The first thing I would suggest is a well thought out tree planting plan that takes future plans, wants and needs in to consideration.

What's your nearest city/state so we have an idea of what to suggest? Norfolk, VA is going to differ a lot from Minneapolis from Bismarck...

While it is attractive to purchase a lot of gal or half gal plants, we have found it is more cost effective in the long run to buy plant and trees as large as you can afford.

My reason is not about plant biology but animal biology. If you buy a small plant, rabbits, deer, etc can make a meal of the whole plant and it is lost. If you buy a big plant, it is big enough that it can donate a couple of leaves to the deer and still have enough energy to grow new leaves and increase it size.

We live in a rural area and have planted our yard to attract wild life. We have a one large flower bed that is planted to attract butterflies and birds. We have natural areas in our yard for those animals that like a little privacy. In this area we have rabbits, opossums, squires, and foxes. This area also attracts buzzard which use the trees to roost over night. Contrary to thier reputation they are a quite interesting bird. In fact thanks to them there is a lot of "wild" life going on back there these last few weeks.

Depending on where you live will depend on what you can plant. In our area we have Maples, Sweet Gum and several types of pines, cypresses, etc. (The maples are beautiful at this time of year they are usually the first to come into bloom and are as pretty as red bud, and the like)

maritime province of Canada (think maine)

Can you ask your local nursery? They would know best what does well in your area. Many do design services for free - just bring in your pictures.
Enjoy your new home in the country!!

Location sounds dreamy :)

Probably better to have house and barn same color. Not sure about adding black to house either...

Anyway if you have deer or rabbits that will have a big effect on your gardening efforts - maybe think about putting in some wildlife fencing so you don't have wild animals deciding what happens for you. Because between the two species they can make it impossible to keep a lot of different kinds of plants intact. All the more so in a snowy climate, where feeding behavior that is not seen the rest of the time appears when snows are deep and lingering.

Maybe install a couple dedicated enclosures where gardening is concentrated if nothing else.