zookeeper, that is not enough space (the circle of bricks)for a live oak. In the next 10 years it will probably outgrow that space and you will have more patio paver trouble. Which do You want, the patio as it is or the tree? Not sure exactly how close the tree is to your house, but if there is one oak tree that you could have close to your house it would be the live oak. It is very wind resistant and the wood from these trees was used to make Old Ironsides because of its physical properties. They usually survive huricanes very well. That said they also can die of a fungus depending on where your are at. Then you are faced with removing it. We have two 12" diameter ones at 24 ft. from house. Every other year I prune lower branches to direct them away from the house, other wise they would grow over the roof. Eventually the upper limbs may do the same, but we're not there yet. There are hundreds of houses in Waco built just as close to large live oaks as yours seems to be without too much obvious hassle, so it can be done. If it were me, and you need the shade, and tree is in open with no other competition for sun, I would leave just the middle fork so you can have a balanced tree, one that grows limbs out in all directions and doesn't lean toward the house. With every other year pruning you should be able to keep limbs off of the house without much hassle. These trees typically don't get over 45' tall unless they are in a lot of competition for sun. If you're from a drier part of the country where trees seldom exceed 35' you might leave all 3 forks.

This whole question of provenance and adaptability can, at times be complicated, and plantings can yield unsuspected results. A famous case in point is with white pine. About 60 years ago the Forest Service planted some white line along a small river near Parsons, WV. The seed was from NC. those trees have grown so spectacularly that everyone who knows about them is stunned. Much, much better than white pine from local seed sources, and better than any white pine anywhere in either Va or MD. A while ago in these forums, resin, in a discussion of Norway spruce, desfribed a case where the migration back into a formerly glaciated area through a kind of back door from the east, resulted in a local strain that grew much more slowly than strains from other European sources to the west. Many trees have extremely large genomes. The genome for Norway spruce, for example, is about 10 times larger than that for a human being. It was long thought that much of this Norway spruce gene material was "junk" DNA. But now, one theory is that this DNA is not "junk," but is DNA that can be activated by epigenetic factors, and in combination with these factors, account for the extreme adaptability of the species. Well, yes, I am describing things I have only a slight understanding of. What I would say is that the value of local sources for trees is variable and difficult to predict. I agree that it could be a safe choice, but may not be the best choice. But, if I were to give any advice on the current question, I would not be too strict about a really local choice, but I would avoid a source from a hardiness zone too extremely different from your own. But even then, who knows. Oikos tells me that the fastest growing bur oaks that he has for sale are those from a source in OK. They are located in lower Michigan. So, what to do??? --spruce

Sounds like tree sap if it's sweet smelling. If it were a bacterial ooze it would smell rather foul. Possible you may have some type of borer or other critter attacking the tree which caused a wound allowing sap to flow. Another possibility could be Oak Wilt (a vascular disease)...the fungus produces a sweet smelling sap that attracts sap-feeding beetles and other bugs, squirrels, etc. Then these beetles/creatures pass the infection on to healthy trees to feed on sap from un-infected wounds. The disease does spread in Nebraska. You can google for more info on Oak Wilt. But here is one article. Oak wilt is discussed under the last main heading. Vera Here is a link that might be useful: American Forests

I want to further this post by asking one more question. I live in an apartment and have planted some shumard and live oaks in a 5 gallon pot. The problem is, I don't get direct sunlight in my apartment, but I keep the pot close to window for light. What I am planning to do is to hopefully either plant some at my brother's backyard, and maybe, somehow, if it's possible grow them inside my apartment for me. I don't know how fast they'll grow, and how big pot will I need over the next year. It's been two weeks since put this acorns and it's my first time experience. Ideally, I was planning to grow acorn from the seed for my future house, which is still 2 years away. The other important thing I read about is to not allow the plant roots to circle the pot. I wonder, how can I deal with the growing tap root in the pot, considering their growth is four times longer than their size above the ground. I know, these are a lots of questions, but if someone can answer them for me, that would be really helpful to me. Thank you so much.