We had a maybe 12-year-old maple in our front yard snap in half last night during a storm. I'm waiting to get a local arborist out to assess the damage and health of the tree, but I'm really bummed out to lose this tree. My neighbor said maybe it could be saved as the remaining branch looked healthy, but I'm no professional. As someone prone to worst-case scenario thinking, is there any hope of keeping it, or should I start making my peace with the situation and prepare for removal?
Edit: thanks everyone for the realistic advice. As much as it sucks, we're having someone come to remove it.
by maustin1989
13 Comments
No. You would be better off removing and replacing. Sorry 😞
That tree is done for. Though it could technically like and sprout the severity of the wounds means heart rot is guaranteed to get into the trunk. Think osteoporosis for trees. In the long run it will structurally fail again. And it will likely take another 12 years to look like anything aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately it is a removal at this point.
It looks rather small for 12 yo. Co-dominant branches are common failure points. I’m no expert but I would start over and plant a new one.
Oof looks like you lost more than 2/3 of the canopy there plus the leader. I’d say save the effort trying to save this and plant a new one. It could make it but with great difficulty and will look weird for its whole life probably
Prepare.
It doesn’t look great.If you clean up and smooth the wound on the remaining head-it may survive for a while.But its seriously weakened/compromised now-and the next gale will exploit the weakness.You could just head back the plant to below the wound.And then it will survive,but it will be more of a multi-stemmed shrub then.
It’s done for
Doomed. Start fresh.
Replace it and find a good, qualified arborist to do general maintenance on the new one to avoid codominant competing tops, etc. maples need a bit of work in the early years to get them set up for life.
Condolences.
You could cut it to below the wounded areas which would make it look like a bare log sticking out of the ground..
It would start to grow again but would look weird for a while until it put out new branches.
The limbs in pix 3,4,5 were all poorly attached and would have failed at some time in the future anyway. The storm did you a favor. Replace with a better species and ensure you do structural pruning when young to ensure there are no poorly-attached, crossing, competing limbs so this won’t happen again in your yard.
ugh, that sucks. sad.
Plant a new one in a different spot and keep this for a year or two while the other one grows then cut this down