Soliciting suggestions for shrubs, conifers or small trees

I'm leaning towards replacing my cherry laurels because they're disease-prone and I'm tired of all the spraying required to keep them alive. The area gets afternoon sun and has fairly good drainage. Rhododendrons would grow well there - I have 2 that are 12' tall right next to them - but they would eventually get too wide for that spot and I would prefer not to prune them.

I want something that's native, evergreen or semi-evergreen, and will get at least 8 feet tall eventually. Berries for the birds would be a plus. Any and all ideas would be most welcome.

Maybe much bigger than you need, but one of the compact selections of Magnolia virginiana var. australis might just wet your whistle.

'Tensaw' is a VERY handsome plant...

That is indeed a very handsome plant - much, much better-looking than cherry laurels with an ever-increasing number of dead branches.
I never would have thought of putting magnolias in that spot because I assumed they all required full sun. I have a Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem' in a sunny spot in my front yard, and I love it. I'll take a look at the other Magnolia virginiana var. australis selections, too.

Another shrub I was looking at is Ilex vomitoria (what an unfortunate name), but its growth rate probably would be slower.

Geez V, I'm surprised you didn't suggest a Viburnum ;P

Muddy1 went native on me - don't have an evergreen one of those for zone 7.

If released from that restriction, then Katie bar the door...

Yes, I am now native, but before I went native I planted plenty of non-native but non-invasive shrubs that are allowed to stay. I have more than 80 shrubs on 1/3 acre, including 27 different genuses. If anyone wants advice on what deer don't eat in my area, just ask! I do have an evergreen viburnum, a V. rhytidophyllum in a dry, very shady area of my yard. It's growing at a glacial pace, but is very healthy. I also have a Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum 'Mariesii' (deciduous of course), which is very healthy but which doesn't produce many flowers because it is in part sun.

ROFL :)

You only have 80 shrubs on a 1/3 acre? Haha...you've only just begun my friend!

Might one of the Ilex we can't grow up here work? I'll be VV can come up with at least one that would fit.

Hi Muddy, would a dwarf mountain laurel work in that area?

I'm partial to SSG's suggestion of mountain laurels, the state flower of Pennsylvania since 1933. I would stay away from the dwarf version "elf" if you want it to grow to 8 foot eventually. I've got native mountain laurel's that are near 20+ years old and 10+ foot tall. Mountain laurels are great plants and once established require little to no care. Their shiny green foliage is attractive as well.

Mountain laurels are slooooow growers. Although there are sighted instances of them growing 40 foot tall.
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/kallat/all.html

If you end up in the world of rhododendrons, I would look at a lepidote rhododendron that offers color in the fall. I suspect they would reach 8 foot in 10-15 years, but they are easily pruned to maintain any height preferred. A very common one in the trade is 'PJM', or 'PJM elite' Weston hybrids.
If you want to know more about the Weston hybrids: http://www.rhododendron.org/v53n4p195.htm

Another Weston favorite, but less common commerically is 'Landmark.'
Lepidote Rhododendron of the year, 2009 for the Mid-Atlantic - http://www.rhododendron.org/roy05mw.htm
http://www.hortmag.com/plants/plants-we-love/rhododendron_landmark

Good luck!

Did I say 80, Sequoia? I meant 90 - 97 if you count Abelias, although I'm not sure they qualify as shrubs.

Did I say 80, Sequoia?! I meant 90 - - 97 if you count Abelias, although I'm not sure they qualify as shrubs because they're so tiny and cute. And those shrubs are competing with 4 40-year old "real" maple trees, a toddler red maple, 2 JMs, a mature white pine that was granted a stay of execution after its 5 neighbors were eliminated after being found guilty of association with the one that fell on my house, 3 dogwoods and a purple leaf plum. Yes, I am all about excess LOL

Pseudo, I did think about hollies. I have an Oakleaf Holly growing 2 shrubs away from the cherry laurels and doing very well, but the cherry laurels are shaded by 2 very large red maples and thus get a little less sun. Another Oakleaf holly planted at the same time in a marginally less sunny site is barely 2/3 the size of the other, so I hesitate. I do have a holly volunteer (maybe American, I'm not sure) that has grown to about 10 feet in total dry shade, however.

VV, do you know of hollies that would do well in a NW position under the shade of 2 mature red maples if the sun doesn't hit them until maybe 2 p.m. in the height of summer? I think that's part sun, but I haven't measured it. Of course, taking out my massive silver maple would bring in more light.

ssgardener, mountain laurels should grow well there, but I want a denser shrub for that location...one that the birds can escape into when the hawks do dive bombs for them.

UMD_Terp: I'll look at the rhododendrons you mentioned because rhodos are definitely reliable shrubs for that area. I have 3 in that corner already, all as tall as the 1st level of my house. The one that really cracks me up is Rhododendron 'Cunningham's White', which was supposed to grow to be 4' tall. It didn't get that memo!

Yikes! A white pine fell on your house? I have a young white pine that is about 20 feet from the house. It was either that or a Canadian Hemlock because the wife didn't like the Austrian Pine (I don't know how she couldn't). I picked the pine because I didn't feel like dealing with the Hem's adelgid problems..90+ shrubs is more like it! We have somewhere around that but we don't have anything mature on our 1/4 acre besides a Picea Pungens....it was a clean slate when we moved in :) perfect situation!

I've seen mountain laurels with pretty dense growth. They seem to be denser than rhododendrons. Is this not the norm, or does it depend on growing conditions?

Ssg, it depends on the growing conditions. There are really dense thickets of mountain laurels in nature and also lanky, spindly thin clusters. Commercially they are pruned to be more of thick shrub. I am growing a few different cultivars but have not planted them out yet so I can not attest to how much attention they need to maintain the dense shrub look.

Rhododendrons require corrective pruning as well when young but need little to none after.

Sequoia: Actually, only one of the 2 leaders fell on my house, but it happened to be about 2 feet in diameter. The base of the tree was 4' in diameter. If I can say one nice thing about white pines, it's that the roots tend to be deep so the entire tree doesn't fall over.
Still, if I were you, I would cut it down now before it gets larger even if it happens to have a nice single leader. Eastern white pines are prone to drop entire limbs from the bottom up as they age. In addition to the risk that one of those limbs will drop on shrubs, fences or houses, the trees start to look incredibly ugly. I shelled out money several times to have pros climb up 40 feet or so to saw off the stubs left when limbs fell. When I finally decided they had to go, my decision was made easier by the facts that the only green on these 60-plus feet tall pines was in the top 10 feet and even the squirrels gave up on building nests in them.
One last thing: I didn't worry about this much, but apparently it's bad for pine sap to fall on shingles. At 20 feet away, that pine will drop plenty of sap on your shingles and needles in your gutters.

Well I appreciate the advice but I really like the white pines. I am aware of the negatives. Ours currently has a single leader because I pruned out a double leader. I like the look they have when they shed branches, I think it's something that gives the tree character and individuality because no two trees will look alike. Although, I'm sure our newly planted large shrub bed would have something to say about it, I'm going to let it get bigger. We'll see what happens; there are a lot of mature white pines in our area and the only time I've seen something negative was last year in Sandy I saw one break off halfway up and fall down but that one was only about 40'. I feel the same could be said of many trees though if you put them in a stressful enough situation like Sandy.

Sequouia, it sounds like you've got it under control. The shrubs should love the pine needle mulch. White pines can be beautiful, that's true.

Ah yes the needle mulch, oh how I can't wait for that. I have a Loblolly in the back I should be able to get some from as well once it matures. I love long leaved pines :)