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

Well I'm late to this party, but here's my $0.02. I like AB. I have one, and a Autumn Fantasy. Both grew 3+ feet for me this year. Several people on my street have Red Sunset Maples on well fertilized lawns, and they grew 12-20". There is an October Glory where I work that grew 12-15" without fertilizer. So my my Zone 6B, Autumn Blaze and Autumn Fantasy in no way shape or form grow slower than red maples cultivars as some have claimed. Simply is not true. Also there is a large AB where I work that has a large trunk and is at least 40' tall. Very mature. It lost a very few limbs about 1-2" inches in size to the worst ice storm on record for where I live this past winter. Quarter mile down the road October Glories about 35' were HEAVILY damaged, though the one in front of my work had mild damage (smaller tree). Also in the case of AF, the parent tree originates in Illinois if i remember correctly, and survived many many ice storms without major damage. Lastly, the these red maple cultivars in my location color very late, and absolutely do not last as long. Fall color is reliably great here. Also the color of my AF is a darker more dark brick red, and is a more open tree. So personally, here where I live, all are good selections, but you won't beat the growth rate of AB/AF with a red maple. But I suggest that you consider Autumn Fantasy. Harder to find, but certainly worth it. Lastly, for climate reference sake, Sugar Maples are very common and long lived here. They are native and common in the hills if you know where to look even though they often are not shown to be present on many distribution maps. Arktrees

Here's a hypothesis for you. I'm guessing that you get some wind from time to time. Not saying full blown Santa Ana, but perhaps you do. But it wouldn't have to be high wind. Being in California your dew points are generally no higher than 50-55 degrees, and if you get an east wind, much lower than that. Point is that very little wind, with dew points that low or lower, and temps even in the 80's will be VERY drying. So this establishes some extra water stress. Now for the tree part. When deciduous tress sense the fast shorting days, and cooling temperatures, they prepare for leaf drop and winter long before you see any signs. One of the things they do is start sealing off the vascular system in preparation of the severing of the leaf from the truck to prevent water and nutrient lose. So while the leaf is still attached, it flow of water is already greatly reduced. Now along comes a day or two 80+ degrees with 15 mph winds, and you have a formula for dry toasty leaves just like your seeing. Whats more you would not get this earlier in summer, as the vascular system is open full bore then. It's only when nearing leaf drop that the flow is impeded enough to cause scorching. FWIW, I life in NW Arkansas where we have rain throughout the year. Dewpoints can easily be 70 at any time in September with temps in mid 80's, but we are nearing leaf fall. If we get a few sunny warm days with some strong wind, exposed trees can sometimes get the same leaf burn. Especially if the tree is not at all drought resistant like Sugar Maple which are very common here. So in short, I think it's tree physiology combined with dry California air and sunny skies. If I'm right you can try stepping up the water on warmer/windier days, but even that may not help. Arktrees

Considering you have so many sprouts from below the the first branch set, you can select ANY of the sprouts from the trunk and make that into your new tree. I have had two instances with the same tree of a similar but different situation: I have a red/silver cross (Acer x freemanii) that I dug as a 6" seedling from my grandmother's garden. Planted it into the ground in late October of 2009 to over-winter it safely. A rabbit came during that winter and ate the stem to 1" from the ground. Determined as I was, I dug it up, potted it up and let it sprout last spring. I nubbed off every sprout but the one closest to the cut end, and let that sprout shoot up for the duration of summer 2010. It grew almost to 3' tall. In December 2010, after the little tree had turned the most amazing shades of hot red, we had a 4 day unprecedented snow fall (snow squalls, lake effect snow) the likes of which snapped the stem to 6" from the ground (in a new pot, in the ground again for the winter). As soon as the ground was thawed in March, I lifted the pot and kept it on the deck/patio. Again, the stem was enthusiastic about leafing out, and all the dormant buds were activated. I nubbed them away, only keeping the highest one on the stem. It has grown nearly 2' in the past 6 weeks. The wound has healed over completely and the stem is growing like a weed. Moral of the story: I'm determined to grow this silly weed of a hybrid. Moral 2 of the story: Even when you lose the top of a tree for an uncontrollable reason (weather, animals, etc) you can still succeed. Pick a vigorous stem and cut away all others. This stem will become the new trunk and will grow a considerable amount this summer. Remove the entire dead top to about half an inch from the shoot you will keep. The removal of all others will force all the root energy into one stem. It will hopefully prepare for winter and drop its leaves in October. Your one stem will branch profusely in the spring next year. It will look a little funny (well, a lot funny) but you won't have thrown away a perfectly good plant.