Tim Norris, President/Co-owner, Spring Bluff Nursery, Sugar Grove

Mike Greco, President, Mill Creek Nursery, Wadsworth

First, why did the tree die? Too much shade? Storm damage? If it had verticillium fungal disease, then forget about any maple. For fast-growing, sturdy shade trees, I recommend the ‘Accolade’ hybrid elm or the ‘Marmo’ and ‘Sienna Glen’ hybrid maples. The native hackberry and swamp white oak are also great. For ornamental trees I favor redbud, serviceberry, pagoda dogwood, selected crabapples and the seven sons tree (Heptacodium miconioides).

For natives, I would do a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa), scarlet oak (Q. coccinea) or Q. x schuettei, which is a natural cross between a bur and a swamp white oak. I’m a big oak fan. Among hardy non-natives, I’d choose Serbian spruce (Picea omorika) for an evergreen and a couple maples. I like paperbark maple (Acer griseum) and A. palmatum dissectum ‘Viridis’. It’s a Japanese maple that grows here in an unprotected full-sun site.

Peter Moersch, Owner, Stonewall Nursery, Oregon, Wis.

Given your parameters, if I had to choose one plant I would suggest Picea glauca ‘Pendula’. The weeping white spruce is a tall, stately conifer with bluish/green foliage, short needles and tightly weeping side branches. It has a very strong central leader and does not need to be staked for height. The display piece at Stonewall Nursery is approximately 20 feet tall and not more then 5 feet at its widest point. It would fit very well in a city lot or between the sidewalk and the road.