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.

I agree with Gardenlen about doing a bit at a time. I also agree with kimmsr that a soil test is in order for you. I have trouble with the idea of herbicides. I realize that there are probably some situations (poision ivy and oak) where they may be the only option but I've seen too many people misuse such things. What I would probably do personally (though it is kinda hard to tell without seeing the boarders on the raised beds) is choose a section of the garden and pull out the boarders, dig out any of the plants not killable by solarization or smothering. Mow everyting in that section low, and then start with the solarization in the spring or... Smothering right away, laying out lasagna gardens where you want the beds and wood chips or other slow to break down mulch for the paths. (the idea of putting some root/rhizome barriers down between the still to be done area and your freshly cultivated area is probably a good one. The right type of material can probably be pulled up and moved as you work your way along the garden.) As to putting the boarders back in place, well I've found that boarders tend to protect weeds from being pulled up by the roots and make you less likely to re-arrange the garden. I would only use them if you can be fairly certain you kill off those weeds. The only raised bed boarders I'm actually using in my current garden are small ones that two people can lift up from around the bed if weeds become serious enough to require complete re-working. My experience with garden boarders at my grandmother's house (where most of the boarders are rocks and driftwood) is that it is impossible to pull the wild roses, grass, or other weeds out by the roots so you are essentially reduced to cutting them off all the time. This might be ok if a somewhat wild/soft feel is desired for the garden but with your invasive plants you might want to use the rock boarder materials for something new. You are going to need huge amounts of organic materials no matter what you do. Start collecting/stockpiling cardboard, newspaper, leaves, compost, mulch, grass clippings, and whatever else you can find. Definitely turn a section of that garden into a composting area. Good luck.

Rick @ Sheffield's Seed here. I'd like to comment on this post, having just seen it. I'm very pleased that so many people are making good comments about our seed. We do the best that we can to get in high quality seed, store it properly and ship it to our customers so it arrives in good shape. Quercus species are some of the hardest to work with when it comes to keeping quality high. Members of the White Oak group being quite a bit more difficult than those of the Red Oak group. We do store our oak seed just above freezing in a slightly humid cooler so they keep as well as possible. We have been able to store some species this way for over two years while maintaining good viability. We periodically float the seed and trash the floaters to help keep what we do sell the best quality. This past season we also started giving some seed lots a hot water bath to kill weevil larvae and eggs. 120 degrees F for 10-15 minutes kills the weevil without harming the seed. We have had some complaints from overseas customers about members of the white oak group arriving with sprouted and dead radicles. We don't import any Quercus seed for this reason and the fact that USDA requires fumigation on almost all seed lots of Quercus entering the USA. I would say shipping is our biggest problem as we don't have much control over how long the seed sits around in customs, etc. I'd be happy to hear any suggestions from members here on how we might improve our seed and service. Also, if you ever notice that we are out of a particular seed and you have it for sale, we may be interested in buying or trading!

In our climate during winter, trees are dormant. If the soil stays above 45F, some root growth may take place. Evergreens, both needle and broadleaf, transpire, that is they lose water from their foliage the year round, and this has to be replaced, even in winter or foliage will dessicate. The metabolic processes that take place during the dormant period rely on stored energy. Come spring, green growth begins, and this relies on stored energy until the foliage is able to photosynthesize and produce energy. The energy produced early in the growing season mostly goes toward the plants metabolic processes, later it is used to replace energy stores. If a plant doesn't receive enough sun during the growing season it will grow poorly, relative to ones receiving adequate sun. It's energy reserves won't be as great. Most woody plants grow best in full sun, a lot tolerate less, and a very few require shade and shelter. The species you want to grow are full sun lovers. They will tolerate less than perfect conditions and thereby be less than perfect specimens, leastwise the way we humans reckon. I'll repeat what I said above, what you propose is eminently doable, I've done the very same thing and I am most satisfied with the results.