We have just built a new house in an established neighborhood, and unfortunately the developer had to remove many of the large shade trees that were on the property (they would not have survived). I was working with the local arborist, and we had planned to plant a sugar maple in the front yard as part of the neighborhood tree program, but there were concerns that it may have been too large for the space (about a 50x50 yard) which has some underground power lines about 15 feet from the planting site.

I liked the idea of having the sugar maple, as the color (lighter green and fall interest) matched our house and it would give us some nice shade eventually in the front lawn (which is in the sun most of the day). I'm now looking for alternatives.

I though to plant a Norway Maple because of the foliage, size and spread, until I discovered it was invasive, created a very dense shade, and had a problematic root system.

Overall, we are looking for a decidious tree that will grow 40-50 feet with a 25-30 foot spread, giving us some nice dappled shade but that preferably won't have a crazy root system that will make it impossible to keep grass growing or will interfere with the house/car port (25 feet away) nor be invasive. Ideally I'd love something edible - been trying to replace all ornamental-only trees with edibles. I've got a juneberry and a serviceberry currently planted at the extreme corners of the lot, with a bare-root paw paw I planted this spring (which never leafed out) toward on one of the other corners. This tree would be planted right in the middle of the yard.

Some of the things we've ruled out are anything that has spines or spiny fruit. I would love to have something with either a light green or burgundy colored leaves - just as it would give us a nice contrast to our "very" blue house.

Thanks in advance - looking forward to some thoughts.

River birch has been popular (Betula nigra) for form and growth (quick) but I am not sure how the root system behaves so please research that aspect of it.

For fruit, you might consider red mulberry (Morus rubra) - it was commonly found in Virginia when colonists arrived and was used by native americans.

Unfortunately, like most fruit trees they can be messy.

River birch (betula nigra) is a nice native tree with apricot colored bark in its early years that tolerates heat and humidity well.

Pecan trees are nice, but probably get too large for what you describe --worth a look, though.

Willow Oak matches your size description. A nice tree overall.

Hackberry -- very tough trees