At the back of my property I just planted four mature (60mm caliper) Autumn Blaze Maples spaced 20' apart along a wood fence.

I have about 130' along another side of my yard also with a wood fence. I want to plant 6 large trees along that fence line (also spaced aprox 20' apart).

I like maple trees, but don't want to complete that entire fence line with the same species:

Would it look silly to plant a variety of different maple trees along that fence line e.g. 2 x sugar maple, 2 x fall fiesta maple, 2 x green mountain sugar maple? Would you keep the same trees side by side or completely mix them up?

2) Does anyone have any suggestions of other tall (fast growing) trees that would work nicely with maples e.g. chestnut trees, weeping willows, ornamental pears.

I like the maple trees for the fall coverage and good privacy. I want to stay away from trees that will attract bees or shed fruit on the ground which creates extra maintenance for me.

Welcome adj123.

Here is our north fence line and what we deal with! Please
be a good neighbor and don't plant on the fence line. Guess whom has a huge mess when the maple leaves fall into our yard. Also roots will do damage to fences.
Yes, they have a small lot!!

karmahappytoes said:

Welcome adj123.

Here is our north fence line and what we deal with! Please
be a good neighbor and don't plant on the fence line. Guess whom has a huge mess when the maple leaves fall into our yard. Also roots will do damage to fences.
Yes, they have a small lot!!

Thanks for the response. The trees are set off the fence line 10' and the neighbors are on board with the planting. That being said, would appreciate some insight into the original question.

Is it better to be cohesive and plant the same types of trees for consistency. Is it better to mix varieties? If we do mix varieties, which work the best together aesthetically and functionally?

I don't see anything wrong with planting different varieties...

I don't know much about Canada, but I remember the horse chestnuts being gorgeous!

Around here, some fast growing native trees include box elder (in the maple family), and tulip poplar (host plant to the tiger swallowtail butterfly).

I have some maples that came up from seed when I carried home some bags of raked up leaves and spread them out as mulch... very fast growing, but the growth habit with all the forked leaders... leaves a lot to be desired...

I think maybe a walk through the neighborhood and identifying the trees that you found pleasing would be a better plan than just buying trees that are supposed to grow fast...

The problem with trees that grow fast... they often have a short life expectancy.

adj123, thanks for the update. I totally agree with stone's last statement!! Short life
expectancy isn't a good thing. Also the tangling of the root system isn't great either, so give them space to expand. What we learned from an arborist is, if the trees are
planted to close to each other they will have issues if they start to die and that support goes away. We here plant on our 1/3 acres smaller ornamental trees and watch others plant larger forest trees with shallow roots that do blow over in wind storms. When you talk about maintenance, I would recommend the fancier maples not the common ones. We have watch the mess from the north and the disease leaves, seeds and cracking of the limbs. With climate change the evergreens are being fried due to the lack of care due to no watering. One might want to talk to a local arborist before planting to many trees to make sure you do it right? They can give you a better idea of what should be done for your area.

We just planted 4 autumn blaze maples. These have a life expectancy of 60 years. Not amazing but given my age, I am not too concerned. We are in climate zone Zone 5b: -26.1°C to -23.3°C.

How much sun would the trees get? Is the soil moist, dry?

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) is a popular landscape tree in your area, but needs full sun, for example.

As for your q about aesthetics, I think mixing species looks more natural. Unless you have a formal garden, natural-looking is good, IMO.

This link about trees recommended for SW Ontario might interest you if you haven't seen it: https://www.ontario.ca/page/tr...

The trees will have ample sunlight exposure. Big yard means sun pretty much anytime of day.

Soil is clay. Grading is sloped towards the fence since that is where the swale is located. Should get lots of natural water but will also been irrigated when necessary.

Thanks for the link and suggestions regarding mixed verse consistent plantings.

adj123 said: The trees will have ample sunlight exposure. Big yard means sun pretty much anytime of day.

Soil is clay. Grading is sloped towards the fence since that is where the swale is located. Should get lots of natural water but will also been irrigated when necessary.

Thanks for the link and suggestions regarding mixed verse consistent plantings.

Your conditions sound ideal for a variety of species. My instinct is not to overdo Maples or *any* species because monocultures can present problems. If one tree gets a fungal or pest problem, a different species might be less likely to get whatever it is.

Varying species look more natural, and also varying heights. Consider staggering in some shorter trees that will have the canopy just over the top of the fence. I agree with whoever warned against fast-growing tall trees, and not just because they're shorter-lived.

I know wasps are a problem for certain fruit trees, but flowering trees are needed for pollinators, so unless someone in your (or neighbor's) household is very allergic to bees, I'd try to squeeze in a few flowering trees, like an amelanchier, magnolia or dogwood. Some flowering trees are sterile and won't produce any fruit—maybe one of those?

Not all Maples grow at the same rate; if an Arboriste site say it will grow x feet or inches in a year, that does not mean it will do so in your soil and conditions.

I have two maples on my one years both planted at the same time; one a larger tree three inches in diameter and the other volunteer little thing in the garden.
The latter is some hybrid , the former is a sugar maple; the latter is twice the diameter that the former and has to be continually trimmed plus I removed on the latter approx. 18 inch trunk, early on, or it would have split in half already.
I am considering some how putting a girdle on the sugar maple as I can see where it can split down the middle.

If you plant three versions I would go: a-b-c-c-b-a but at only ten feet from the fence in 20 years you may have real problems; mine are over 20 feet apart approx. 30 years old and fighting for space where they meet.
The hybrid is fifteen feet from the house and I have removed a lot of large branches to keep them off of the house and reducing chances of a branch breaking off and falling on the house, as during a wind storm my maples have lost a lot of branches two to three inches in diameter in the past.

The sugar maple was sending a lot of branches off the free side towards the sun , and I trimmed that heavily, four years ago, reducing chances of it falling on the garage and looing much better balanced.
Trees have a tendency to not do what the planter thought , or wanted them to do, 20 feet is not a large distance consering trees, so do not plant in haste.
The past twenty years I have spent a lot of time with a chain-saw and trailer dealing with trees.