It would be best to plant in the fall after the trees are dormant. You might have to water some for the first year or two when it hasn't rained. And you need to do a deep watering.

Maple trees grow fast, but they also have roots that run on top of the ground, which can be a pain.

Oak, hickory, and other hardwoods grow very slowly. If you plant oaks, I would suggest to plant red or white oak. Any large leaf type. Water oaks small leaves are a pain to rake in the fall.

If you don't mind the higher prices for the trees I would suggest Pecan, since you get a little fringe benefit with them. They will take about 10 years + or - to produce nuts but will grow at about the same rate as oaks and are sturdy trees.

If those pine trees are large enough to fall on your home or other things I would take them down. An ice storm can bring them crashing down. I'm in SC and we have a lot of problems with pine beetles. I had a huge pine that died from the beetles and fell a few years ago. It caused a lot of damage to my fence.

Thanks. I like the idea of the pecans! Whether or not I am here in ten years is yet to be known ( I hope i am). As I understand it is not a wise idea to plant until the fall. First thing's first...get the yard cleared and see what I will have to work with. Right now, after researching, it is full of poppler and sweet gum trees. Neither I really have any desire to leave there. When it comes to the Pecan trees, is there a certain distance it should be from another tree to plant? And the Maple...This area is not and area that is really usable yard...so the surface roots don't bother me as much. I am looking at the area as becoming "refined woods", if you can picture that...

Pecan trees are supposed to be 60 to 80 feet apart for their mature size. You can plant closer and cull some later though.

The wood can be very valuable, depending on your local market.

Poplar and sweet gum trees are pretty much junk trees unless the are big enough for saw timber.

" I am looking at the area as becoming "refined woods", if you can picture that..."

Yes I can. My back yard is just what you described, huge oaks!