I’ve had two different tree services looking at my maple trees out front of my home. One said they could see if it was salvageable the other one said it was not. I am looking for some opinions here. Such a big beautiful old tree. Thank you for any help you could provide. I hope I included enough photos.
by sc19957
17 Comments
Not an arborist – does the tree worry you that it’s going to fall on your house? Does it make scary noises in the wind? All trees come down eventually but if you aren’t actively worried it’s going to fall, and you like it, let nature play out.
A service that makes money from cutting down trees will make more money if they tell you that it should come down.
Has it given you any major issues? Seems fine. Is it in a power line or threatening a house? While the growth looks stressed, it is still alive and growing. Leave it be. Its a good squirrel or raccoon nest. Tree nerd *not am arborist*
That tree is fucked mate, needs to come down, its rotten as a carrot and bifurcated all the way. it will give up at some point fairly soon.
Try finding a consulting arborist in your area that is not working for a tree service to get an unbiased opinion
Maples are notorious for being hollow. But yours seems to also have other challenges.
Get an arborist.
If a professional tooth-puller knocked on your door and told you that all of your teeth need to be pulled, would you believe them?
It’s been topped. Yes it should come down at some point. It’s gonna always be a garbage tree.
If it has nothing to fall on don’t worry.
I echo the question others have asked: Did you hire the tree services to look at your tree, or did they stop and approach you first? If they are going door to door looking for work, I am already suspicious of their qualifications…the companies that know what they’re doing and do good work are too busy to be out looking for more work.
Assuming YOU thought something was wrong an called them…
Yeah, I see a few things that concern me. Pictures 4, 5, 6 and 7 show evidence that the tree was topped earlier in its life. Topping is an incorrect method of tree “care” that leads to wood decay and rampant sucker growth. This sets up a situation where the tree becomes more prone to structural damage during a storm. So, there are defects in this tree, and that leads to a raised probability of tree failure.
But…is there a target? Is there something for this tree to land on if it fails? Your photos show your house is pretty close to this tree, as well as a two-lane road. If this tree fails, there is a chance it could land on and damage your house; it could also crash into the road and possibly hit a driver.
You need to hire a Certified Arborist who is also TRAQ (Tree Risk Assessment Qualified) to perform a tree risk assessment. Go here: [https://www.treesaregood.org/findanarborist](https://www.treesaregood.org/findanarborist) . Hire them to give an assessment of the tree: they will provide various mitigation practices, such as pruning, cabling, or removal.
Unfortunately the tree has had a reduction previously. This is what has introduced the rot and potential weak points.
You will need to do something at some point to reduce risk of failure. But the tree does not need removing.
Tell them to fuck right off
I would do what I could to save it. That tree has interest and character, like an old house. Usually worth the trouble to maintain and yes, it could cause problems so have an expert weigh in, but taking it down should be a last resort.
OMG I absolutely love trees like that! Getting rid of it would completely change the character of that spot in a bad way. If I were you OP I would do anything I could to keep it. The first step would be hiring an UNBIASED tree risk assessor. They can triage the worst parts of this big tree and come up with solutions that solve that specific problem area of the tree. (i.e. weight reduction prunes, bracing, cabling).
That’s galling! 😉
https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.cfm?sub=3002 this is a Norway maple which is invasive in some areas of North America. That’s really the only thing I can see here which would make me think it ought to be removed. If you live near conservation land, that would be a big consideration, otherwise I think you have some time before this one gets removed. It has some rot and cavities, but nothing that makes me think it’s going to fall tomorrow.
Whenever it does come down, you’ll want to replace it with a native tree.
No
It doesn’t make any noise the one to worry we have as you can see it is close to the road, and sometimes some of the dead branches fall off, and we don’t want them to land on a car passing by. We are going to have it trimmed back in any questionable stuff removed. I was hoping that would be enough…. Thank you for your responses.
It doesn’t look the greatest, but it’s typical mature maple symptoms. There’s a proper way to assess risk and it sounds like your Arborists are not properly looking at the situation.
You, as the manager of this tree, should first ask yourself a few important questions. what are the things it would hit if it failed? Of those things how valuable are they?