Trees never stop growing. Some may grow faster or slower than others. There is no absolute maximum.

Someone else told me that before, but... I mean... that can't be true! If it was then we'd have 1,000 foot trees all over the place! LOL

I have a white dogwood and a tulip poplar in my front yard, and they seem to have maxed out at about 30'. I've been here for 20 years, and I don't think they're any taller than when I moved here.

I guess that I'm hoping to hear from others with this same tree, and how big theirs have gotten? I mean, I'll probably be dead in 30-40 years so I don't care if it's 250' tall in 100 years... I just need it to get to 12' soon, and then slow down for awhile :-)

... I just need it to get to 12' soon, and then slow down for awhile This sweetbay is about 20 years old. In Virginia zone 6b, it blooms in June/July and smells great. It hasn't added more than foot in height in the past 5 years. From what I read: sweetbay's natural range runs from New Jersey, down the east coast into Florida and around into Louisiana. It is shrub-like in the north, taller in the south. So I think for us in the mid-Atlantic states, it will top out around 20 foot, not anywhere near the 50+ max in the deep south.

I installed 2 sweet bay magnolias from the website mentioned above in spring 2020. They’ve been totally neglected while we had construction on our house last year but seem to be fine. I bought the 3-4ft size and they haven’t grown a ton in height but I’m hoping this is the year per the old adage. I’d hoped to keep them as shrubs or small trees per some of what I’d read. Location is just outside DC.

Well I planted 'Jim Wilson' as a three gallon transplant about 8 years ago and it's 30 foot in my oft-flooded front yard. I expect 50, but who knows how long I'll live (or it will if my property is sold). They say it gets 35 foot...I don't think it'll stop then though.

How long are your blooms lasting?

I'm debating between the Sweetbay and Little Gem Magnolia:

https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/products/little-gem-magnolia

I have a Little Gem in the front yard already, but it's new this year so I haven't seen it long-term yet.

Max height on the Little Gem is 20'. It can bloom for up to 6 months, which is great, but with this being a shadier area I don't know if that's realistic. Everything I'm reading says that the Little Gem is OK in the shade, it just won't bloom as much.

The Little Gem is slightly more expensive than the Sweetbay ($89 vs $69 for the same size sapling), and the fact that I already have one is a turn off. But 6 months of blooms... :-O

Also, @User, the shape of your Sweetbay is MUCH prettier than the shape on their website!

Which one should I expect if I order it? If it looks like this picture then it's really too similar to the rhododendron to be complementary.

Like any tree, it could be pruned to remove all the low growth. Then it would look like a tree.