I'm new to this forum, and I'm hoping you all can help me figure out what to do. I have two Autumn Blaze maples that were planted right after my house was built, in September 2009. That first fall they turned the most glorious red. However, the last two summers here in Oklahoma City have been hot and dry (last summer in particular was awful!) and both years the trees seemed to be having a hard time. I wasn't as quick to start watering as I probably should have been either - coming from a place where trees didn't need to be watered, it just didn't occur to me until the leaves started turning brown that first summer. Last summer I was gone for two weeks in late June/early July and it was very hot when I was gone, over 100 many days. When I returned there were a lot of brown/falling leaves, particularly on the maple in the center of the yard, which is on higher ground that the one by the street. Around the same time I also noticed little holes in the tree which my neighbor said was borers. She had hers sprayed and later had the tree removed (I don't know what kind of tree it was but apparently a lot of the neighbors had the borers too). I researched it and read that it was too late to treat with anything, and that they probably wouldn't kill the tree if it was healthy. So I watered them generously and often, and the leaves stopped turning brown and falling off, and we got through the summer. This spring we got a lot of rain, and the street tree leafed out and looks good. The one in the yard leafed out too but there are some bare and apparently dead branches. I'm attaching a picture so you can see what it looks like.

This picture was taken about 3 weeks ago. The tree has leafed out more since, but the bare branches are still completely bare.

Another thing (not sure if it is pertinent or not) but last summer I noticed that the bark on the truck, closer to the ground, was splitting and coming loose. This spring, however, I noticed that there are little whitish gray mushroom things growing on the trunk, and I'm pretty sure that isn't good.

When I moved in here I knew nothing about trees, so I figured the builder knew what he was doing by planting the trees with this funny volcano type ring of soil around each one. I did what my neighbors did and piled a bunch of mulch on top. Now, 2 1/2 years later, many of those trees in my neighborhood are dead. I recently learned that this was a bad idea, so I recently removed the excess soil so the ground under the tree is level and you can see the base of the tree where the soil level probably should have been. I will add some mulch this weekend after I get rid of the bermuda grass that put down a massive root system under the trees because I put landscaping fabric under the mulch thinking it would stop the weeds. I'm learning there is no stopping the bermuda grass - it grew through the fabric and basically anchored it to the ground so it was a nightmare to remove. I still have to do the other tree this weekend.

I realize I have made a lot of mistakes with my trees, but I am trying to figure out if there is any hope for them at this point, and if so, what I need to do to give them their best chance of survival.

One more thing - I was reading here tonight about maples causing problems with sewer pipes, etc. One would think that the builder wouldn't have planted anything that would be destructive to underground pipes, but I'm not so sure these builders know what they are doing when it comes to trees. What do you all think? If it helps any, the Autumn Blaze is apparently a cross between a red maple and a silver maple.

Thank you,
Shelley

Sounds like you did reasonably well. Planting mound looks unusual but hey, higher is better than lower.

New subdivision lots are entirely different than my old house. You could have done everything perfect and had some failure.

As we are leaving prime planting season how about we see how the maple does then deal with thoughts of a replacement in the fall when success rates for transplants are higher again?

As for the sewer line issues, if they did their job right it should not be a problem. First they should not be leaking, meaning a whole in the lines. Without a whole, there is nothing to attract the roots, and the pipes end up being just another obstruction to grow around. Plus, those lines "should" be 36" (my local code so I'm assuming here) underground, and the roots probable would not grow that deep to begin with.

Arktrees

Ditto on the pipes. Old, leaky, cast iron or other long-discontinued pipes are one thing. gleaming new PVC, or even gleaming new cast iron, are not going to deteriorate any time soon.

+oM

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

Arktrees

+oM

Arktrees, thank you for the specific recommendations as that gives me a good start. I found a document at www.okplanttrees.org that had detailed descriptions and pictures of several of the trees you recommend, and I really like the looks of the chinese pistache! But I'm also a big maple fan, so will probably wind up with at least one Caddo maple. I'm going to start a new conversation to get more recommendations for possible replacements. I want to do this right this time.

Thanks again, everyone.
Shelley

You got me thinking that maybe I would be better off with several smaller trees rather than one large one. My lot is about 100' long by 50' wide at the back of the lot and 63' at the front of the lot. My front yard, the area between the house and the sidewalk and the driveway and the neighbor's property line, is basically 30' wide by 50 feet from house to street. I have indicated my house, garage, fence, driveway, walkway, and the location of the two maples that will have to be removed this fall (for sure the one in the middle of the lawn is definitely doomed, as discussed on another thread.

Now the HOA requires me to submit a plan before I make any changes to the landscape, and I am required to have at least one tree. Then there is this very confusing (to me) verbiage about planting anything that would obstruct my neighbor's view:

"Taller plantings and recreation equipment should not be placed in the neighbor's view line. Existing vegetation will be allowed to remain in the view line. the view line is defined by staffing at the left and right rear property corners and proceeding 20 feet towards the front corners and 20 feet toward the center across the rear property line. These two new points, near each corner, when connected form trianges that should remain free of obstructions for neighbor's view corridors."

Now if anyone can decipher this for me and explain where I can and can't plant trees in my front yard, I would be very grateful :)

My lot is fairly small, and my house is only 1,123 square feet (single storey). It faces south so I really want some shade on that side and the quicker the better. Ok, given all of that, what would you advise in terms of height and mature width of trees, and where I can place them for maximum shade? How close could I plant to the front of the house? Just wondering if a smaller, fast growing tree, like maybe a crape myrtle, planted much closer to the window, would provide shade, at least till the bigger tree(s) fill out? Or would that just look stupid?

Thank you for all of your help with my tree situation.

Shelley (see diagram of my lot below):