I would put a strong second on the Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) Easy from seed, fast growth and drought resistant when established. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_macrocarpa Live oak would also be a good choice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_virginiana The English Oak would be fun. (Quercus robur). Fast growth, drought tolerant. Good dense foliage and shade. There are the Hackberry trees. There are several species, the most common is the Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtis_occidentalis Kentucky Coffee Tree would also work there (Gymnocladus dioicus) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_coffeetree The Yellowwood tree is one to consider. It loots a bit like a flowering beech because of it's grey bark. But again, it has a deep taproot so it is drought tolerant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladrastis_kentukea You may want to try the Deodar Cedar. Being in a warmer zone, this tree would probably grow well. It is the fastest growing of the true Cedars and will get to be a very tall tree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedrus_deodara The other true Cedars, Cedar of Lebanon and Atlas Cedarwould be very good choices but they are very slow growing trees. A foot a year at most. More like to get 6 inches a year. Another choice for an evergreen is the Sierra Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) For a tree that will eventuall get huge, it is a very good and well behaved tree in it's youth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum Oddly enough, the Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichum) does not need to be in a swamp and is surprisingly drought tolerant, when established. The seeds for these can be found on line. Where possible I prefer to plant the seed where the tree is to grow. This allows for quickest establishment of the tree and better acclimation. However, you can also start them in pots if necessary. Particularly if there are vermin that would eat the seeds or the seedlings. Google these and see if any strike your fancy. By the way. How much land do you have and how much water do you get? That would be interesting and helpful in getting the trees started.

Seeing that Central Texas soil is alkaline soil, are you talking about west/central texas source bald cypress that can thrive in alkaline soil better than east Texas source which is mainly acidic soil? Where I live (south of Dallas), the soil is pretty much exact same as Central Texas so I have to look at Central Texas and see what grows well rather than East Texas that big boxes seem to sell a lot of plants that do well in East Texas including bald cypress. No wonder why they look crappy. The best conifer i've seen around here is that Taxodium Mucronatum. Dark green leaves... About pine tree... You might want to check out Italian Stone Pine tree (P. Pinea). It was recommended over any other pine trees including black japanese. Texas Forest Service is selling these seedlings for West and Central Texas. You might want to talk to them about it how they perform compared to others. Juniper (eastern cedar)is very common but does great in crappy soil... Best wind break and privacy screening trees money can buy around here.

Thanks waicklen, well since you asked...why yes, I do! This pic was taken on 6-20-10: 7-2-10, note the huge pile of crabgrass to the left...I pulled this out of the Bermuda and it's only a drop in the bucket! There was virtually no crabgrass in the Turfallo (probably because I put the cardboard and newspaper down in March - just the right time to prevent the seeds from germinating): I wasn't sure how it would respond to mowing so I had the 2nd patch (not the original test area) mowed first on 7-14-10: 7-23-10, original test patch is pretty shaggy looking at about 6-8 inches tall, 2nd patch looks good after mowing: 7-24-10 Baby's first haircut: 7-28-10, couple days after the first mowing, grass is brownish, all the green tips were cut off, I was worried... ...but it turned green again pretty quickly as you can see in the background of this pic taken on 8-12-10: I am very happy with it, it has weathered this heatwave well with very little attention, I think I watered it maybe 3 times this summer and I probably could have avoided mowing completely if I wanted to.

First I don't have any seed for you sorry my tree is not big enough. Second there are 3 different populations (in Texas) of Acer grandidentatum one is in Ft.hood another in the Hill Country around Bandera (Lost maples area) these two share similar genetics to a Chalk Maple Acer saccharum var. leucoderme). (Acer saccharum var.grandidentatum) which is what most people have in central Texas. (Acer grandidentatum var grandidentatum) is in the Guadulaupe mountains and reaching as far north as Utah and as far south as Northern Mexico.I have a Acer saccharum var. leucoderme which was collected in east Texas and has performed well in my Alkaline clay of Austin.My point being you may be able to find the Chalk maple seed easier. The seed also needs cold to germinate typically moist stratification for 90- 120 days @ a temperature of 33-39 degrees.Many of these seed will not have a viable embryo. Put the seed in water if they drop to the bottom that is what will germinate @95%. Discard the floaters. Art