Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa.

Some fast growers you could consider: Exclamation Planetree, Accolade or Triumph Elm (both Asian), Valley Forge Elm (American), Autumn Blaze or Celebration Maple, Dawnredwood.

Knowing how you plan to purchase the trees will narrow down your options (DIY local nursery, through a landscaper, special order, etc.).

Most oaks grow pretty fast (>2' per year) in Ohio. I have nuttall and bicolor oaks that put on almost 3' annually. Guessing you would find Northern Red, Shumard, Scarlet, and Bicolor available at local nurseries. Those are all quality options. If the site is boggy, you'd want to narrow it a bit.

Tuliptree is of course another good option for a quick grower that turns into a substantial tree. Baldcypress too if you are looking for a tough conifer.

Red maples are overplanted and over represented in young Ohio forests, so you may take that into consideration.

what about buckeyes??? .... would seem apropos for OH ... and i think it is the state tree ... according to the link

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/01/what_exactly_is_a_buckeye_and.html

i have a red flowering version of the family ... though its called a horse chestnut .. never quite got around to investigating if its a true buckeye ... due to the whole UM thing.. lol ... its a rather slow growing small tree .. maybe because mine is in MI .. lol ...

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/01/what_exactly_is_a_buckeye_and.html

ken

ps: and then get a pet wolverine .... lol

Traveling from Cincy to Canton back to Dayton I saw regular Metasequoia (Dawn redwood) or its fancy yellow foliaged cultivar "Ogon" doing well across Ohio.

Leave the lower limbs on and the regular species tree gets a gnarly cool thick trunk. Limb it up for a more formal appearance.

They grow fast as anything besides a weping willow and seem long lived. Their pyramidal shape will be different in your yard also.

Larix kaempferi and L. decidua were the fastest trees at my old place; both averaging 3' or more per year. They were planted as small container stock and quicly reached 15'-20'. They've probably slowed down, but likely over 25' at the ten year mark. Excellent fall color, attractive cones, and emerging foliage is quite nice IMHO.

What about a river birch? Mine grows about 3 ft per year and has gorgeous bark. A stunner all year. Planted mine as a 12 ft sapling four springs ago and it is over 25 ft now.

everyone wants a fast growing tree. fact is, most of the large statured shade trees average a fast growth rate...which is considered to be an average of 2' a year.

Most people also judge speed of growth to be in this order: I planted the tree yesterday. it's still the same size. What gives?

First year it sleeps, second year it creeps, third year it leaps. Sometimes it each step takes a little longer...there's a lot of contingencies.

find a tree you like. There is no tree that has no problems. Not. a. single. one. Most of the larger trees commonly called shade trees are going to give you what you want in terms of rate of growth. then you have to double check with local folk to determine suitability where you are.

Although I personally wouldn't mind a buckeye or an oak, I think I'll have to go with a tree that doesn't produce nuts. Most nuts are toxic to dogs, and although I have one dog who is smart enough to leave them alone, my other dog is duuuuuumb!

My biggest concern is resistance to borers. It seems like this area is infested. I'm about to lose my second old tree to them, and my neighbor across the street has some >40' evergreens that he's having removed that look like they're dying the same death as my spruce. Is there any tree type that is more resistant to these bugs? Should I not bother planting until the borers have left town? Do they leave town? Or should I just take my chances?

Heritage river birch are resistant to birch borers if that helps. They've been planted here to replace Himalayan and other varieties of birch that are badly affected by borers.

Thank you, Kaillean! I just don't believe I could stand to lose another tree.

DED resistant American Elm...several named varieties to choose from these days.

Borers are usually specific to particular trees. Emerald ash borer won't affect your other trees. Are you sure it was borers that killed your spruce? What kind of spruce was it?

Lots of good suggestions have been mentioned, but if growth rate is a high priority, in my experience here in the upper Midwest it's hard to beat American Elm (Valley Forge is one of the DED resistant varieties, but there are others as smivies said above) or Exclamation Planetree (a hybrid sycamore).

Without comparison, Dawn Redwood has been the fastest tree I've ever grown. There are not too trees someone of middle-age can plant and still be able to climb in this lifetime (referring to myself here). It's a conifer but deciduous.

this pic is a couple of years old. At least twice the size now. Leaves change to an array of colors in the Autumn (late November here). You just need space!

Gorgeous! Wish I had the space for one.

Kailean, they are kin to Bald Cypress, and as such, don't mind standing water. This one really doesn't have to worry about that but it can get water logged back there. I grow BC too but this species is faster (also more tolerate of shade). I guess I have a thing for deciduous conifers and broadleaved evergreens. I also have Japanese Larch (another really cool deciduous conifer)..., one of the recommendations above.., it's a gorgeous tree too!

I know it is rather boring, and not exactly fast growing (more moderate), but acer x freemanii 'Autumn Blaze' sounds perfect for this situation.

"I just don't believe I could stand to lose another tree."

No one likes losing trees, but try to keep it in perspective. There are worse fates in life. The best strategy might be to go for a long-lived native. I like the Ulmus suggestion offered by AD & WD.

Hmmmm.... I just got to thinking about this again, what about zelkova allee? They are beautiful, spreading trees, that are extremely long lived.

Oaks=acorns. Just as long as you are prepared for that.

Arbordave, those pictures are of my poor spruce. The sad part is that I know the tree's history. The first owner of the house had a kid who brought the tree home from school as one of those tree-in-a-cup things that kids get in grade school. That was probably a good 80-90 years ago.

Looks like a blue (Colorado) spruce that was infected with cytospora canker (and possibly 1 or 2 other diseases), none of which would affect your new tree.

Is it curable? I'd rather save the tree, if possible.

I'd recommend getting a local Certified Arborist to inspect it and make a recommendation, but if cytospora is in fact the main cause, it's difficult to control and the tree will likely continue to decline.

Thank you, Arbordave! Sad news, but I have phone calls in to arborists, and if the tree is doomed, I'll definitely have it taken down and put up something else.

Dawn redwood is your answer....very fast growth....120+feet in just 50 years

Not surprised about the Blue Spruce...they are super popular, but prone to disase in many places, and very picky about humidity levels.

Unfortunately most fast growing trees are short lived and disease prone. It is sort of a "live fast die young" kind of thing. As other have suggested, Dawn Redwood and Baldcypress are exceptions..fairly fast and disease resistant.

Norway Spruce and Eastern White Pine are fast and fairly disease resistant...although, depending on what exactly is afflicting it, they may be vulnerable to the same problems as your spruce. Both would likely be more resistant, particularly the Norway Spruce. And pine have their own borers.

Another Tulip Tree is a good possibility, if your current one is doing well. They are pretty fast.

Unfortunately I don't think anything in Zone 6 is going to catch up to a 100 year old Tulip Tree in your lifetime...except maybe a hybrid poplar, and those are disease prone.

Birch are susceptible to Bronze Birch Borer...River Birch less so then most others. Attractive trees.

Here is a large dawn redwood (or some type of deciduous conifer) just 2 hours away from me.

Not very easy to take a photo of, it is rather large. Planted sometime long ago

Reason for edit: correct a few facts

The oldest Dawn Redwood in North America was planted in 1948 at the Arnold Arboretum. It was only "discovered" in China in 1944. Unless Marty McFly planted it, it was not planted in the 1800's.

Well, it's at least in the metasequoia. I may have misidentified it.

It's one of the two. I have never grown a metasequoia, or any other deciduous conifers because I just don't really have the room for them. Not a really high demand plant in my area either, because no one has ever requested that I grow and sell them.