I just planted a couple of serviceberries in early summer. They were purchased from a native plant nursery at a reasonable price, but are not named cultivars. One is a Saskatoon Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) and the other is a common or Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea). There are a number of other varieties too. The variety that is most often planted for human consumption is the Saskatoon Serviceberry. It generally grows as a large shrub rather than a tree, and has a number of named cultivars. Among the named cultivars, Regent is one of the smaller ones, and thus easier to net for protection from birds. Saint Lawrence Nursery in Potsdam carries a number of named cultivars with good descriptions. Among larger varieties, the Allegheny Serviceberry is said to be juicier and sweeter than the Downy Serviceberry according to one internet source, though I can't recall which one. The ones I planted were pot grown seedlings, about 15 inches tall. The Saskatoon Serviceberry already had berries on the seedling when I purchased it. They ripened within a couple of weeks after I planted it, so I got an early taste. We have deer where I am, and they like to munch on serviceberry twigs, so if you live where deer will frequent your yard, you'll need to provide protection. especially to seedlings. I use Irish Spring deodorant soap, which seems to work pretty well. I hung a half a bar by the Saskatoon Serviceberry, and the deer haven't touched it. I didn't get the soap hung by the Downy Serviceberry, and within a couple days it had been nibbled. Fortunately damage was minor, and I quickly got a bar of soap out by it. The deer have left it alone since then.. This is a very cost effective solution too. Half a bar of soap will last a couple years where I live, though we average 35-40 inches of rain annually

I've been observing garden plant performance here since the 1960s. I wouldn't be commenting based on a scattering of recent plantings struggling due to lack of establishment. As far as the Parrotia specifically, I would be commenting based on an article describing the tree's natural environment that I read many years ago - in which the writer took pains to point out that it grew in a moist climate along with hornbeams etc. and not in a dry area - in addition to what I am seeing the tree do here. The 15 degrees F. for the 'Ray Hartman' is from the 2006 Timber Press ceanothus book. 10 degrees F. is only an improvement of 5 degrees. Anyone not in a banana belt neighborhood can be getting down there more often than many might be aware of, and it only takes a few hours below a plant's minimum temperature. When I planted the 'Ray Hartman' on my friend's Camano Island property I likewise thought it would be good for some years. She soon was reporting temperatures in the teens inside her covered porch, and the complete set of the hardiest eucalypts that I had planted there had all frozen down, with most of them actually dying completely. Nandina domestica, which seems to be pretty consistent about being hardy to around 10 degrees F, had also frozen to the roots. Leycesteria formosa died completely. And so on. You can waste a lot of time and money on plants that really aren't hardy here - or you can instead plant ones that are.

Not quite, it is a step-by-step search. I started out with http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4279855/buying-ugly-ducklings?n=33 until it turned out that the beautiful tree of pic #1 is a Cornus controversa which is not hardy in my area. So, I was looking for airy trees that are hardy in my area with the subsequent thread http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4286285/small-airy-tree-for-backyard-birdwatching?n=5 In that thread, I started out with photos of the Cornus alternifolia and the Crataegus submollis to illustrate what I am after until 2 folks pointed at the Amelanchier (great thanks!) I discovered very soon in my readings that the Amelanchier nomenclature is a mess, it is like using the word 'red' for the color 'blue' or sometimes 'yellow'. So, in this thread I am focussing on the Amelanchier. I am not an inexperienced pruner, BTW. I have 5 conifers in my front yard, 2 of them are topiaries, 1 of them is heavily pruned and 1 of them is lightly pruned. I also managed to kill 2 conifers that way. So I do know first hand that you can't just prune in ways that (individual) trees don't want to be pruned even if you follow all the rules. Maybe you simply don't know what is possible to achieve with pruning and what is not? I want to avoid killing or disfiguring an expensive Amelanchier caliper tree. Perhaps I need to plant 2 or 3 Amelanchier caliper trees side-by-side to achieve the effect in the pic in conjunction with minimal sideways pruning. That would indeed be very expensive though, ouch.

I would go about the planning and planting a bit differently. First of all - where are the walnut trees you refer too? You should mark them on the plan.... And, are there any other plants - trees, shrubs or perennials - already there? Do any of them need removing? (e.g. are there any invasive species that might need to be removed...?) Has the issue of water drainage from the hill and its impact on your house been addressed in the design and construction of your house and the grading of the land close to it? I would think that one of the goals of the Conservation Authority is to get a continuous, overlapping canopy cover to break the force of rain hitting the ground, to help reduce erosion and run-off. With that in mind, I would be not very worried about things being planted too close to each other - as long as they work when you consider them in three dimensions. That would lead me to start by looking for a few very tall trees. The existing walnuts would likely fit that category.... So add a few more tall trees. Then look for a few mid-height trees, and then shorter ones. Similarly, rank shrubs by height and make choices from that list. Perennials and groundcovers need to be considered too for the 'floor' level. Then think about where exactly you want privacy and place evergreens from your list there, placing them towards the outside of the space where they can get some sun. Place things that need more sun towards the edges of the space, with the tallest trees towards the centre. Do you know what your soil acidity is? That might make a difference in your plant choices, and particularly when it comes to choosing grouncover and perennials. Similarly, you will need to research juglone sensitivity for the plants that interest you. I wouldn't worry about leaf clean-up, other than any that fall on your patio etc. - and those ones I'd just dump into the wooded area! The rotting leaves will help improve soil and act as mulch for the plants. (BTW - will you be able to get a hose into the area to water the plantings in the first couple of years?)