I have transplanted a number of red and sugar maples into my 1-1/2 acre yard, some purchased, and some rescued (friends, clearing fence lines, etc.).
If you like them, red maples are cheap and grow reasonably fast. Reasonably drought tolerant. Can find them darn near everywhere, often free.
I do not like the specimens I have gotten from the Arbor Day Foundation. They all tend to be at the small end of their size range, and of borderline health. Much better luck with ones from commercial growers or nurseries.
I have had OK results with salvaged volunteers, often growing up through other shrubs. In one case, I had about a 2" caliper maple growing up through a euonymus (burning bush) about 20' tall. Should have left it and cut the burning bush, but I yanked the maple at the time. Didn't replant it as the chain stripped the bark. I trimmed the burning bush back almost to the stump to get at it, and it's back as big as it ever was (maybe the 3rd time I have cut it back). I regularly get pin and choke cherry growing through other shrubs too, but I never replant them (they're messy and are always sort of seedy and rough looking).
I got a 3" red from a local nursery which has been nothing but a joy, nice shape, always healthy. Up to about 6 to 8" DBH now. Part of it's happiness may be because it is growing where one of the downspouts comes off the garage.
I got a dozen or so sugar maples from a friend, from 1-2" caliper. About half have thrived and are in the 6" range now. A few keep struggling. A few didn't make it. 2" seems like a good sweet spot for low cost/effort to get started, 3" is a lot of work because the root ball is so heavy. 1" can work well if they are healthy to start. Smaller is a toss-up, but worth a shot, especially if you have a good nursery spot to see which ones are happiest, or have a spot you can throw something until it takes off or something better comes along.
Regardless of how I come by these trees, two things keep coming up for how successful they are when planted:
1. Overall health of the specimen. Thin, weedy, reedy trees will almost always stay sort of thin and struggling. Trees with good structure and shape and a profusion of leaves always seem to come back from transplanting and thrive...mostly. The exceptions are most often due to
2. Location where planted. Places on my lot where the trees get a fair amount of water that flows past them all seem to do fairly well. Ones close to the street subject to salt almost always struggle. Ones planted in the shade of other trees never quite thrive as well as ones planted in bright sunlight.
I don't know if it's the right thing to do or not, but if the top is healthy I will clip lower branches (maybe 1/3 to 1/2) to encourage taller growth early. It has mostly even worked.
I have had one tree die back to the stump and resprout. I picked the largest sprout and cut the others, and it is now larger than when it died the 1st time.
Other species:
Most of the fruit trees I have planted have done pretty well, except peaches but they're fussy anyway. We get a crop from them just often enough to keep trying,
when they produce they really flood you with fruit. Our apples do OK as trees, but we never seem to get great fruit. I like them anyway. Pears do OK. Cherries and plums always seem to struggle here, and the birds never left us any anyway. All were from stark/miller/nurseries bought bare root about 4' tall. For fruit trees, that seems like the sweet spot.
We have a mulberry that is very healthy, and seems to be more resistant than some of the others to bugs and caterpillars.
We had initial success growing clump birches, but there is a bark borer in our area and now they are all struggling or gone.
We have one red oak, it is struggling. Gypsy moths have hit it hard, but it was also shaded by a large pine for a while. With the pine gone I am hoping it will fill out and take off.
We regularly get red and white oaks sprouting all over the place, so if you can find a fast growing (healthy, in good light/soil) one, it is worth a shot, but in general they can grow pretty slow. But if they are the tree you like the most, plant them now. You will get more joy from a sapling than you will from nothing. Check if your area has oak wilt before getting too carried away with them, though.
We have a bronze beech that was end-of season last year, this spring the gypsy moths hit it and it is struggling, so I don't know if it will make it next year or not.
We got a large end-of-season redbud that has never been happy. Got one in the regular seaon that has done OK. Dogwood trees have mostly done OK, though the two red-stem shrubs we got died off after a decade. Wife got a magnolia which has done well.
I have two filbert bushes (needed for pollination). Not trees, bushes. From the arbor day people, so note caveat above. They are only about shoulder high, kind of thin, but keep sending up more stems. Not a shade tree at all, really, but a nice accent shrub (too open a growth pattern for a privacy planting) ...and you get hazelnuts (assuming you can beat the squirrels to them). Fun to grow, produce quick, but I wouldn't really call it a tree.
I rescued a 12" tall white pine from a flower bed and planted it along my back fence 17 years ago, it's now the tallest tree on the property, though there are a few others here and there...they take up a lot of room, shade out a lot of other trees, and block sight lines all year round. Good for privacy if you have the space and want something quick, but mostly I'd just as soon have hardwoods like you. The shade is nice in summer, especially if you cut the bottom branches up to head high or so so you can walk/work under them...gets annoying in the winter when I'd rather have the light. I have started cutting them down on the property and haven't regretted it. None has been a good enough specimen for lumber (bent, too many low limbs being yard trees).
We have a fir and a few spruces. Slower growing than the pine, but in general I like them more...but still have some of the same drawbacks as pines, take up a lot of room, block sight lines, etc. You can't really hang out under them like a maple or oak.
