What is best climbing in,sitting under,tire swing shade tree

Hi all, I am looking for recommendations for a tree for my backyard. I want the kind of tree I always dreamed about having while growing up in the concrete jungle of a Detroit suburb.
I always wanted a tall, leafy tree that I could lay under and read a good book. One with branches high enough off the ground to have a picnic under, or hang a tire swing from the branches. Strong enough to climb in and sit amongst the branches.
The trees I have in the hilly woods surrounding my backyard are either majestic, 100 foot tall trees like walnuts with leaves and branches dozens of feet high up, or pretty understory trees like dogwood . I have nothing huge and shady.
Any suggestions? I noticed the bradford pears in my park are high enough to sit under, but I don't think they are very sturdy and they get to be so enormous!
I would like a tree native to my area if possible.
I'm planting a backyard bird retreat, and it has 3 arborvitaes, 2 washington hawthorns, and a red maple. They are all babies since I got them from arbor day last fall, except the maple was shipped this spring about 4 ft tall. Would a maple be a good "sittin' under and dreamin'" tree?
My yard is 30 feet wide by 100 feet long, so if the maple don't work, I have room for another tree further up.
Thanks!

This message was edited Apr 13, 2009 7:12 PM

Here is a photo of my backyard. The perspective is a bit off, it looks smaller than it is.
PS- the tree I've dreamed about is a bit like the "party tree" in The Lord of the Rings, though my yard might not be big enough for a party tree plus the bird retreat, gazebo, vegetable garden, 2 apple trees, and garden shed that I hope for!

Would a maple or oak be big enough to climb in and swing from?
Any suggestions would be wonderful, thanks!
I really don't know much about trees!

Lady:

The Red Maple (Acer rubrum) will be just the kind of tree you are after. If you have a hankering for a second one, I'd choose an oak that is native to your area (and there are probably at least 20 that'll fit that category). White Oak (Quercus alba) is a very good one that has potential for very long (multiple centuries) life.

Depending on your stage of life, the Red Maple will meet your goals sooner. The White Oak will be available for those activities a bit further in the future, but you'll be thankful that you made the investment, as will generations to come.

Here's one in KY that folks are blessed with...

ViburnumValley,
Thank you for the great post and photo! I'm getting really excited about my baby maple now. I guess because it was "free with any order" I didn't realize just how perfect it was for my needs! I've planted it about 60 feet away from my house, which seems good in case of tornadoes. I love oaks, but I think I'll probably just stick with one big tree in my backyard (someone had an oak go through their house this morning. Yikes! I'm going to only plant small trees next to my house I think!)

PS is Scott County KY next to Scott County, TN? My mom's family is from there and from Pine Knot KY.

Knot sure where Scott County TN is...

Scott County KY includes Georgetown, just north of Lexington along I-75.

My property is about the same length as yours but is about 20 feet wider. At the very bottom, about 2 feet from the property line, I have an 80+ year old sugar maple. My next door neighbor, who is in her nineties now, remembers it being planted as a 4-5 foot tall sapling. It is by far the biggest tree in our town, at least 70 feet tall, and its canopy is the size of a city block. From your dream point of view, you would love it.

However, despite being so far back, it shades 1/3 of my property (as well as a large chunk of the property of two neighbors). Because of the placement of my house and driveway near the front of the property, this ends up being about 60% of my available garden space. It drops about a billion samara every year, leaving my entire garden ankle deep. Keeping its offspring in check is a constant and ongoing battle. A very large silver maple near the road is an even bigger problem, because the runners it sends up block my view of oncoming traffic. The two trees are averaging about $600 a year in pruning and routine maintenance.

I love these trees and do everything I can to care for and protect them, but, knowing what I now know, I would not plant either species unless my property was at least 4 times larger.

My advice is to pick a tree that is native to your area, quick growing (if you want the benefits in your lifetime), and grows to about 30 feet max. Plant it far from power and phone lines, and keep it well away from gas, electric and sewer pipes. Make sure that if it gets to full size and falls down, it will not hit a house, either yours or your neighbors. Pay some mind to seed clean up too. Large trees are a lot more work than you might imagine

Ed

ViburnumValley,
Ah, you are farther up, then. Scott County Tennessee borders Kentucky, and is adjacent to McCreary County, KY (where some of my ancestors also lived. Apparently they would move from TN to KY and back to TN again to follow crops or work in the mines).

