She can be a bitch if you go against her. She may play coy with you for a couple of years and let you get by with planting, let's say, a magnolia in a Chicago suburb. But sooner or later, she will zap your magnolia with some new record for cold weather. Although you may blame Mother Nature, you were the problem with the magnolia. Bad trees of good species can be avoided by selecting carefully before you plant.
Trees are like people.
Within a single species, they come in all sizes, shapes, colors and even temperaments. If you buy a house, the chances are pretty good that you will also buy bad soil. What was once subsoil taken from the basement or footings becomes topsoil spread around the yard. It is usually also compacted by bulldozers and other machinery and may contain chunks of concrete and other building residue. The later is greatly preferable.