Hello Canokie and welcome aboard.

Sounds like you did reasonably well. Planting mound looks unusual but hey, higher is better than lower.

New subdivision lots are entirely different than my old house. You could have done everything perfect and had some failure.

As we are leaving prime planting season how about we see how the maple does then deal with thoughts of a replacement in the fall when success rates for transplants are higher again?

There has been soooo much new construction in my area in the last 20 years. Because of that I know the pattern you are seeing. That so many of the trees are having to be removed is telling you what is going to happen with yours. From your description, your tree was improperly planted, and frankly the builders could not care less. They just want it to sale as quickly as possible, and they know it won't fail immediately. So they plant cheap as possible, and probable a guy making a bit over min wage that doesn't know anymore about trees than you did. Take close up pics of the trunk so that we can be certain, but it is probable a goner one way or another. IMHO, start preparing to plant something in it's place in the fall. In the mean time you need to learn about the soil and what you would like, and educate yourself by asking questions here. It would be wise to do a peculation test. Digg a whole where you would plant about 1-2 feet deep. Completely FILL with water. Wait 24 hr and repeat. Do this every 24 hours. After 3-4 days, the rate at which the water level falls will tell well your soil drains. If it falls 1" in 24 hours, or 1' in 24 hours. This, along with what you find when digging, plus climate will dictate what can be planted and expected to do well.

As for the sewer line issues, if they did their job right it should not be a problem. First they should not be leaking, meaning a whole in the lines. Without a whole, there is nothing to attract the roots, and the pipes end up being just another obstruction to grow around. Plus, those lines "should" be 36" (my local code so I'm assuming here) underground, and the roots probable would not grow that deep to begin with.

Arktrees

Not a good choice for OKC. Truely trash or a temporary treasure? Legacy trees on the other hand, are something that generations can enjoy. You want good advice and not hand holding, plant a couple of trees that are long lived and adapted to your climate. It's much, much cheaper in the long run, to boot. Think water, disease, chlorosis, pruning, the wind; mother nature doesn't like it when you try to fool her.

I'd be looking for a nice little bur oak as a replacement.

Very funny Lucky, but a chinquapin between the two would clearlry be the choice, smaller size, greater drought resistance, and If you were trying to bug me, brilliant Sir.

Hi shelley. Some good comments above. I will add: It does appear the one closer to your house could well:make it"......that is, survive. To tell the truth, I'm always a bit surprised when I read of folks far to my south working with the same tree species we do up here. As others have pointed out, probably not the best long-term choice for your area. But again, it could well continue to improve, and grow for a while.

Ditto on the pipes. Old, leaky, cast iron or other long-discontinued pipes are one thing. gleaming new PVC, or even gleaming new cast iron, are not going to deteriorate any time soon.

+oM

Shelley, hate to say this but I had two Autumn Blaze here in Dallas, and they had similar symptoms as yours...splitting bark, then eventually the whitish mushroom growth on the trunk. It turns out they were planted too deep (4-6"). Needless to say, they didn't make it even though I attempted to remove soil to expose the root flare.

Thank you very much for all of the helpful replies. I guess I will wait till fall and see how things go, and be prepared to replace them if they don't survive another summer.

First of all, here are a couple of photos of the trunk of the one in the yard (the worst one). You can see where I recently dug out the excess soil piled around the tree and attempted to get it at the level it probably should have been at when they planted the trees.

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Dwrecktor, it sounds like your experience was very close to mine. Do the pictures above look like your trees did? How long was it between the time your trees were planted and when you removed the excess soil? Mine will have been in the ground for 3 years in September. I sure wish I had known to do that right away.

Arktrees, great suggestion on the perc test - I will do that. I do know that the soil is heavy red clay and there isn't much topsoil since they took that away when they built the homes. As a rule, our soil tends to be slightly alkaline from what I've heard. It gets very hot and dry here in the summers.

Any suggestions as to what might be a good replacement tree? Since my house faces south, a shade tree is a priority. Other considerations are something that will be less likely to blow over or lose big limbs in our storms, won't overwhelm my small lot, and if it produces something edible (like pecans or fruit) that would always be a plus. Drought and heat tolerance would be pretty high on the list and it would be in full sun pretty much all day on that side of the house. Of course I don't want anything that will mess with the driveway/sidewalk/foundation or plumbing, though maybe that last one isn't a big deal with new construction. I welcome any and all suggestions. My personal favorites are maples and birches and blue spruce, but that's probably the Canadian in me :) I'm guessing none of those would do well down here?

I'm guessing the burr oak comment was a joke? What is a chinquapin? Are there any small pecan cultivars that would make a good yard tree, or are they all huge? Also, I was reading about Caddo maples that are native to SW Oklahoma - has anyone had any experience with them?

