Awww, thats ashame, beautiful pic. I'm not a tree expert but I saw something today I might get myself.
Hydrangea Tree
http://www.directgardening.com/detail.asp?ProductID=6857
OR maybe
Rose of Sharon Tree, Red
http://www.directgardening.com/detail.asp?ProductID=4378&nav=tre

Hi naturalstuff,
Thank you for the suggestions - I will look into them. Yes, we were heartbroken to lose this tree, as it took us many months to find the perfect one for this spot.

What's the sun situation like? Looks like eastern exposure or possibly north? Where are you located? Looks very out-westy I'm thinking it's an arid climate?

iforgotitsonenevermind: The place for the tree is in the northern part of the site. There is some morning sun but most of the day this area is in the shade cast by the house. We are located in Central WA and you are right, it is what you might call a high-plains desert area. :)

After looking for a couple of hours, and eliminating some very nice trees for various reason e.g. Parrotia is too large, Forest Pansy Redbud's pink flowers look awful against the pumpkin-colored house, etc., I am intrigued by Fagus sylvatica ÂPurple FountainÂ. I am still looking, however, and still open to suggestions.

Beeches get very big and that's too close to the house for the ginormous surface roots that will eventually be there.

A couple of things come to mind that are relatively common and you should probably find them easily in that part of the country but I really don't know about the whole high plains desert part. Suffice it to say, if redbuds will grow there, then these likely will too.

Aronia arbutifolia For showy red fall color + red berries + white flowers and adaptability to some shade and dry/wet. And it will not outgrow the space. You will have to train it into a tree form and deal with numerous suckers as it wants badly to be a colony of multistemmed plants.- small tree or large shrub.

Prunus Virginina 'Canada Red'. Red/Purple leaves for most of the season. The mature size is 20-25 feet so.. may get too big. Cant really tell.

So there you have it Chokeberry and Chokecherry.

You can purchase a very large container from a nursery that sells container grown trees for much less than $250.00. The problem is your soil. verticulum wilt

most trees need full sun ...

simply from the picture .... how sparse it is below.. and leaves at the top .... i would suggest it is lacking proper light ...

ergo.. it is unhealthy .. ergo .. the problems you encountered ... might be caused by a lack of vigor ..... healthy trees are better able to naturally fend off problems ...

the solution is to move the tree another 10 to 15 feet from the house ... once that is done.. you may not have the future problems ....

why pray tell .... is a pot suggested????? is there a soil issue???

perhaps... if you give us a full picture of the front of the house.. we might be able to make better suggestions ... and perhaps we can understand why you are trying to put it where it is .....

IMHO ... no tree should be planted that close to the house ...

good luck .. whatever you decide ...

ken

That's Verticillium wilt and yes Ken, it is a soil problem. VW is a soil-borne fungal pathogen that can invade through the root system and causes the collapse of the tree's vascular system. The pathogen is very persistant - it can remain in the soil for many years in a state somewhat like dormancy and only come to life when the opportunity presents itself. Maples, and Japanese maples in particular, are very susceptible to VW and if you have lost one to VW it is recommended NOT to replant with another in the same area. Hence the suggestion for the container.

I'd not recommend a container. Unless you are selecting a very dwarf form of maple, you would need one of a large size in order to guard against winter cold damage and even that would be no guarantee - trees in containers are at greater risk to cold damage than those planted in the ground and the recommendation is to select one at least 2 zones hardier, which would eliminate a JM. And you also need to be cognizant of the fact that trees in containers need regular attention in terms of periodic root pruning and soil replacement......it's a lot a of work and becomes more complicated when the tree or the container (or both) are large. As does any attempt at winter protection.

If you search under the disease, you will find listings of plants that are susceptible to VW that you should avoid. You will also find listings of those that are known to be resistant and any of those could be selected if they fit your other criteria. But there're a great many more whose resistance to VW is unknown for whatever reason. It's a bit of a calculated risk to choose one of these but they also show no evidence of being prone to the problem and the assumption is they should do fine.

No redbuds :-) - they too are highly susceptible. I'd consider something like a sourwood, Oxydendron, or perhaps a redleafed flowering crab. Neither are large trees, should offer some good fall color and are relatively problem-free. btw, the Parrotia will grow quite slowly and is not considered a large tree, generally only reaching around 20-25 feet. It is also known to be pretty much problem-free. Virtually all conifers are VW-resistant and they can make very attractive specimen trees, depending on selection. They are also available in very narrow forms suitable for small places or close to structures. I'd not eliminate them without further consideration. The Conifer forum could help with ideas.

iforgotitsonevermind: I thought the 'Purple Fountain' was a dwarf variety. *sigh* There are so many limitations with this space. For example, I thought Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Rotfuchs' might work well, or YoungÂs Weeping Birch, or Cercidiphyllum japonicum ÂMorioka WeepingÂ, or Heptacodium miconioides but either they are too large, don't do well in shade, like acidic soil, etc. Prunus Virginina 'Canada Red' looks very promising, however.

starterdude: thank you very much for that link - helpful.

ken_adrian: thank you for your insight about the shade - I hadn't considered that. Here is a picture of the front of our house when the landscaping was new, so you can better see the structure of the lot. You can see the now deceased maple on the far left: {{gwi:334874}}

gardengal48: thank you so much for your informative post. I am looking seriously at Oxydendron. I am attempting to work through my bias about conifers, because they are so overdone around here, so it is hard to see them as something special and attractive.

Based on the feedback so far, here are three semi-finalists:
Pyrus salicifolia ÂPendulaÂ
Prunus Virginiana 'Canada Red'
Oxydendrum arboreum

Feel free to comment or add more choices. Thanks!

The exact same thing happened to our Japenese Maple. In dappled shade, under the high canopy of big leaf maples, our 15 year old tree died of VW. It has been several years and I would like to replace it with another small speciman tree. I had hoped that Heptacodium miconioides might be the solution, if trained to a single trunk, as I think the bark is particularly interesting. I've been evaluating the spot and am now coming to the conclusion that there is not enough direct sun to allow Heptacodium miconioides to flourish. Additionally, I can find no real information on the sensitivity of Heptacodium miconioides to VW. Has anyone grown this plant in dappled light.?