone five, however.

if you want a fast growing oak you might want to consider one of the hybrids like Schuettes oak or a Chestnutleaf oak......I think Oikos Tree Crops might sell both

Sugar Maple. Hands down, a great hardwood, long lived, tough, superior shade and excellent fall color.

I roughly measured the area and its ~ 27' deep by 47' wide. I looked at a couple of neighboors which have front yards approximately the size of mine and both have two oaks planted in their front yard.

If you want a huge tree in your yard go ahead and go for one of the oaks (and only 1 rather than 2). I've been really pleased here in Iowa with a newer cultivar called Prairie Stature which is a hybrid of White Oak and English Oak- the fall color has ranged from deep pumpkin orange to bright orange-red each year.

Remember your oaks will produce acorns and that if you go with a regular species oak like Red or Bur or Chinkapin fall color is highly variable from tree to tree.

If you were doing a maple I would choose a Sugar Maple cultivar like Fall Fiesta- it is a hardwood with a fast rate of growth and absolutely outstanding fall color. In time you could create a hosta bed or other shade bed under the tree.

Now if you were looking for something a little different I would go with Magnolia acuminata, cucumbertree magnolia or one of the hybrids like Magnolia 'Butterflies'- nice yellow flowers and in time will be a big, beautiful tree that no one else in your neighborhood will have.

Also, Kentucky Coffeetree would be a great native that few other people in your neighborhood would have. They look spindly in their youth but in time will be gorgeous specimens.

Depending on where you are in zone 5 you could also do Yellow Birch of Sweet Birch, both of which are beautiful native trees in leaf, bark, and fall color.

Would not do the white-barked birch or honeylocust. (Disease and messiness)

If you have a long time to wait you could also do Three-Flower Maple (Acer triflorum). Not the fastest rate of growth but in time is a spectacular, adaptable tree in zone 5 with excellent fall color every year.

So many options, the hard part is deciding!

Oaks are fine if you want to rake leaves all year long. I think oaks are more susceptible to diseases as well, not to mention acorn litter everywhere and they are very common. I still think Sugar maples are the most ideal, there are several really nice cultivars, check it out. I planted three acres in sugar maples here in Iowa, some are grafted cultivars others are seedling stock. It's a breathtaking sight in the fall.

no chance that the area around the maple will get wintertime salt?

Sugar maples hate road salt. That's why many roadside New England sugar maples planted a hundred years ago are dead.

Personally, I don't know why you want to replace the beutiful dogwood in the picture.

What Zone? mtulin asked a good question...does your street aggressivle use road salt? Is wind an issue?

I don't think planting level is an issue...The tree will correct itself over time as it grows.

Sugar maples are beautiful trees and one of my favorite maples, but they are fussy in urban areas.

If you want the forested shade tree look, consider beech, basswood or tupelo. Beech are among my favorite trees, but do have trouble with compacted soil in urban areas. Pollinators love tupelo.

Find a local arboretum, visit it, look for live specimens of the trees you are considering.

Is doggy a boy? Looks like he is saying, "Can we get a tree a little closer for me to pee on? Those other trees are pretty far away."

:-)

Yeah the bad thing about the oaks is all the dreaded acorns and the squirrels digging in your yard.

I would go with only one tree in that space!

Another idea, if you want faster gratification is to plant 2 trees with the idea that you will cut one down when your favorite one is big enough to be really attractive. I know, people don't like cutting down trees, but I have had good experience with this. I agree about messy oaks, disease prone birches and honey locusts... people have made some good suggestions here for other trees. I would add a heritage birch to the list of viable alternatives.

Hi everyone. Its sure been awhile and i did exactly as some of you recommended i waited until the leaves started to turn to look at trees. Unfortunately one of the main trees i wanted to look at only one place had (and they only had 1 left) and that was a Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple. The one they had didn't look that nice to be honest. They had others there (that were much nicer) but unfortunately all the other had sold tags on them. It was a 1-1/2 in tree and delivered and planted was going to be around $530. One of them (which was the same price) but was already sold i would have paid that for but i just didn't like the one they had for sell.

My father works for a nursery so i decided to go look where he works. Unfortunately they have never carried the fall fiesta. They did have Scarlet Oaks though where the other place did not. They took me out to a farm close to the nursery where they had 25 acres of trees (on the larger side). Pulling up to the farm there was one tree that stood out from all the others. I colors were absolutely stunning. He said it was a sugar maple commemoration. It was one of the bigger trees on the lot. I told him i had to have it. Its a 6-1/2'' tree so of course it isn't going to be cheap. My dad hasn't haggled with the owner yet so we will see how that goes :). I've heard this type of sugar maple grows faster than some of the others but of course it isn't going to grow as fast as a fall fiesta but i'm glad i'm buying this big of a tree. Since sugar maples are slow growing how long would it take for a tree 1/2 the price to get to this size with stunning colors to boot.