Thanks again everyone for all the helpful replies and for not making me feel more like a total idiot than I already do lol

I was going to suggest Caddo Sugar Maples to you. There are two selections that you can look for. They are 'Autumn Splendor' and 'John Pair'. I have seen both locally, though regular sugar maples do fine here as well, but would not be a good choice for you. Otherwise seed grown 'Caddo' Sugar Maple would probable the best heat drought adapted. Other possibilities are Big Tooth Maple. There are a couple selections of these as well, and would tolerate your conditions. Also Shantung Maple would be a good option. Either seed grown, or 'Fire Dragon' which is a rather new selection. Shuntung Maple should give you good fall color. Other options outside of maples, are Ginkgo, some elms (a few of which have some fall color), some Oaks (Scarlet Oaks originate from dry ridge tops so should be able to handle the drought and heat), 'Keith Davey' Chinese Pistache among others should get your started. This ALL contingent upon the soil draining reasonable well. Others here will be able to get your more climate specific help. Look for my user name (arktrees) on Photobucket as I have pics there of some of these suggestions.

Arktrees

Yeah, looks rough Shelley. Better switch gears towards a full investigation of alternatives.

+oM

Shelley, I'm no expert, but I think from the pics, the tree is a goner. Mine was not that bad looking when I noticed the problems and attempted to fix it. By the time they looked like the one in your pics, I was absolutely sure mine were done. Here's a link to the thread I started about my problems. It still has pics for your reference.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bark damage Autumn Blaze

Wisconsitom, I think you are right, sadly. Thank you dwrecktor for the link to your pictures - you have probably saved me a lot of wasted time. If yours died, there's probably no chance mine will survive long term and be healthy, sound trees. The sooner I can get new trees started, the better off my yard will be in the long run. Of course I will wait till fall, which gives me time to research replacements.

Arktrees, thank you for the specific recommendations as that gives me a good start. I found a document at www.okplanttrees.org that had detailed descriptions and pictures of several of the trees you recommend, and I really like the looks of the chinese pistache! But I'm also a big maple fan, so will probably wind up with at least one Caddo maple. I'm going to start a new conversation to get more recommendations for possible replacements. I want to do this right this time.

Thanks again, everyone.
Shelley

Here is a link that might be useful: OK Plant Trees

Put that poor thing out of its misery.

Canokie,
I don't know what Mackel's deal is, but I had no joking intent when I recommended bur oak. Native to your region, fast-growing, tolerant of a wide range of soil types & pH, not seriously affected by many pests.
Would make a great front-yard 'shade tree', without the issues the maples seem to be presenting.

Thank you, I will google those. I appreciate your recommendation.

Well I don't know what the deal with Mackel is, either... the bigger the tree on a tiny lot as a generalisation, the more of a monoculture within that soil system surrounding the house is created and catastrophe becomes more likely if you're into odds rather than possibilities... (an act of god).
So, variety is not just a theme, I like to pack in different species so as not to get bored when I head out the door and peak around to see who's knicker knockin' on a Monday morn'...Man, I do have a deal, no more kudzu tea for me for at least a week...Pheww, Mondays...

Mackel, you crack me up! :)

You got me thinking that maybe I would be better off with several smaller trees rather than one large one. My lot is about 100' long by 50' wide at the back of the lot and 63' at the front of the lot. My front yard, the area between the house and the sidewalk and the driveway and the neighbor's property line, is basically 30' wide by 50 feet from house to street. I have indicated my house, garage, fence, driveway, walkway, and the location of the two maples that will have to be removed this fall (for sure the one in the middle of the lawn is definitely doomed, as discussed on another thread.

Now the HOA requires me to submit a plan before I make any changes to the landscape, and I am required to have at least one tree. Then there is this very confusing (to me) verbiage about planting anything that would obstruct my neighbor's view:

"Taller plantings and recreation equipment should not be placed in the neighbor's view line. Existing vegetation will be allowed to remain in the view line. the view line is defined by staffing at the left and right rear property corners and proceeding 20 feet towards the front corners and 20 feet toward the center across the rear property line. These two new points, near each corner, when connected form trianges that should remain free of obstructions for neighbor's view corridors."

Now if anyone can decipher this for me and explain where I can and can't plant trees in my front yard, I would be very grateful :)

My lot is fairly small, and my house is only 1,123 square feet (single storey). It faces south so I really want some shade on that side and the quicker the better. Ok, given all of that, what would you advise in terms of height and mature width of trees, and where I can place them for maximum shade? How close could I plant to the front of the house? Just wondering if a smaller, fast growing tree, like maybe a crape myrtle, planted much closer to the window, would provide shade, at least till the bigger tree(s) fill out? Or would that just look stupid?

Thank you for all of your help with my tree situation.

Shelley (see diagram of my lot below):

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