"Jean B." wrote in message

I am torn between larger and smaller plants having read that sometimes the
smaller ones will do better and thus catch up to some degree with the
larger ones.

We have foudn that oaks grown from acorns grow like stink if watered in our
hot summers. We also planted a windbreak last spring of tube stock (at
least 500 plants) about a ft high for the biggest and this summer some of
them are already about 4 ft high. They were all Oz natives though so that
may not be a lot of help.

I will be 60 in January. I guess that is a factor to some degree.

It sure is! We too think about how long trees will take to grow, but there
is a Japanese poem of which I am fond which says it all (although I can't
remeber the line splits so you'll just have to put them in yourself):

'A man truly understands the meaning of life when he plants a shade tree
under which he knows he will not sit.'

I'd like to have some nice views in my lifetime. OTOH, I also believe in
planting for the future--even the distant future. I am reminded of this
when I drive by the house I lived in when I was a kid. My dad planted
some red maples, and they are now nice trees. The big oaks that were there
have mostly come down, so it is very lucky he looked ahead.

He truly understood the meaning of life.