peter wrote:

Could someone suggest a small, low maintenance deciduous tree for the
seattle area (lots of moisture and shades in the winter, and some sun in the
summer)? Small means between 8 to 14 feet.

I asked different people/nursery and each one gave me a different answers.
Is there a web site that would let me put in the criteria and give me a list
of trees?

That is definitely a small tree - the bottom limit is usually considered 15
feet, unless it is dwarf. Here is another nursery person (and landscape
designer), giving you another list:

Amelanchier - serviceberry - 12'-20 feet
Crape myrtle - 12-18' (needs full sun)
Flowering crab - some 8-12', most 12-15'
Cotinus coggygria - smokebush - 10-20' (more shrub-like)
Rhus typhina - staghorn sumac - 8-12' (tends to sucker)
various Japanese maples, specially the weeping dissectum cultivars - anywhere
from 3-15+'
Magnolia stellata - 10-15'
Magnolia seiboldii - 10-15'
Chionanthus retusus - fringe tree - 10-15'
Vine maple - 15-20'
Pyrus salicifolia - willow-leafed pear - 12-18'
Cercis chinensis - Avondale redbud - 10-15' (more shrub-like)
assorted dwarf fruits ('Frost' peach, Italian plums, dwarf and mini-dwarf
apples) - 10-18'

You can also often find shrubs trained into standards (a single trunked,
tree-like form) at better nurseries. Those most common are flowering currant,
Japanese willow, dwarf lilac, and peegee and Annabelle hydrangeas. You should
also be aware that the ultimate, mature height of a tree (and its rate of
growth) are heavily influenced by growing conditions. Optimal conditions willl
result in optimal growth.

And before all you midwesterners and east coasters get your knickers in a twist
because many of these heights are lower than what you are used to, our climate
here is VERY mild and we seldom see certain trees achieve the same mature
heights as they do in other, hotter summer parts of the country and are many are
frequently stunted by consistant summer droughts.

pam - gardengal