Red maple girdling-lost cause?

10 years ago

Hi,

I hope someone can give me advice on this 30-yr-old red maple in my front yard. I noticed many trees nearby on my street are dying back (the others look much worse than ours, with more dead limbs than living); however, none of them appear to have a root girdling problem like mine does.

After noticing all the problems, I finally decided to do more research on the problem; then I found out about root girdling; then I cleaned around the base of our tree and saw the extent of the problem (or at least the above-ground extent).

Is this girdling so bad that the tree cannot be saved? Is it possible that some of the roots have grafted together and the problem is not as bad as it appears?

I did cut out one stem-girdling root, which was where I drew in the dotted red line; it had compressed a small area of the trunk. I donÃ¢ÂÂt know if I should try to remove the rest of the root that it was growing from, if it could be grafted to what itÃ¢ÂÂs growing overÃ¢ÂÂ¦

In the fourth picture, that side of the tree has no trunk flare at all, although that is the side of the tree where the foliage looks healthiest.

Should I just start saving money for tree removal in a few years?

Thanks,

Mark
--I'll post the other three photos below, since I can't figure out how to attach them all to one post.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

KentuckyBristle
Original Author
10 years ago
Photo 2
KentuckyBristle
Original Author
10 years ago
Photo 3
Related Discussions
Lost cause on this tree?
Q
Comments (10)
Thanks but they are not grafted at all. None of regular caddo maples are. The only grafted caddo maples are Dr. John Pair caddo maples and Autumn Splender (another cultivar by Dr John Pair) for consistent red fall color. In my case, mine is just a regular caddo maple grown from seed from SW OK source obviously. I read somewhere that Caddo maple doesn't like too much water so maybe that's what is happening. They just like hot and dry summers. What I'm having is not typical summer at all. It has been wet and cool when it should have been a lot hotter and drier. I've yet to see a high temp of 95* (now it's in 70s and gets to 80s for high lately). Last year, summer started early with 101*F in APRIL and it was in 90s-100s all the way till September, maybe early October?. Just the opposite this year. This month is 3rd wettest June ever. We still have a few more days to be number 2 if this keeps up.
...See More
sugar maple root girdle?
Q
Comments (8)
Not a problem in my world. Not sure I'd even really call that a girdling root. Regardless, someday way in the very distant future, the tree will get old and die. I doubt very much that root will have played any part. My advice would be not to try hacking/chipping/cutting or somehow trying to remove it. It's a big, established tree. Let it be. As they say in med school: first do no harm........
...See More
Red maple with large limbs dying?
Q
Comments (5)
Moved the mulch away. There really wasn't that much around the trunk so I don't thing that was it. Talked to another neighbor yesterday--seems that several red maples in the neighborhood died a couple years ago and the three that are left including mine are now experiencing the same thing. So, any suggestions on what I should plant back in the spot because it is apparently on the way down.
...See More
Sugar Maple - close to house and girdling
Q
Comments (21)
Yes, from what I did read yesterday the girdling is pretty common. I have another maple in the front that is also suffering from girdling as well as verticillium wilt. That one has a very limited life. We are babying (extra watering, treatments) it for a few years but eventually it will have to come down. We had a lightening strike in our neighborhood just last night. Luckily it hit an old but very tall tree. Bad enough that the fire department came racing out as it was smoking. Never seen anything like that before. Tree didn't fall on the house but if it is not removed in the next few days, it might. For me, that was another sign that I am doing the okay thing.
...See More
nandina
10 years ago
When confronted with this type of problem I first investigate the following as a probable cause:
1. Was some type of a trench dug along the section of dying maples? If so, possible explanation could be introduction of Verticillium wilt into trees through cut roots. A common problem with maples. It this did happen we can tell you how to quickly check your maple for possible V. wilt infection.

2. This one I learned from experience and observation when dealing with street trees. If there is an underground gas line in the vicinity of the trees it may have one or more pin holes slowly leaking gas which, in time, kills the trees. If this is the situation have the gas company check for leaks. This is often an unrecognized problem in older neighborhoods. Leaking gas can travel underground along tree roots for quite a distance. This was a lesson driven home to me one day. I will post the details someday when there is time.
KentuckyBristle
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the reply, nandina.
1) In the 9 years I have lived at this house, there has been no trench digging in the yard; the nearest was some pipe work about 50 yards away a few years ago. Is it possible for the wilt to travel from root system to root system, eventually reaching my tree?

2) The neighboorhood doesn't have gas pipes.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
no gas service in KY ... i thought KY came into the 19th century.. at least in the mid 20th????. .. lol..

get rid of it ...

its a goner..

who cares why ...

its a piece of carp tree .. and thank god.. it killed itself.. before it cost you a new driveway from lifting that .. such lifted mom and dads sidewalk .... why not your drive????

no gas furnaces .. no gas stoves.. no gas barbies .... hmmmm....i bet you were thinking of the other gas ....

gas had nothing to do with that root system.. i can almost see the circle of the 25 gallon pot it was in .... way back when ....

good luck

ken

ps: if you have the stump ground out.. have miss dig verify there are no pipes.. of whatever kind ...
KentuckyBristle
Original Author
10 years ago
Oh, there is plenty of gas service in KY, but I think most newer neighborhoods don't have it. We just have all electric, and I think that's true for everyone on my street (1970's). I could be wrong. The water line runs right near the tree, though.

Yes, I think the tree was doomed the moment it was planted. If you can make out that bright green piece of plastic sticking up near the bottom of the trunk--I can only think that is part of the original pot or binding material, never removed (!).

I'll just try to look for ways to buy time until I can afford to have it removed. :(
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
i was just goofin with you on the gas .... really??.. no one has a gas stove???? .. lol...

what fascinates me.. i could not find your green pot ...

but on closer looking.. this tree was telephone poled.. planted too deep .... and the darn thing grew its roots right out of the soil to fix that .. go figure ...

if you went and bought a new 5 footer in fall... you can have a 20 foot tree inside a few years.. plant it off to the other side of the lot... and do take it out of the pot this time..

and in the meantime... you can figure out what to do with this one.. might take 5 years for it to die.. if ever.. its just going to be about how ugly it gets... or whether that branch heading towards the house.. dies.. and falls on the roof ....

thanks for being patient with my humor.. or lack thereof ...

good luck

ken
KentuckyBristle
Original Author
10 years ago
Heh heh, your humor is fine! I appreciate the advice.

And oops, I never posted the fourth picture-- here it is. In this one, you can see the green plastic scrap at the bottom right side of the trunk. It's deeply embedded, I haven't got it out yet.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
lol.. you will get it out.. when you grind that stump out of there ...

ken
arktrees
10 years ago
IMHO, no need to bother with the plastic. It will have no significant impact on the tree at this point. Those trees were planted by"a monkey with a shovel" in the quickest laziest way possible. Sorry to say, but the tree will be dead soon.

Arktrees
bengz6westmd
10 years ago
Maples are prone to girdling roots. A wild-grown tree doesn't usually suffer, but one that starts out in a pot w/severe girdling roots ends up a basket-case like yours.

Red maple girdling-lost cause?

Comments (11)

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

Related Discussions

nandina

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

arktrees

bengz6westmd

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Red maple girdling-lost cause?

Comments (11)

KentuckyBristleOriginal Author

KentuckyBristleOriginal Author

Related Discussions

nandina

KentuckyBristleOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

KentuckyBristleOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

KentuckyBristleOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

arktrees

bengz6westmd

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

KentuckyBristle
Original Author

KentuckyBristle
Original Author