Crepe myrtles can get 20 feet tall if you look at the tag and don't buy the small ones. Everyone hates pears but I have a columnar ornamental pear that I like.

I was going to suggest the same plant. We have them over the roof, and they do throw good shade.

Stephanie

Be careful what kind of root system the tree will have...it will be really close to your foundation.

My pear tree is taller than my house. It might be too large at maturity for your situation. Crepe myrtles should not cause problems that I know of. I am north of Tulsa and have noticed they do very well there. You don't have the winter die back that we sometimes get here.

Thank you all, I will probably give the Crepe Myrtles a try. Ill also look into the pears. I appreciate it.

If you want to see what crepe myrtles can do, visit Gilcrease. Last time I was there, the crepe myrtles in front of the door were lovely--and at least 20 ft tall.

I would definitely suggest something deciduous for a western exposure, so in the wintertime the bare branches will allow the sun to warm your house and assist with your heating bill.

Crape myrtles are a good choice, we had some along the fence at our old house that were 15-20 ft tall, but they were more shrubby than tree like, IMHO. Perhaps it was the early pruning or lack thereof, they were likely decades old and technically in my neighbor's yard, so we couldn't do much to make them more tree-ish at that point.They were also really prone to powdery mildew because they were not pruned much. Consider how much you will be using the west side of your house - if there are patios or doorways you use a lot - crapes attract lots of wasps and bees in my landscape, and I'm seriously allergic, so I don't have them planted close to where I like to be.

I would also suggest my very favorite tree, Chinese Pistache, which we planted in our yard and loved. It is a beautiful small shade tree, reaching 20-30 feet wide at maturity - so you could plant it close to the RR ties and have 10-15 feet of canopy on on your side, and 10-15 feet of canopy on the neighbors side (assuming there is a similar amount of lawn strip over there.) The trees have a beautiful shape, fall color, pretty berries, and small leaves (no raking for the win!). I'm finding places at my new house where I want this tree to go when I put trees in the ground this fall/winter.

Redbuds might be a good choice, too. They are a little smaller than the Chinese Pistache in the canopy - 15-25 ft - and they flower at a time that there are not a lot of wasps active, plus the flowers are usually way over my head, so I'm not quite as cautious with them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chinese Pistache and other trees

I'm going to link a tree selection document from PubCo, It has lots of great advice about using trees to shade your home in order to help you conserve energy.

There is a tree selection guide beginning about page 7 that rates different trees in different categories that I think you would find really useful.

If you choose to go with crape myrtles, there are many varieties available. Some get really tall and some don't, so choose your variety carefully to ensure it will get tall enough to give you the shade you need.

Another thing to consider is how prone any given tree is to breakage because NE OK, unfortunately, has really bad ice storms every few years that bring down lots of trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: PSOklahoma's Tree Guide

I second the Chinese Pistache suggestion. One asset is the roots are not disruptive and won't harm driveways or foundations. The tree is neat without a lot of litter and your neighbor will appreciate that.

Another beautiful tree is the very ornamental Purple Smoke or Green Smoke. Cotinus coggygria. The leaves smell wonderful, kind of medicinal and fresh. To 15 ft tall. Native to US.

There are many types of Pomegranite trees hardy in OKlahoma too. There is a very well established one a few blocks from me that still has orange flowers on it that started blooming in spring. I just walked by to check last week since this tree is suddenly on my radar. Gorgeous form and flowers. I don't know the cultivar type but its fairly tall and not too wide. There is one called 'Wonderful' that is hardy to zone 7 and gets 18ft tall. If I had a spot I'd buy one.

Chaste Tree, Vitus Agnus-castus. Multi-trunk up to 20ft. Very drought hardy.

Some evergreen types would stay narrow but you'd have the shade in winter. We used to have an arborvitae that was tall enough to reach the second story windows and narrow. They are tolerant of drought.