Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: front yard shade tree - help please, 2 by momlady

momlady wrote:
I have been looking at trees to figure out what to put in the front yard as a shade tree. We have a one story house in a small neighborhood of one story houses. Pistil and I drove around Seattle and scoped out a bunch of trees to find likely candidates.

The final 3 candidates were (drum roll)...

Fraxinus oxycarpa \'Raywood\' - BEAUTIFUL to look at, great fall color, BUT there are concerns about surface roots (we have septic) and it might be brittle (we are on a windy site),

Aesculus x carnea \'Briotii\' - awesome for shade, beautiful flowers, not as much crud dropping as other Aesculus varieties, good for clay (we have clay), BUT no fall color,

Sorbus alnifolia - good for clay, fast growing (I\'m old), great fall color, attractive tree.

I decided on the Sorbus alnifolia. It doesn\'t seem to have any drawbacks.

However, the Sorbus alnifolia has an unsurmountable downside! I can\'t find it for sale anywhere. Local nurseries don\'t have it, mail order companies don\'t have it.

Does anybody know where I can get one? Otherwise, I might go with the Aesculus x carnea \'Briotii\'. After all, I\'m from Ohio, aka \"the buckeye state.\"

You all know trees better than I do. If you know something, good or bad, about my candidates, all information is welcome. If you know of a better candidate, I\'d love to hear your ideas, too.

The pictures are Aesculus x carnea, Sorbus alnifolia, and Fraxinus oxycarpa \'Raywood\'.