I see the original post is over 14yrs old, but last post was 7days ago so clearly others are like me and still reading this post. Sad the OP never commented what they ended up doing. I'm in a similar situation but the area I'm looking to fill isn't near the house. Have deep yard and apx 10yrs ago planted a maple apx 7-10ft from our back fence that was supposed to be a fast growing tree but has only grown maybe 2-3ft tall in that time and mere inches in width. Talking to the place originally got it apparently had poor choice in where planted it as we planted it in the natural drainage section of our yard and we get a lot of runoff from the houses that sit higher then us. However being in Texas its dry more often then its wet. When it is wet its like the original poster posted can be wet/marshy for close to a week. Tree farm had some recommendations for the maple, my preference of their recommendations is to move it to a drier part of the yard. We have the room to do so would just bring it closer to the house and an established red oak we have and has handled the water well. Not looking to "fix" our drainage issue. Its doing what its supposed to keep the water from building by the yard and have a french drain that carries the excess water between the houses. The only thing the water impacting the maple does is impact this maple and make the grass a little swampy for a few days after heavy rains. Just looking for a tree that can handle this "temporary swampiness" and also our largely hot & dry climate and clay soil. Would like to put something in the hole digging the maple out of so asked the guy looking to have do the work for recommendations and he recommended Bald Cyprus, River Birch & Sycamore. In researching these three I found Weeping Willow which he said could also work. Which is why I'm posting here. Pretty much between the River Birch and the Weeping Willow. LIke the long growing season of the Willow, but think prefer the look of the River Birch. Didn't rule the Sycamore out but don't care for the seedlings it will drop as the red oak already makes a mess with its acorns. Several recommended the bald Cyprus and would like to note for those that don't have experience with an established Bald Cyprus. They are nice looking trees however in my opinion they are one of the messiest trees. Needle leaves & seedlings they drop are mess and worst of all they have what people refer to as "knees" that are the tree roots that pop backup in the yard which are a real hassle when cutting your yard. I would highly recommend against just for the knees, which would also be a hazard for anyone walking or playing in the yard. Reading others comments think might be now leaning the river birch or the sycamore. Several commented relative short life of the weeping willow which is a concern, though don't plan to be in the house long enough for that to be an issue. I think for our situation River Birch or deal with the seedlings from the Sycamore and go that way are the best options. Hope my post might help others. I'll try to remember to come back and post picture of the results once we buy and plant our new tree.

dear spongey the key is your doubt to it tipping over ... if it does.. maybe in the middle of the winter... and its 50 below.. and you don't want to go out and replant it.. it might die ... if it tips over repeatedly .. it will die ... how sure are you that it will never tip over .... just how big is that doubt???? you don't mention how big it is ... if its a 10 footer 1 to 2 inch caliper .. i would stake it ... just until maybe the fall of 2008 ... if its under 1 inch .. 5 foot tall .. and you have decent soil .. again.. you don't mention that ... i probably wouldn't bother ... but i work in pure sand... trees love sand... sand plus water and tamping in at planted is near concrete.. and the tree isn't going anywhere ... if you are on clay .. and have dug a bowl .. and inserted amended topsoil into your cauldron ... that tree may never grow roots out of the hole.. and you can picture how it might have a tendency to tip over in the slightest breeze .. again given the sail size of its canopy ... did you 'absorb ' all that.. lol good luck ken

My old neighbor used to have a multitrunked one he'd planted about 15' from the front door. He always said he put it too close, and even though they were pretty they were a nuisance. They shed bark and leaves and each year some sort of caterpillar decimated the leaves til they looked ratty. I'd think in small confines you wouldn't want them. I don't know how much it dried up the ground, but they do tend to grow where it's watery in nature, which would indicate to me they're thirsty. I know he didn't have anything growing under his save maybe some liriope. When he left the new neighbors cut it down, along with nearly everything else. What about redbuds? Not sure if they have shallow roots or not. I know the maples and dogwoods do. There are things that will work under them, though- my bloodgood maple has sedum, scilla peruviana, setacresia (purple heart), columbine, veronica, black liriope, dianthus, heucheras, goldflame honeysuckle, a climbing rose and some other odds and ends under it, and it's about 15'+ now. Cyclamen and hellebores would do well too. I have lots of little species bulbs and daffs in there that do well, too. You want to pick things that can take dry semi- shade if you go that route. Most all trees will want to run roots into the soil. You can get around it some by putting the plants in pots and sinking those, though that isn't what i did.

roxanna, I agree completely! Couldn't live in a tree-less place! PM2, thanks for your input. That was indeed one of my concerns, that the river birch wouldn't have the same shade canopy as the maple. But on the other hand I probably wouldn't live to see the full canopy of the maple anyway! The arborist told me my oak was about 200 years old. :( And my vegetable garden is in the one small spot of sun I have. The gardens around and under the trees are perennial shade gardens. I want to plunk the new tree in pretty much the same spot as the old, so I don't have to move the gardens. And honestly there's not too much more room for yet another tree, to put it elsewhere. My husband said, just plant both! And I said... where??? LOL. I have almost an acre but I do indeed have at least 40 trees already. And yes, its the maple roots I am concerned about. I never gardened under maples and I hear it can be difficult. So roxanna, you have given me some hope about the river birch! And as far as sticks - oh my goodness I think all we do now is pick up sticks. So that will be nothing new! As far as being strong, I guess that's a roll of the dice these days with the weather. I'm about 30 miles inland (and that from LI Sound, not the actual ocean) and we are definitely not what would be considered a hurricane hotspot lol. But the last few years we've had a couple of bad (for New England) hurricanes and some pretty strong residual winds from others, as well, shockingly, as a few tornadoes in the area. I agree I will take my chances! kitasei2, thank you! I LOVE my stump lol and am so glad I kept it, even if others come into the yard and question my decision. Gardeners will love it; others, who don't get it, and who think it's odd that I kept it, I just tell them it would have cost me another thousand bucks to cut it down, and they get THAT lol. My main concern with the stump is that I thought perhaps when I had the tree company plant the tree, they would remove or at least partially remove the stump, ot at least some of the roots. Since there's no way I can do that, I am planting my little sapling, whatever I choose, in amongst the massive roots. I hope whatever I plant will do well. I take encouragement from my daily walk, where I see trees growing out of rocks, out of other trees, and in other inhospitable places. Time will literally tell. Thanks for your input everyone! I'm leaning toward the river birch, mostly for it's quick growth rate. I just wish it were bigger now - it's not even the foot I thought it was. Another look showed it to be 7 inches lol. Thanks! :) Dee