I love the look of weeping willows but, like so many other trees that I like the look of, I won't plant one here because I only want high-quality trees that are not going to give us trouble years down the road when we are old and gray.

I'd cut the willow down and replace it with a high quality tree that will last for decades. I know you'd like something that is faster growing, but most fast-growing trees are trash trees. Fast growth gives you weak wood and weak wood breaks more easily in ice and wind storms and is more susceptible to damage from tree pests like certain types of borers and beetles.

A slower growing tree will give you harder, denser wood that is less likely to give you trouble down the road. There are lots of slower-growing trees that are worth waiting for....and believe me, I understand about needing shade from the west....I'm still waiting for our 8- and 9-year-old trees that we planted west of our house to get large enough to give us real shade. (They're getting there.)

Some good trees that are not extremely fast-growing but which are high quality and pretty much trouble free would include almost any oak, although my favorite oaks are Shumard Red Oaks, Sawtooth Oaks and Bur Oaks. Other trees to consider are Chinese Pistache, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Lacebark Elm and Chinese (not American) Elm. I like native pecans, but not too close to the house or drive because they can be kind of messy. Other trees that some people plant here include Golden Raintree, Sweetgum or River Birch if you have moist sandy soils, Live Oak (slow growing), and some of the maples (NOT silver maple) like Autumn Blaze Maple or Amur Maple (these aren't messy like silver maples and don't have surface root problems). Gingko is a gorgeous tree and has handled ice storms in Oklahoma very well, but it is very, very slow-growing.

There's a couple of native trees that we have in our woodland and which are fairly fast growing that you might consider. They include Hackberry (very drought tolerant), Green Ash, and Winged Elm. All of them are faster-growing than oaks, but I consider them second-tier trees because their quality is lower than that of the oaks.

I've linked an Oklahoma Forest Service tree list. If you want to read more about any tree on that list, just click on the name of the tree and the corresponding factsheet will pop up. One tree on the Forest Service list that I personally would not plant (they are in our woods, but I didn't plant them) near the house is the Black Walnut because the juglone in Black Walnuts prevents other plants from growing nearby.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Forest Service Tree List

Thanks, Dawn.