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Is it dying? How can I save what I think is a maple tree?

7 years ago

Anyone able to help? We moved into this house 4 years ago and the previous owners had hacked at the trunk of the tree which seemed as though they trying to make it into a topiary tree? I have no idea....

Over the years its progressively grown and been a beautiful little tree. This year it's not looking so great. The branches are curling, the bark is white-ish, the bottom has produced leaves and look like it does in the fall. This isn't typical. We have no idea the type of tree or what's happening. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Comments (6)

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)
7 years ago
What is your location? It will make it easier to identify the problem and if it is fixable. The tree is a Silver Maple.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
It almost looks like a graft failure with the scion dying off leaving only the rootstock surviving.

Do silver maple have red bark when young? Large growing eastern maples are not my forte'.
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I agree with the previous poster that I would NOT prune. You will lose more fluid from the shrub by pruning and open up wounds that could add more stress by way of access to disease. Leave the shrub as is, water and you will get a new flush of leaves before autumn sets in. Once the shrub has gone dormant and most insects, molds and such have disappeared for the season, then you may remove deadwood if you must. If you can resist it, I would wait until late winter to remove the dead wood though because winter time is the least risk of introducing any diseases or insects through the open wounds and evaporation of fluid from the tree is negligible due to it's dormancy. It should be right as rain by next spring. Do not fertilize this shrub at all. Fertilizing while a tree is shocked (not just shocked from the transplant but also from the drought) is further detrimental to the shrub. Hope this helps. Barb southern Ontario, CANADA
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It has heartwood rot so unfortunately is not salvageable. However, that does not mean the tree is going to die tomorrow. Trees with heartwood rot, while a fatal affliction, can live for many years with just an occasional branch die off. It does tend to make the tree less structurally sound and they can become overly prone to breakage or wind damage. The flat brown exterior fungus, known as a conk or shelf or bracket fungus, is a classic indicator of heartwood rot. With a tree that appears to have multiple trunks or very low branching, it is hard to determine just from the photos what else you need to do to preserve the tree for as long as possible. Or if it is so far gone it should be removed promptly. Bringing in a certified arborist for at least a hazard consultation at this point would be helpful.
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how about a pic ... dont be surprised if it drops all the leaves.. if it doesnt.. you are winning ... no sun until it grows some new roots ... did you properly prune any broken roots ... the key here.. is you are trying.. win or lose.. you will learn something ... so relish the challenge.. but dont set your hopes too high ... below is a general planting guide for trees .. if its small enough.. a pot might be best until fall ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub
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Kelly Herriot
Original Author
7 years ago
I'm in northern BritIsh Columbia, Canada. We had an unusually mild and dry winter and I'm wondering if that contributed
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
7 years ago
Maybe the dry cold?.....maybe this is why the odd branching structure to begin with.
wisconsitom
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Silver or Freeman-hard to tell which, and of course, they are close relatives. The graft failure is an intriguing idea. I've seen such, but in the more well-known case of certain white ash cultivars. In any case, this plant could be cut back to live stems if one is patient. I could do it in just a few minutes. YMMV.

The reason this is not so crazy an idea is that this tree will be very fast-growing. Even the little remnant, should you prune as suggested, will quickly shoot up and become a tree again. Why the die-back? Who knows? Sometimes it just happens, and of course, there is a cause, but we don't always know what it is.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
if it doesnt leaf out soon .. couple more weeks.. all the bare stuff is dead .. and should be removed ... probably already is ...

if the furthest out pieces crack off, rather then bend.. that part is dead ... someone else can tell you about the scratch test ...

in my world.. you can do a lot better than a silver maple.. unless you like billions of seeds... etc ...

i would cut flush to the ground.. apply stump killer ... and shop out a good heritage tree ... and start over ... i have no clue what that would be for your area... i prefer oaks ...

ken

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