what is the tree ... i cant ID it on these pix ...

how in the world did you dig a square hole.. lol ...

forget about the wound ... the tree will heal it ... or in the next few years.. you will prune it out ... start thinking in tree time.. which is decades.. not one season ...

i dont know proper pruning time in your area ....

that was a largish transplant.. i would give it another year or two.. without canopy reduction ... so it can get its roots settled in ....

i would pick the leader that i foresee as THE ONE .....and then head back competitors about a foot lower .. .... I THINK the one i would pick.. looks shorter than 2 others ....

perhaps next fall ...or the following spring.. i would take the bottom most branch off.. properly.. at the trunk ...

the following year ... the next one up ... this is how you 'raise the canopy' ... as you want ... but you dont do it all at once ... it needs leaves.. to make food to feed the roots to grow ...

i would also pull back the soil at the trunk.. and find out where the root flare is ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=root+flare&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

what is that white thing on the edge of your square?? ... what is your base soil type.. have you ever perked it???

imo.. get rid of all stakes now .... are you an engineer?

ken

I'm concerned that the tree appears to be planted in a pit and is considerably lower than the natural soil level.

What species of maple is it? The wound looks like squirrel damage or possibly from rubbing against the stake during wind....either way, it will heal.

As for the branching habit, I think you have a large growing species there and anything but a single leader is going to be problematic in that spot. You'll probably have to prune off all the competing leaders/low branches before they become too dominant.

It's a good idea to have it staked for several years...I'd cut all side branches off next spring...you have tons of new buds on the main leader which will form new branches, then the following year cut these to the hight you prefer.

Staking to hold a newly planted tree up should only be done for a year. Inserting a stake in order to train a single leader would be done for longer.

Looks to be a maple tree, probably one too large growing to be that close to the sidewalk. And it should have a mulched area about 3 ft. across.

Would also add that leaving lower branches in place for a couple of years is considered to help with establishment and girth development of the trunk. But you don't want to leave too long until they get too large to remove easily and with minimal impact to the tree. Also any staking should be loose enough to allow the trunk to flex with the wind, as that also helps with establishment and root development.

I also agree on the need to limit the period the tree is staked and that it does look to be planted too deeply relative to the surrounding ground/lawn. Removing the lawn and mulching properly as described above should help to mitigate that issue.

I'm learning how to prune myself and I found these videos very useful:

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/instructional-videos.shtml

In summary (I'm probably repeating some of the excellent advice given above) you should try to keep the tree in an inverted cone shape with foliage in the top 60% of the trees current height.

Choose one leader and subordinate its competitors.

Don't let branches starting from the lower part of the trunk extend to the top of the crown.

Since it's so close to the street all current branches are temporary. Don't let any branch ever get thicker than half the thickness of the trunk. Do this by subordinating it. The lowest permanent branch should be at 15 ft or so from the ground and other scaffold branches should be spaced at a couple of feet intervals radiating in all directions.

According to another video I watched grass has been found to be allelopathic so keep the area within a 1.5 ft radius grass free and mulched.

Lots more info in the videos.

Specific preferred pruning and training varies with species and objectives, for instance orchard apples can be developed into a variety of shapes.

It' not planted too deep, it' soil level deep, not grass height level. A nursery man helped me plant it. It' aa maple tree.

FYI, there are 128 species of maple. Could you be more specific?

It *does* look like it's planted below soil level and likely that won't be an issue, but it wasn't ideal.

As to the wound, there's not much at all you CAN do, I don't think a bandaid or a splint are appropriate.

There's nothing to be done for the wound: anything that you put on it would retain moisture and cause rot. If a helpful neighbor tells you to to cover it with spray paint or tar, those are old fashioned remedies which have been disproven.

Pat yourself on the back, it's growing very well. I agree with Ken (above) that you should head back several of the longer branches. I would wait a couple of years before removing them completely but don't let 'em grow any longer. You can keep several stakes around the tree for protection against errant soccer balls and buck rubs, but don't tie the tree to the stakes. Hope this helps.

The stakes are still in place to protect it from young kids riding
bikes, rough playing. They trampled the first tree I planted and this is
why the stakes are still in place.

==>>> good answer ...

understand.. none of us want it staked any longer ....

but i suppose they should no longer be called stakes.. to avoid confusion ...

but im a bit dull this morning and cant come up with a better term ... for child protection ...

i asked: what is that white thing on the edge of your square?? ... what is your base soil type.. have you ever perked it???

is it some sort of deep watering idea????

a second season maple.. should not need much water ... except in extreme drought next year ... and should be free range by the following year .... so there would be no need for the pvc .... imo ...

is you lawn irrigated??? .. looks pretty nice .... if so.. once the tree is over transplant issues .... it shouldnt need a lot of extra water ....

ken

Find out if it says Japanese maple or sugar maple or what in the receipt.

Japanese maples, and some have really interesting color bark like in the pic, typically get 20 something feet tall and can be let branch as low as you can mow around.

Sugar maples, red maples many others are large trees and some have poor branching habits when grown in the open.

FWIW I think I see a proper depth root flare on the tree. The whole area does look sunken. Pro help or not. Honestly I'm not sure I'd raise it especially base on a guy's cell phone observation.

The white thing is a deep watering spike, it' 36 inches long and has holes in it to allow deep watering. It' made by Underhill and bought it from Amazon.

"Find out if it says Japanese maple or sugar maple or what in the receipt."

Can't say what it is for certain but I'm thinking Bigleaf Maple but I don't know that species well enough to say for sure.

The 1st year branch size & colour rules out almost all maples except for A. negundo, A. macrophyllum, and maybe a vigorous A. tegmentosum.

From that list, leaves don't match A. negundo and leaves, older bark & buds don't match A. tegmentosum (or any other section Macrantha that I know).

Not a big leaf. Leaves are not nearly large enough for that species, even on seedling trees. And not a tree that is typically intentionally planted as a street or residental tree as it gets huge in a suitable environment.

Trunk looks as though root crown may be too deep, general position is definitely below grade. I thought of big-leaf maple also be cannot be sure using these views only, leaves and twigs are similar except the paleness of the bark is not usual for this species.

The deep watering thing is useless. The water and nutrient absorbing roots of maples and most other trees are very shallow. As a very famous tree expert (Alex Shigo) explained, "deep root" anything is like going to the hospital for a life saving intravenous treatment and having the needle go all the way through your body and the stuff drip out all over the floor.

If it can be reinserted in a different spot to 18" or less, then the tree would benefit.

Well that's your opinion on the watering spike, but since the tree has done very well this first year I'll take it probably helped. But again that's my view on it. I'm not going to have a 36 inch watering spike only in the ground 18 inches and leave 18 inches above ground.

it should not need watering after the first year in the ground ...except in severe drought .... next year ....

dont forget to head back the competing leaders ...

find the root flare.. and then we decide if it should be lifted to proper depth ... or if we can widen the hole.. and with a layer of brick ... make a tree well ...

did you highly amend the planting hole.. if so.. that sometimes leads to the plant sinking .. if you made it too fluffy ...

we are taking a lot of time to discuss your question ... dont take any of it the wrong way ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub