Front yard trees*

(Question)

Two years ago I removed the shrubs from my front yard and replaced them with Japanese Maples (one on each side of my path). I recently did construction and it doesn’t look like they survived the shock. What trees would you suggest replacing them with? I don’t want anything that will grow too big as I have around 20′ on each side of a path centered on the front lawn. I would also like something hardy so I won’t have the same problem. I always loved Japanese maples but I don’t want to replace them if they won’t survive. Is there anything that the City of Toronto would plant for free that would fit the bill? My front faces NorthWest with good soil and no shade. Thank you.

(Answer)

Japanese Maples are such lovely trees and it is a shame that yours didn’t survive. The rule of thumb is that they prefer moist partly shaded conditions. It is possible that your full sun location combined with construction disturbance contributed to their demise.

Toronto Master Gardeners has answered similar enquiries, and this answer provides full and excellent information which will help with your selection: https://www.toronto.ca/data/parks/pdf/trees/street-tree-brochure.pdf  will provide further links, including to
Toronto’s free tree program as well as some specimen tree suggestions.

Good luck with your choice of tree.