My placenta tree died. Advice for replacing it?

[lunarlady]

We planted a tree over my DD placenta 3 years ago. It failed to come back from winter dormancy, and is now dead. I would like to replace it, but I'm not sure what to do about the dead tree that is standing in that special spot. The tree itself is not so large, maybe 7 feet tall and 3" in diameter. DD is very upset that "her" tree has no leaves, so I need to replace it ASAP.

I was considering digging it up, but how huge a project is that? (I'm 33 weeks pregnant). Can I just cut it down and plant a new tree right next to the dead stump?

I have no reason why the tree died, although maybe overwatering (due to DD exuberance) and a late frost might have done it. But I'm a little worried about disease. If I plant a different type of tree should I be safe if there was a disease?

Thanks for any advice. It breaks my heart to see DD gently shaking her tree and frowning. She just doesn't get it.

[Owen'nZoe]

Sad. What type of tree was it? Was it showing any signs of stress/disease last season? Was it a tree suited for your climate/region? There are so many things that could have gone wrong, it would be hard to guess just from your post. That said, when my placenta tree died, I just sawed it off close to the ground and planted a different type of tree in the same spot. The new tree is doing very well.

[lunarlady]

It was a serviceberry tree, which is suposed to be well suited to the region. It didn't have any signs of stress or disease last season, but for some reason I've heard that this winter was a particullarly hard one for plants and quite a few people have had issues with their trees and shrubs dying. I'm thinking of sawing it off, as sometimes these trees sucker from the roots, so there is a small chance of that occuring (although the tree is a bit young for that.) I might replace it with an aspen, which seem to thrive here.