Tree help!

[NwMtGardener]

Haha, that pruning job looks like how they " pruned" our ancient lilacs out front with a chainsaw just before we bought the house! Right down to the ground!! I was soooooo pissed, but whadyagonna do. Of course they came back, and 5 years later they're now tall enough to be the privacy hedge they were meant to be. The realtor/owner told me she " couldn't get a good picture of the house..." which was a dump anyway!! Well, it was back then

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm gonna be the odd man out and suggest you give it a chance (unless you have your heart set on a red one). Maples are VERY hardy. They can take a lot more abuse than most other trees. This photo below shows how my neighbor likes to prune his maples. I've watched him chop down several over the years to 8' stumps and they send out new limbs very quickly. Within a year they are back to casting shade.

I'd prune out the damaged limb and if you want to, you could also cut the two remaining good limbs back to a foot or more in length and wait for it to fill back out. Couldn't hurt to try.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qME-72F3krBD55S3gFU1SWDLpkfXl8AyRU3YhBoAqLY?feat=directlink

That type of "pruning" is called topping and is very unhealthy for the tree.
Any new growth will be weak and prone to breakage in a storm, not too big a deal out in a pasture, but not so good near a house.
Giant wounds like that also make the tree hugely susceptible to disease.


In Europe they practice pollarding which looks a bit like topping, but it is started when the trees are saplings in the nursery and is carried out yearly. A tree that has been pollarded correctly is maintained in that fashion yearly. The tree can't then be let to go back to grow out naturally or you would have the dangerous situation of weak attachments.

Certainly topping has been done lots of times and lots of places and it appears as though the tree is fine. But it's not.

I second the suggestion to get yourself a healthy tree with good
structure. A decent nursery would be pleased to help with that.
You may be able to prune the tree and it may come back, but eventually, judging by the diseased bark that appears to be running a good ways down the trunk, your tree will only be bigger and harder to remove if you let it remain and slowly decline.

Trees are a big investment, not just initially, but since they are so long lived, it really is worth it to get yourself a healthy one that will outlive you.

 

[hoodat]

Man, I love an odd man out! ha! Yeah, couldn't hurt to try... You never know. Your neighbor does some *serious* pruning! If they can come back from that... You never know...

I hate to say it but wood rot has already reached the heart of that tree. It may get to be good sized but it will always be hollow. The last thing you need in a windy area is a big hollow tree. It could go over in a high wind. I think the only way you could save it is to cut it to the ground. When the stump sprouts you can train a strong shoot as the new trunk and cut off the others. The new shoot will grow fast since it already has an established root system.

 

[jennikatz]

Y'all are probably right as much as I wanted to save the guy. I sure don't want it growing up all weak and such considering we all have small yards here. I'll let you know what I replace it with!

 

[skeeter9]

I think that's a good decision, Jenni. There are some wonderful red maples out there. We have several October Glory and an Autumn Blaze. The fall color is incredible!! Can't wait to hear what you decide.

 

[Carol Dee]

I am going to say you have a silver maple. As maple trees go they are the soft maple and get big quick but are prone to wind damage. Your tree appears to have broken at a diseased area. I would plant the RED maple you want and the remove the sickly tree when the new tree is established. (Seems mean, but it doesn't really look like it will have a long and healthy life even with your help.)

 

[journey11]

Hehe... Yeah, I really was surprised at my neighbor's pruning job. It looked like a war-zone out there! They look good when they're full of leaves, but you can always see where they had been cut back when fall rolls around. It seems he chops them periodically to keep them bushy with small branches like that. It's not as nice and graceful as a natural tree. I think your tree had bad structure in it's forks from the start, too tight of an angle, which is probably why it broke. Sorry about your tree!

 

[patandchickens]

Can I ask, what USDA hardiness zone are you? Maples are really not a good southern tree, zone 8 is pushing it for most of them, and it seems to me you could probably do better with something else.

Or if you want a red-leafed tree (and please remember, red maples DO NOT normally have red foliage during the growing season) what about one of the redleafed cultivars of japanese maple, if you are in the cooler part of the state at least?

Pat

 

[jennikatz]

I'm just in 7b according to the USDA map. I have a Crimson Queen Japanese Maple planted in the front of my house and she's georgous! I'll have to post a pic! She's a baby... ha! But, she's doing really well where I planted her.

I'm not sure how a Japanese Maple would do in my back yard. It's full sun and hot hot hot here. First week of June and we're already over 100 degree heat index. However, that is a little uncharacteristic for MS...

So, it's going to have to be something that can take full sun all day long! And, end up providing plenty of shade for the puppies! I would have liked the red leaves the red maple would have provided in the fall...

 

[jennikatz]

Here's my Crimson Queen Japanese Maple...

I planted her this year and I think she's doing really well!

You like that blue hose in the back that needs to be moved, don't you! I couldn't plant something like this in the back though. It's full sun back there...