I'll miss him!

Isn't he beautiful?  So big, so green, look at all that beautiful shade it gives over our whole front yard.

Sadly, our chokecherry tree has been killed by the black knot disease.  It now looks like this:

It should be noted, the pictures were taken at the same time of year.

Closer-up

We had started to enlist the help of friends and family (those with trailers to pull away the branches, and those with saws) to take down our poor tree, then my brother in law suggested it may be a city tree.

So a quick call to 311 City of Ottawa, they came the next day, marked our tree with an X and left us with a message that they would be taking down our tree.

That makes it easier for us, they'll come do it for us.  I'll be so sad when it's gone, no more shade and it will change the look of our property (obviously).

My question for you is... what do we plant in it's place?  Something that grows BIG, doesn't have a disease commonly associated with it, provides lots of shade, and sturdy.