I have some pictures of the tree on my iphone but they are pretty crappy. I'm probably going to take my wife to look at the tree tomorrow since i told her its going to be ugly when its planted with no leaves :(. She wants to see it in its full glory. I'll take some better pictures.

As an aside i looked for a Prairie Stature oak but no one in my area has ever heard of it. I also saw a pin oak that was pretty nice that was on my list of possibilities.

Elms can grow into beautiful trees (despite the risk of disease problems down the line).

I know you said you "don't want any of the standard flowering trees", but sweet cherries that are growing on their own roots (i.e. not grafted) can grow into huge trees. These can take up to 12-15 years before they begin producing fruit (which is why you rarely ever see them). See if you can find pictures of the Tartarian cherry tree in the Owen Rose Garden (Oregon), it's well over 150 years old. "Majestic" would not be an inappropriate description of it.

Cherry trees grow fast in first years of their life and then start growing at a much slower rate once they reach close to maximum size, great for quickly filling in when you do not have a lot of patience. Unfortunately cherry trees can also be prone to a cornucopia of different problems, much of this depending the exact climate.

Here is a large Black Cherry tree in Wisconsin (not in the same species as sweet cherry) just to give some perspective and show that not all cherries are small fruit trees.

what about bradford pear? sugar maple would be a good choice but definitely not oak

No, I don't think he would want a bradford pear, there's too many of those already. The tiny flowers smell less than pleasant, and this species can be a little invasive in some climates.

Logan, what would be so bad about English Oak?

Aside from the fact that Bradford Pear are apparently the Herbal Antichrist, it doesn't sound like the sort of tree he was looking for. He sounded like he was looking at shade trees. He said he doesn't like the usual flowering tees...Bradford pears certainly qualify. Their major selling points are that they are small, flower, tolerate road salt, and tolerate life in a little square cut into sidewalk...those aren't things he indicated he needed or wanted.

Anyway, he's made his choice...and a rather good one, at that. Sugar maple are gorgeous.

Right^. why keep throwing things at him that his initial statement should have taken off the list? And when somebody comes on here and just says, "definitely not an oak", what is the poor fellow to make of that statement? OP, work with the big-picture ideas first-how big? What shape of crown? Things like that, then work downward into bark, fruit, flower, leaf, fall color, all the little factors that always seem to come first when they should come last.

Also, on my puter, I can't determine with any degree of fidelity how much space he's working with here. So how can anyone of us make the pronouncement that there is room here for but one tree. Two trees, of roughly similar growth rate, will accommodate one another all through their lives. What is wrong with this? That is, if there's room. An awful lot of conclusion-jumping here.

+oM

Looking at your photo I'd guestimate your front yard area to be about 30' x 50'. Is this picture shot in the morning. If so then afternoon shade will come from this tree, right? I'm a big fan of Maples for fast growing. Most big shade trees will grow 50'-100' high by 40'- 60' wide. If you look at your photo you see your neighbor maybe 3 houses down with a full grown tree. That's what 1 tree will look like in 20-30 years. Across the street on the curve is what 2 or more trees will look like. My preference would be like your neighbor on your side of the road, That spacing gives you a lot more edges that are not shaded entirely by the tree. My sister lives in a neighborhood that has tons of full grown trees and her house always seems dark on the inside to me. I moved into a home that only had bushes 4 years ago I planted an Acer freemanii October Glory because of it quick early growth. I planted it from a 5 gallon pot. It was only 6' tall and now it's about 15'. I expect to get shade from it in another 10 years.

Most of my work was done in California near Sacramento. Because of space expenses they grow their trees in pots. Here we have space and tree farms are the norm. I have a friend who has a tree farm that I drive by often on my way to St. Louis. He removed a line of evergreen trees that were doing poorly and replaced them with Maples. They looked to be 1 1/2" -2" size. Because of his having to water them from transplanting about 6 out of 15 died. My point is that field grown trees have their roots well away from the trunk so there's plenty of transport shock. Bigger may not be better in this case.

Quercus coccinea or Scarlet Oak has beautiful fall color where the evening temps are low in fall. They are NOT as fast growing as the Maples. 60'-80' high by 40'-60' wide.

What ever you do plant do yourself and the tree a favor and keep a 6' planting space. This keeps the lawn mower and string trimmer well apart. I also would plant it slightly elevated say 6" to allow for settling after transplanting. This also allows good water drainage. Remember the people who plant it do what YOU tell them if you tell they what you want.