brandon7, this tree is in a lot better shape than the other. If only one of the 2 trees will make it, this would be the one. The soil level in the pic is about an 1" or 2" above the surrounding lawn. If the root flare is not too far away from this point, at worst the tree would be slightly below grade. While I agree that all this root pruning is not too beneficial, I figured it was the lesser of two evils. Already I've removed a couple of roots that was girdling the trunk. I inspected the trees today and from my novice eyes, the leaves appeared a darker green than it did a week ago. Not sure if all this Dallas rain has anything to do w/ it or just that we're getting closer to summer. I guess at this point I'm gonna march forward and find that root flare. My long term plan is if these trees show signs of recovery, I would replant them in the same hole in the fall to raise them above grade a bit if they're in a hole. As always, thanks for the responses.

I think silver maples are a scapegoat for the generations of incompetent that planted them in the wrong spot and didn't prune them properly. If pruned properly and planted in the right spot, ie open grassy areas, they are attractive trees. I have a newfound respect for them after these last two droughty summers and they still look solid. Also I rarely see them falling apart or volunteers popping up around here. I'm not saying they are a top tree that should be planted more its just that they have some things going for it if used properly. Longtee, I'd be inclined to remove it however its tough to imagine what it would look like it if I removed B (or A) from this view point. If I belive the canopy would fill in (depending on the laterals of the remaining trunk) I'd try it. I did it on a tree slightly smaller than yours, maybe 15' tall. Looked funny for a couple years but looked normal thereafter. I'd then remove C the following year.

Deb, i had or have pretty much the same exact comments and even the same question as ddifranco just now. 'Autumn Blaze' is a great tree. Certainly not a "plant it and forget it" type however, due to many V-crotches and competing leaders. But it's a very valuable workhorse type of tree. I agree also that this bark fissure may indicate little more than tree growth. This is not a fussy plant, in any way, albeit, for long life in the landscape, some careful leader training or subordination pruning should be done in its youth. All trees have "aggressive" root systems. Maples perhaps a bit more than say, some slow-grower like Japanese tree lilac, to swing this thing all the way to the opposite end of the spectrum, but so-called aggressive rooting is simply the plant doing what it does. It's not as though that is somehow a defect.

Sorry but I would say the first tree shown is a complete loss at this point. It appears all the bark has been removed by something below the cracked portion, with this removal of the bark being the likely reason for the collapsing and discoloration of the foliage. Not saying the mulching is what killed the first one but if you have the bark chunks touching the stem of the second one also you should pull those back away from it. Maybe the area will look better with one large shade tree anyway, as we can see from the shapes of these shown here when 50 ft. tall (and not crowded) this variety is not, in fact going to be only 25 ft. wide: http://www.lakecountynursery.com/lcns%20sell%20sheets/celebration.pdf And Freeman maple is a crossing of red and silver maples, both large-growing trees. There is every reason to expect any given planting of these to grow over 60 ft tall. With proportionate spreads, except for certain much planted abnormally narrow growing named selections (of which we can see at the above page 'Celzam' is not an example).