If you can find it, an Autumn Blaze maple might do the trick for you. It's a cross between a red or a sugar maple (I can't remember which) and a silver. Has the strength of the red/sugar and the fast growth of the silver. Plus, brilliant red fall color. Don't know about price though, they may be a bit expensive. A maple will be a faster growth tree, stay away from oaks if you want fast growth. Unfortunately, the speed of growth usually directly relates to strength of the tree, i.e., the faster it grows, the weaker it is.
As for clay soils, if you can find a tree that has been grown in a local nursery and is sold as B&B (balled and burlapped), you should be getting a soil similar to yours. I would avoid a tree from a sand based soil. It's personal preference, but if I'm planting in heavy clay based soils, I like to plant about an inch or so high (see following directions!), just to help keep the tree/shrub from "drowing". When you dig a hole in a clay soil, then put water in it, in effect what you have created is a clay "bowl" that will take a LONG time to drain. I have a picture somewhere of this, I'll see if I can post it.
When you plant it, FIND THE ROOT FLARE! All too often I'm seeing trees that have been planted 6-10" too deep. They live for ~2-3 years and are dead by year 3-4. The problem starts in the nursery: when they are lined out, they are planted too deeply. Plus, most nursery's are still culitivating down the rows to remove weeds, which throws soil on top of the roots. I haven't seen a tree in the last 2 years that I haven't had to take at least 4 inches off of the top, some have been as much as 8"!
When you find the root flare, it also gives you a chance to check for potential girdling roots. These should be removed. It will save you heartache 10-15 years down the road. My guess is over 1/2 of the trees coming out of most nursery's nowadays have potential girdling roots.
If you don't know what a root flare is, read on. Simply put, it is where the trunk "flares" out and turns into roots. This should be as close to surface as possible.
A girdling root is just what it sounds like. It's a root that circles around the trunk of the tree and will eventually (as the trunk and the root get bigger with age) choke the tree to death. If at all possible, all roots should be heading away from the trunk in as straight of a line as possible.
If the tree is B&B, remove as much of the wire basket (it will most likely have a basket, it MAY just have rope, depending on the size of the ball) as possible. Cut as much of the burlap away as you can. Remove all ropes. If the top of the tree has been tied up, remove the ropes before putting the tree in the hole and separate the branches!!!!! (Voice of experience talking
) Water deeply and infrequently, especially if you have clay soils. I like to fill the hole with water before backfilling the hole with soil- it thouroughly soaks the ball and helps the backfill to settle. Staking may be needed, especially if you had to take a lot of soil off of the top of the ball to find the root flare. Slack is needed in the staking, you don't want it too tight, you just want it so the tree doesn't fall over! Remove stakes after a season of growth. Finally, prune out crossing branches and mulch with 2-3 inches of mulch (please, please, please don't use the red mulch, it's TACKY!!! The only place it belongs is McDonalds!).
I hope this helps! I've given my suggestion on type of tree, let's see if anyone else has any. The planting instructions should stay the same for any tree you plant though!
Dan
P.S.- J.P.S.- can you (or someone) post (permanately) the above planting directions somwhere? Modify them if needed, but I think it would be a great service to the people who just happen to find the site and wonder about planting trees....?
