Replenishing our Oxygen -- and adding some fun to our front yard!

We decided that we need to plant something in the maple's place -- it's already been a few years since one of the mature American Maples in our front yard choked itself to death (the roots were left wrapped around themselves when it was planted), and it's time we planted SOMEthing. If it's going to happen THIS year, it needs to be at the beginning of the growing season, so the tree has all summer to establish itself, and will weather the winter okay.

We started out looking at Japanese Maples; John really likes them, and I think they're pretty. But they want filtered sun, and they don't handle the wind well. Wind might not be a problem here, but the sun in our front yard isn't going to be filtered.

We saw some nice Magnolia trees (not what people around here call "tulip trees" -- real magnolias) -- but I'm just not sure how hardy it would be here in Wisconsin. I've never seen one blooming, which means either they're not popular here -or- they don't survive. At $130, that's not a chance I want to take, I guess.

We looked at a Newport Plum, with nice red leaves, but the leaves aren't very big -- it's more of an ornamental than a real tree.

We looked at a Honey Crisp apple tree -- it appeals to me to actually have a fruit tree with a crop ... but I'm not sure how much upkeep (spraying, pruning, rotting fruit if you don't harvest in time) it might need. We might think about that for the back yard, though. It still appeals to me. One problem with an apple tree in the front yard is I don't think it would be quite what we're going for.

So we looked and looked, and then we remembered that we had talked about Quaking Aspen. I love the shape of its leaves; I love how it looks shimmering in the breeze; I love how it sounds. Just for fun, we went to look at them ... and John remembered HE likes them, too. We looked at what they had at Minor's Garden center (Kathe recommends for good trees and shrubs, and it's guaranteed for a year). Tromped around for a good 2 hours, looking at different sizes in different locations. We narrowed it down to 3, then went looking for a shrub to put on the side of the garage ... then went to check out the 3 trees again. On the way, I saw MORE of the quaking aspens, which we hadn't yet seen. We found a really nice one, compared it to the 3 we'd set aside, and settled on the last one we spotted. Paid for it today, and delivery / planting by the experts. It should happen in the next 2-3 weeks, they say.

I'm so excited! Looking at other trees as we made our way home, I could only think "you are NOT a quaking aspen! Ha!" about all the poor trees stiffly swaying in the wind. Coming toward our house from LaSalle, I could imagine what it's going to look like to see it shimmering in our front yard, quivering with excitement that we're coming home. I'm so excited!

It will grow, ultimately, to between 30-50' tall, with a spread of 20-30' wide. And, I could be wrong, but I think it's a NATIVE!

Just wanted to share our excitement.....