Wulfsden,
Thank you for all the information about large trees! I hopefully planted my red maple far enough back- about 80 feet from my house, and the sewer and water lines are in my front yard, and no power lines in the back because it is woods back there. My neighbors live on the hills above me, so I should be ok.
I'm definitely leaving it at just one big tree back there! I considered planting a second, but that would take up my whole yard. As it is, I'm a bit nervous about the red maple being 40 foot wide, as my yard is just 30 foot wide! That's 30 foot wide at the bottom, but then it is hills on either side, so hopefully they fan out enough to have room for the upper branches and all.
Is it really dark under your trees? My backyard is a bit shady as it is, though I like the shade because it is so unbearably hot in summer otherwise here. I'm thinking of planting woodland flowers in my backyard, but I hope it doesn't get so dark in the backyard that nothing will grow! Also afraid of snakes that hide in dark corners...
I have lots of little trees on my hillsides(redbuds, dogwoods, crabapples, and a small magnolia I just planted), and wanted one big tree to offshoot it. I just hope it isn't more than I bargained for!
-Audra
ps I just watched two Jane Austen movies, and they had my dream tree in both. However, it was in the middle of a green field. A very LARGE green field, a pasture really, with only one big tree that stood out. Maybe I bit off too much by planting a majestic tree in my little 30X100 yard (but I hope not! I already love my little 4 ft stick, it is starting to get leaves on it)

We love our maple tree. Yes, the seeds are a pain for a couple of weeks, DH sucks them up with the lawn mower. The leaves dry up when they fall and he just mows over them and they fertilize the lawn. We had a huge ice storm and lost so many of the branches we don't have a swing any more and I'm still sad. But the ice took out every kind of tree, not just the maples. It was a disaster zone.

Grass does grow under them, but I prefer shadey groundcovers like vinca or ajuga.

Another good tree was the mulberry, except when it fruited, what a purple mess. I think they may have non-fruiting versions now.

I have memories of climbing high up into the maple in our yard, wedging myself into a branch and swaying with the wind. I could watch over the whole neighborhood. Sometimes I'd take a book up with me, or lay over a branch like a squirrel sunning and doze. We had a big OLD willow tree, with a swing under it, too, or we would just grab on to the hanging down branches and swing like Tarzan. Trees are a few of my favorite things.

When we moved in to our current home, we had a 40 foot red maple (aka swamp maple) in the front of our home. It was an in an incredibly bad placement, 8 feet from a busy road, 2 feet from our driveway, with a large sugar maple 30 feet away on one side, and a large silver maple 20 feet away on the other. I guess all three trees were about the same size when planted, but by the time we moved in, it was already losing the war.

A couple of years later, the guys putting in new sewer lines bumped it with their truck. It has very thin, sensitive bark, and it never really recovered. About 10 years ago, it was clear that it was sick. It was dropping branches even when there was no wind. We called an arborist, and as soon as he saw it, he said it had to go. Because of the proximity of our home, the other trees, power and phone lines, getting it out was a treat, and ended up costing us about $800.

When they finally cut through the trunk there were ants everywhere, what a surprise. Carpenter ants had hollowed out a home in the tree. The cavity went from about 2 feet underground to just above my head (about 6 feet). It was round enough for a small person to fit into. In places, the outer rim was less than 2 inches thick. That tree was gonna come down soon, one way or another.

So, the good news is that fast growing, smaller than my sugar maple, and its fall foliage is awesome to the max. The bad news is that it has sensitive bark so watch the lawnmower/weedwhacker. It is a "soft" maple, so is prone to insects.

My sugar maple has fairly dense shade. I have had most of the lower branches pruned to "give it air", and also to allow me some light for gardening. Within 15 feet or so of the trunk, grass will only grow in the spring. Once the leaves come out, the grass dies back. The roots suck out most of the nutrients in the soil, so I have not had much luck with ground cover. It is a beautiful tree though. In the summer when it is in full foliage it just radiates health. Its leaves are lustrous and almost glowing with vigor. In many ways, I feel honored to get to care for such a magnificent tree. But sometimes, I am up to my ankles in samara. C'est la vie.

Ed