Tom--and the rest of my advisers here: I forgot to mention that I have some hickories. I have two shellbark, pignut, mockernut, and shagbark. I have two shellbark because I planted the first one on a bit of a ridge where the soil is more shallow, I subsequently read that shellbark hickory is generally a bottomland species. In the spring the buds get very large, and just before and after break, the bud scales, or whatever they are called, grow and become red, so the tree seems to be covered with flowers--beautiful. I have some hickory on my timberland, and one shagbark, especially, is absolutely gorgeous. Looking at this tree, one could imagine it is the most beautiful tree in the world. One problem here is they grow very, very slowly. I also have 2 hiccan hybrids, which are supposed to grow extremely fast, but for me they are almost not growing, even after 5 years, and I have three pecans, also of the genus Carya, of course. They are also growing very slow in my environment here. I love hickories, but here--what's the old saying? "I should live so long!" I did some more research on American beech--based on what I can find out, maybe my initial idea of not bothering with it here is correct. They really, really don't like droughts, and don't like exposed sites. I never, never see any in the woods around here, and I am not sure I can point to a single one in Winchester. Beautiful trees, but I am afraid not for here. Well, I am still looking for ideas. I know it is a sin in the minds of many in these forums, but I may just prune up a Norway spruce or two for shade trees, and/or white pine. But so far the oaks are the best I have. I mentioned the white and swamp white oaks, but the two largest are Shummard oaks--they thrive here. Oh, and I have cottonwoods. They are not spreading yet, so not much shade. Where I grew up--from age 5 to 15, the primary tree for shade and general enjoyment was a cottonwood. Gorgeous!! I have a Siouxland cultivar of eastern cottonwood. In the ground 5 years, 20 feet tall, and looking like it may be the star of all the 120 or so kinds of trees I have here!! Wonderful large leaves, rich green, glossy, and so far this tree is acting like it is more drought resistant than my other cottonwoods. --spruce

Edro - You asked how you can tell if it's distressed or diseased. Diseased is just a later stage of distressed. So you want to try to eliminate the stresses (there's always more than one before you start seeing symptoms of distress). 1) Is the distressed foliage localized in parts of the tree (indicates a living source like insects, fungus or bacteria) or uniformly throughout the tree (indicating a non-live source like injury, water availability, girdling roots, etc.) 2) Another way to tell is to take some branch and root samples to your local County Extension for lab testing or ask them if there is a university plant pathology lab where you can get them tested, usually about $40. 3) Another way is to have a tree service company that has an air spade to safely blow the dirt out (or a vacuum that sucks the dirt out) so you can see the shape of the roots. Ideally they would be in a star pattern radiating out from the trunk, unimpeded. If they are twisted, diving, girdling around the trunk from being root pot-bound at the original nursery or farm, then you know it's the roots causing lack of water and nutrients getting to the tree and you might as well remove it. This is what I'm suspecting. 4) You could get a soil test done at a local private or university lab to see if there are major nutrients deficient in the soil, but I sorta doubt this with the other trees doing well.

Have a local Beekeeper come out with his suit and mess with them alittle to see how they react..If they remain pretty calm and he/she will know, then most likly they are not african, but if they are hot and angry then I would dispose of them.Would still have them tested if you decide to keep them

I'm afraid you can suffocate your tree if you add more than 2 or 3 inches a year of soil and etc. over the roots of your trees. Been there, done that, and I am still paying for it even after I removed most of the soil. Having said that I have a whole garden area under my oak tree including pathways. The soil should be in good shape because of all the leaves (that's if you left the leaves on the ground) that fall and decompose. I have planted all types of tropical plants and salvias under this tree. If all your trees are fairly close you may want to add a landscape design that includes, if you have it, some of your sunnier areas. This will be different from just putting circles around each tree. This may be a larger project then you may want to take on but it can be done a little at a time. The feeder roots of your oak tree are usually around 12" deep so I would stick with putting smaller starts of plants in, one gallon size or less. Stay away from the 3 gallon size. Good luck and remember if you are not happy with the way the plants look you can always change it.