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 have 2 Dura-Heat birches in my front yard, planted approx 5 yrs ago. I don't recommend them. Both had 4 trunks each when planted, and now we're down to 2 trunks each. The remaining trunks aren't leaning in an ideal direction so they look unbalanced. Too bad I couldn't choose which trunks should die... Also, the leaders & branches are very prone to winter die-back, esp when younger, so the remaining trunks aren't straight - they're kinked where the new leaders grew & I know they will never straighten. The entire top 1/2 of the healthiest trunk would just die over the winter. And the bottom 1/2 would continue growing better than in the prev year. I should have written that we had 8 Dura Heats originally, because they were container grown w/ 4 trees per pot. I'm sure this caused alot of their early issues. It is true they are very drought tolerant, but mine aren't rain tolerant, especially after a dry spell. Anytime after July 4th, watering or heavy rain causes many, many leaves to yellow & drop w/in a couple days. In prev years I actually covered the ground under the trees w/ plastic b4 watering the lawn or if heavy rain was expected - and this helped alot - but now I just don't care. I've been told this problem is due to clay, or how they were planted, but these were supposed to be clay tolerant, & the clay isn't that heavy or deep. The company that sold & planted them were unresponsive to our complaints during the 1st yr after planting, then they just disappeared. I planned to replaced them w/ something else, but life & other expenses happened, and now they're so big... I've had Birches before, and they shouldn't be this delicate.

I simply love the overall look of 'Heritage' River Birch trees. The 'Dura Heats' are reported to withstand planting areas that drain better and that may encounter more drying out in the hottest parts of summer, when rains are less apt to occur. Personally though, the 'Dura Heat' birches seem to display a little more yellow than I would prefer to see in a birch tree's bark. The leaves also do not seem to be as nicely shaped or colored as the Heritage Birch tree's leaves. Bottom line; I guess whichever birch cultivar you plant needs to the cultivar that is more compatable with the soil conditons and climate that the tree will encounter in its intended planting site. Still personally I prefer the Heritage Birch tree cultivar over most others. There are even prettier cultivars than Heritage Birch, but any those others that happen to tolerate my USDA zone area seem to be more prone to Birch borers or even other pests, which feed off the leaves of such birch trees.

It is usually the same reason for the yellowing. They are river birches so they are used to living alongside rivers. Any other place and they will have some leaf loss during the hottest of summer days. This will not hurt the tree, but is actually the way the tree deals with water issues. I heard in the urban landscape they can last only maybe 25-40 years, but that is not always the case. Good Luck!