Poplar Trees - help!!!

I have an area of land near a river with about eighty fully mature poplar trees. As I understand it, these are instrumental in absorbing a great deal of the large amount of ground water. However, last winter four of the trees came down in a high wind, narrowly missing the house. There are about twenty other trees that are very close to the property and would crush it (and possibly us) if they came down. Does anyone know of a shrub/shorter tree with similar water-absorbing properties that I could plant to replace the threatening poplars?

 

Hi here are some suggestions, check out their ultimate height spread etc on the RHS website or in a good tree guide (Roger Phillips, Collins etc.) If close to the house bear in mind the roots will spread out at least as wide as the canopy & avoid willows near houses.
(Alnus (alders), Salix (willows), Taxodium distichum (swamp cypress), Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood), and Liquidambar styraciflua (sweet gum).

Trees for wet sites -- Deciduous trees
Common name Latin name

Box elder Acer negundo
Red maple Acer rubrum
Silver maple Acer saccharinum
Common alder Alnus glutinosa
Downy serviceberry Amelanchier arborea
Shadblow serviceberry Amelanchier canadensis
River birch Betula nigra
Northern catalpa Catalpa speciosa
Common hackberry Celtis occidentalis
Fringetree Chionanthus virginicus
Thornless honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis
Deciduous hollies Ilex decidua, I. verticillata
Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua
Tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera
Sweetbay magnolia Magnolia virginiana
Dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Paulownia Paulownia tomentosa
London planetree Platanus x acerifolia
Swamp chestnut oak Quercus bicolor
Cherrybark oak Quercus falcata
Water oak Quercus nigra
Pin oak Quercus palustris
Willow oak Quercus phellos
White weeping willow Salix alba
Weeping willow Salix babylonica
Bald cypress Taxodium distichum

Trees for wet sites -- Evergreen trees
Common name Latin name

Chamaecyparis Chamaecyparis spp.
Japanese cryptomeria Cryptomeria japonica
Southern magnolia Magnolia grandiflora
Austrian pine Pinus nigra
Loblolly pine Pinus taeda
Arborvitae Thuja spp.

[ May 21, 2005, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: Bayleaf ]