Re: How long before......
Make sure you actually LOOK at all the quests before going to the Spire like Theresa says!
Also to add to what they are saying:
Oakfield- Grows 4-5 buildings and houses/economy grows if you defend the temple of light.
Westclliff- Growsfrom a terrible camp to a large middle class village based on your actions
Brightwood- Large farming complex and trade circle forms based on elimination of bandits
Bowerstone Old Town- Slum vs Middle Class based on Warrent choices
Bower Lake- Trade forms, other changes being tested by myself based on elimination of Badnits
..
Also testing if the Economy will affect the visuals of towns in Fable 2, from being a dusty homeless 1 star Bowerstone Market where the people are drunk all day to a clean, trimmed 5 star market with a working class. My test results will come this week.
Edit: Also, the tree they are talking about is the Golden Oak. Its planted before the Spire, and based on your hero and your world, is either shredded and broken or tall and leafy afterwords.
