Thank you very much for all of the helpful replies. I guess I will wait till fall and see how things go, and be prepared to replace them if they don't survive another summer. First of all, here are a couple of photos of the trunk of the one in the yard (the worst one). You can see where I recently dug out the excess soil piled around the tree and attempted to get it at the level it probably should have been at when they planted the trees. Dwrecktor, it sounds like your experience was very close to mine. Do the pictures above look like your trees did? How long was it between the time your trees were planted and when you removed the excess soil? Mine will have been in the ground for 3 years in September. I sure wish I had known to do that right away. Arktrees, great suggestion on the perc test - I will do that. I do know that the soil is heavy red clay and there isn't much topsoil since they took that away when they built the homes. As a rule, our soil tends to be slightly alkaline from what I've heard. It gets very hot and dry here in the summers. Any suggestions as to what might be a good replacement tree? Since my house faces south, a shade tree is a priority. Other considerations are something that will be less likely to blow over or lose big limbs in our storms, won't overwhelm my small lot, and if it produces something edible (like pecans or fruit) that would always be a plus. Drought and heat tolerance would be pretty high on the list and it would be in full sun pretty much all day on that side of the house. Of course I don't want anything that will mess with the driveway/sidewalk/foundation or plumbing, though maybe that last one isn't a big deal with new construction. I welcome any and all suggestions. My personal favorites are maples and birches and blue spruce, but that's probably the Canadian in me :) I'm guessing none of those would do well down here? I'm guessing the burr oak comment was a joke? What is a chinquapin? Are there any small pecan cultivars that would make a good yard tree, or are they all huge? Also, I was reading about Caddo maples that are native to SW Oklahoma - has anyone had any experience with them? Thanks again everyone for all the helpful replies and for not making me feel more like a total idiot than I already do lol

"We have had very warm winters lately so Im wondering if that effected them." Shouldn't have anything to do with it. Both are heavily planted and grow well here and generally get great fall color and we have much milder winters than you ever get in Ohio! But fall color is highly dependent on climate and weather issues as well as tree genetics. Drought as well as excessive rainfall and too warm temps late into the season can negatively impact fall color development. btw, both are not Acer rubrum cultivars. 'October Glory' is but 'Autumn Blaze' is a Freeman maple, a hybrid between red and silver maples.

Thanks for looking at my pictures. I have uploaded three more that are more close up. I do think there are some greenish grey lichen spots further down towards the base of the tree, but they look different than the light colored spots and streaks further up. I've included close up pictures of them too. Any adivice is greatly appreciated. This forum coumminity is always SO helpful! Thanks! Here is a link that might be useful: Autumn Blaze Maple trunk with close-ups

“Autumn Blaze” maple trees (Acer × freemanii 'Jeffersred' Autumn Blaze), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8, are fantastic trees for fall color, turning bright shades before leaf drop. Like other maples, however, “Autumn Blaze” is somewhat susceptible to bark splitting from cold weather as well as from sun exposure.