My front yard has been torn up and all plants removed (drain tiles were replaced) I am now looking at planting a tree in the front yard and am at a loss for what tree to plant. I have attached a picture. I would like to plant a tree in the empty white space between the window on the left and the front door. My concern is that my gas and water lines run in the front on that side of the house, I know roughly where the lines are but I and wouldn't plant over top of them but I am concerned about planting anything near them. I am also concerned about planting something too close to the foundation. Does anyone have any suggestions for trees that would get tall enough to improve the appearance of the front of the house but with roots that wouldn't go overly crazy? My preference is not for ever green trees at this point. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks Cwall0
Appearance-wise, I'd suggest something with a columnar growth habit, but others will need to comment expertly on the root profiles of such things.
Japanese maples are currently popular and come in hundreds of varieties with all manner of different growth and leaf characteristics. The only thing is that grafted stock of named forms can have disease problems and all Japanese maples must have good soil drainage. Otherwise a seedling (wild type) green Japanese maple might remain in scale with the site for a very long time, and these are more consistent than the grafted cultivars. You also have two major plant collections displaying numbers of labeled trees there in Vancouver, where you could walk around and see if anything grabs you - Van Dusen Botanical Display Garden on Oak Street and of course the UBC Botanical Garden on Marine Drive.