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. 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

Considering you have so many sprouts from below the the first branch set, you can select ANY of the sprouts from the trunk and make that into your new tree. I have had two instances with the same tree of a similar but different situation: I have a red/silver cross (Acer x freemanii) that I dug as a 6" seedling from my grandmother's garden. Planted it into the ground in late October of 2009 to over-winter it safely. A rabbit came during that winter and ate the stem to 1" from the ground. Determined as I was, I dug it up, potted it up and let it sprout last spring. I nubbed off every sprout but the one closest to the cut end, and let that sprout shoot up for the duration of summer 2010. It grew almost to 3' tall. In December 2010, after the little tree had turned the most amazing shades of hot red, we had a 4 day unprecedented snow fall (snow squalls, lake effect snow) the likes of which snapped the stem to 6" from the ground (in a new pot, in the ground again for the winter). As soon as the ground was thawed in March, I lifted the pot and kept it on the deck/patio. Again, the stem was enthusiastic about leafing out, and all the dormant buds were activated. I nubbed them away, only keeping the highest one on the stem. It has grown nearly 2' in the past 6 weeks. The wound has healed over completely and the stem is growing like a weed. Moral of the story: I'm determined to grow this silly weed of a hybrid. Moral 2 of the story: Even when you lose the top of a tree for an uncontrollable reason (weather, animals, etc) you can still succeed. Pick a vigorous stem and cut away all others. This stem will become the new trunk and will grow a considerable amount this summer. Remove the entire dead top to about half an inch from the shoot you will keep. The removal of all others will force all the root energy into one stem. It will hopefully prepare for winter and drop its leaves in October. Your one stem will branch profusely in the spring next year. It will look a little funny (well, a lot funny) but you won't have thrown away a perfectly good plant.

My advice is avoid a multistemmed maple. They don't stay the size you see in the nursery forever and once they get older, you run into big problems that will cause them to need to be removed. They're a bad idea... one of many the growers have found to make money. It started out that multi-stemmed trees were created to display ornamental bark such as with river birch. It was a bad idea for them as well but at least there was a reason for it. I think multistemmed maples originated when one day a tree was accidently cut down and sprouted back in 3 or 4 symmetical stems. Some unsuspecting customer thought it looked pretty and asked if it was for sale. Do yourself a favor.... Unless you're out west or have alkaline soil, go with red maple. It's a better tree. It's not just half red maple like autumn blaze, it's 100% red maple. And don't get a multistemmed tree. Get a tree with one straight leader without any damage or bruises with symmetrical brancing that is not potbound. That's my 2 cents. If you want a small multi-stemmed tree, buy a tree that stays small and is naturally a multistemmed tree. Serviceberry or Ironwood for example. A 50' tree with multiple stems is just a bad bad bad idea!

1. It would be better for the trees to be kept outdoors, especially while dormant so that you don't risk them leaving dormancy early. Generally, only houseplants should be kept indoors. 2. You can plant it, or transplant it before the ground freezes. If you decide to plant it, I wouldn't go and dig it up again. 3. Since the trees are only 8 inches, you don't need a very large pot at all for them over winter. I would put them into a 1 gallon size pot with a well-draining media. 4. Trees don't require as much moisture while dormant. I would only water them when the media completely dries. 5. Same as 4. 6. If you keep them outdoors, it would probably be best to keep them somewhat sheltered from the extreme temperatures. Snow acts as an insulator, so it wouldn't be the death of them if they were covered by it, although I would keep them under a covered porch or something similar. 7. When you do plant them, now or in the spring, make sure you don't plant them too deeply. You only want to make sure the roots are covered and leave the root flare (part of the tree where the roots meet the main trunk) exposed. Make sure to dig a hole just as deep as the roots go and twice as wide. It's better to plant the trees too shallow than too deep. Apply an area of mulch 1-2 inches deep around the trees, not letting the mulch touch the trunks. Keep the trees well watered during the first few growing seasons when they are in their permanent location.