"LeeAnne" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for pretty
tree suggestions -- maybe something w/some type of berry on it (aren't
there
trees that have berries in the winter?). Something that will attract
different birds or interest the ones I already have even more. The
front
yard will look so empty w/o a tree in it, I need to replace it
w/something.
Also need to give the birds good cover and a safe place to go to from the
bird feeder that's already in the front yard.

Also, maybe something that doesn't grow to gigantic proportions?

Hi LeeAnne,

Sorry about your oaks. I have two mountain ash in my yard, and they meet
some of your criteria.

Pros: They do not get overly large (30 ft. max, I think), have pretty white
flowers in spring, and beautiful clumps of bright orange berries in
fall/winter. They tend to hold on to most of the berries all winter, and
then the birds eat them in very late winter or early spring. If you have
kids (or are just a kid at heart) it is a good tree for climbing if you
don't limb it up too high. I have, much to my husband's dismay, proven this
on more than one occasion.

Cons: If you don't like "messy" trees, this is probably not the right one
for you...the flowers seem to drop for about 2 weeks straight in late
spring, and then quite a few of the berries drop in fall. Personally, this
doesn't bother me, but it might bother some people. Also, it is not the best
tree around for fall color...turns yellow/brown. Also, it does not do
especially well with drought conditions. We had a pretty dry summer here in
Wisconsin last year, and I seldom watered it (maybe once every other week).
It survived, but certainly didn't look its best.

Hope that helps, and good luck finding a tree!
Shelly