How about a Loquat tree? I have one in my yard which the bees and birds adore. When it fruits I fight off the birds and squirrels for the sweet fruit. It is a compact tree and doesn't get tall. Came through the hurricane like a trooper. Not a single branch was lost...unlike my oaks!

Jane

Jane funny you should mention loquats. We talked about them you and I in other posts. On Mobday after Irma left my area I walked outside to inspect the property and there was my loquat, not a leaf out of place…but lost 6 oaks. So I sort of decided then and there another loquat would be just perfect! Great minds think alike!

BTW how did your orchids do? Mine live in the shadehouse and they spent two days in the garage along with all the other shadehouse plants.

Hmm, down here yellow elder is more of a shrub than a tree, although I guess you can prune it to one main trunk. Very handsome plant.

Thank you Tom and WB. I may just have to get one of each!

Bea, just got back on and saw your post. We survived!!!

What an ordeal. Took me a week to move all my orchids inside and outside in safe places...exhausting!

But, my property is a mess. The wind must have come through in certain areas because shrubs looked shaved or cut. Weird,

My Loquat is the only tree that didn't have a leaf fall. So odd and its so close to my lanai I was worried. Nothing! Great strong tree.

My Oaks, dropped so many branches I am thankful that none of them hit our roof or caused any damage. But you can barely walk in my yard with all the Oak branches and leaves.

I am seriously thinking of taking them down. They are too close to the house and some of the branches are quite large. I have had these trees pruned over the last five years.

I still recommend the Loquat for you. I like how compact they are and do not take over the yard. They are neat and don't seem to require any care (at least in my yard!) Plus, you know I am addicted to the fruit!

Jane

Another thought is a Japanese Fern Tree, Filicium decipiens. A beautiful leaf and round shape. It is a good screener and gives shade without being huge.

Jane, glad you're ok and your house and orchids are too.

I Agree with you about the oaks. They are such messy trees. Our yard was a jungle of fallen branches too. We are having three that would likely cause extensive structural damage to our house taken down.

as a general aside: with oaks make sure it's southern live oak or sand live oak, myrtle oak looks similar (but trunk is less furrowed) but is much less wind resistant, live oaks are actually some of the most wind resistant trees in FL due to their low center of gravity. UF has done studies proving this: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR17400.pdf

also it's good when plants lose leaves in wind, might be "messy" and "inconvenient" but it's an adaptation to hurricane prone regions, this is especially important for taller trees.

[also, along with having older trees checked for problems/rot every so often, obviously never have your trees trimmed by people not certified. the few oaks i've seen downed through the years in my neighborhood ALL had been trimmed poorly in ways that invited disease or made sides heavier than others meanwhile i saw untrimmed red maples that were downed left and right. post-hurricane there's a lot of frauds running about, just be careful]

that ramble aside: for small trees i second loquats, they are good and edible.

some others:

- chaste tree (best for areas with harsh sun/well-drained soil)

- pindo palm (edible)

- american redbud N [give at least some time with shade imo] my cultivar is 'rising sun' and i love it

- red buckeye N [give at least some time with shade imo]

- Pineapple guava (plant 2 genetically distinct ones to get fruit)

There's also American fringe tree and southern catalapa (a lot of these planted at UNF, i find their leaves interesting) but they might be just out of your height limit depending on the specimen.

Mostly I wish people could magically transfer their old large trees to me :P I have a medium-sized live oak but I wish I had more big ones

If you want to remove live oaks, you should check with your municipality first, because that may not be as straightforward as you think. Many towns have come to realize the value of the surviving tree canopy, now that there's so little of it left.

BTW Jane, I didn't say anything before the storm because it was too late to do anything about it, but if you have double entry doors you should look into getting some kind of protection for them for future hurricane seasons, because they fail very regularly.

Even my SIL who has impact windows all round and felt prepared, was pretty panicky the day before the storm when she realized they never thought about their double front door and everyone else in their development was cranking down/putting up the shutters on their doors. Double entry doors and garage doors are major fail points if left unprotected.