I know that the tree favored by the settlers of the Great Plains was the elm tree. I know that it is easy to grow and maintain for quite a few years and makes for a nice looking large tree. We have two in our back yard that are at least 3 feet in diameter.
But I hate them. The foliage is nothing special. The leaves are small and take forever to emerge. Throughout the summer, you must spend time picking up broken branches, every day. In the fall, the leaves do not turn colors other than greenish brown. The leaves will not fall off the tree until after you have raked up all of the other pretty leaves and cleaned your yard. Then, in about 18 minutes those suckers all drop. Too small to rake and they don't even make good compost/leaf mold.
If you are lucky enough to have one die in your yard, you get to spend a great deal of time, in the summer, cutting that sucker up, splitting the wood and feeling wonderful that you laid in a great deal of firewood for the upcoming winter. But, the only way that crap will keep you warm is the sweat you work up hauling wood in and carrying ashes out. My Grandma Shannon used to say, "Elmwood new or elmwood old, elmwood's heat is mighty cold!"
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