Pictures might help, but an on-site visit from a certified arborist, county extension agent, or similar professional would be best. It may not require any treatment, but it depends on what's going on. If I had this issue and couldn't tell what was happening with my own research, I'd start by taking a picture to my local extension agent and see what they said because that doesn't cost anything.

That's what the arborist was concerned with last year, too - the suckers or growth out of the base. He asked me to look for girdling roots, which is what I did, and growth started occurring at the top branches. Local guides for this tree say that it is semi-evergreen with leaf drop in the spring. I believe that this is the time of year to prune and/or plant as root growth will begin soon. I'm not native to this region though.

I would say "semi-evergreen". Mine drops some leaves. I would say maybe half of them? The rest stays green through the winter. New ones start to grow in late February. Have you looked at Lacebark elm? They seem to grow and fill out fast. I generally don't like their form (they vary greatly seedling to seedling and I don't like some of them). 'Bosque' is a cultivar with dominant central leader and look much better but good luck finding it around here. I never could find it.

Yep- pretty close- I'm at 183 and Anderson Mill (a mile or so south of Lakeline Mall). I agree with the possibility of drought response. The one thing I want to see is if your root flair is exposed or not, even for a young tree. Most trees, purchased from the big box stores, have the tree's root ball sitting in a container of some sort and the dirt in those containers are usually filled up to the top edge, which, is significantly higher than the root flair of the tree. Sometimes people will take those home and plant them too deep or too shallow because they don't see the tree's root flair. This can either smother the tree's roots (if planted too deep) or they will not be able to take hold correctly (if planted too shallow). Either way the tree can suffer. One should always remove the excess soil down to the root flair before planting. Then plant with root flair at ground level. So really, what I am asking you for (for the picture), really is to check and see if you can see the little root flair just at the soil line. If not, you might have planted too deep and the tree is suffocating. The other thing is how much you are watering and does your soil drain well. Chinquapin's require well drained soil. Anyways, post back what you find...and Happy Friday!!