Silver Maple,

[maggies dad]

I went and looked at a "trimming" job today on a silver maple. I got out and had to check and make sure I was at the right address, cause the maple in the yard was all dead except for about 1000 suckers all over it. The home owner told me that an "arborist" had just stopped by last week and told him that the tree would last another 10 yrs with trimming.??? I have very little experience with Maples but this thing looks stone cold dead to me. Am I missing something? Do maples go through a year long drought and have all the branches die and leaves fall off and then return to good health with trimming??? Im so confused.

 

[MasterBlaster]

It doesn't sound good for the tree.

 

[flushcut]

The silver could make it if all of the dead was cut and allowed to sucker/sprout into a bush or a tree of very poor form and quality. I would push for removal.

 

[Old Monkey]

The way you describe it it sounds like a goner to me but maybe they're more resilient where you are.

 

[maggies dad]

The owner said he was going to think about it for a few days, so we will see. After this summer it seems like all the trees that didnt burn in the fires are just dying . It may be a good winter to cut firewood. Ill try to get some pics of the tree if I get the job. Yall have a great night.

 

[Old Monkey]

Where do you live?

 

[canadiantreeman]

Are the epicormics (suckers) viable? If so you could reduce to concentrations of vitality, similar to a pollard, and allow the epicormics to grow for a few seasons before returning to select the best and cut the rest.

 

[maggies dad]

Old Monkey, I live in North Texas about 30mile west of Fort Worth. Canadiantreeman, I'm going to run it by the owner, but I get the impression that he wants to take this tree down and plant another tree that he knows will grow and do well. We had 40 day over 100 degrees between July2nd and August 10th this year , and with watering restrictions I just dont think the owner was able to get enough water on the tree. I think I'm ready to move somewhere that it rains sometime. Thanks for the ideals guys, I will try to get by there tomorrow and get some pics of the tree so yall can see it. Night.

 

[canadiantreeman]

Oh, you're in Texas. Yeah...the silver is a little out of its range down there. Better to plant a drought tolerant tree for sure.

 

[Old Monkey]

Silver maples sun scald very easily and let their tips die back in drought conditions. I would try nursing a tree like that back to shap when it can replaced with a more appropriate/drought tolerant tree.

 

[Al Smith]

Usually a silver maple is tough one .You can cut a small one down and in short order it will normally resprout .Cut every limb off one and just leave the main and also in almost no time it will grow out new suckers .

Not a praticulary long lived but pretty hardy .After about 100 years the thing could be 4 feet in diameter but more times than not hollow which is the cause for most removals .

Although they do not exist in the wild in this immeadiate area they are the most popular tree for transplanting and aside from dead ash are the bread and butter tree for most arborists in this area .

 

[Cobleskill]

Not the best choice for a tree in the north, either. Ice storms make a mess of them. Snow, when the leaves are still on them.

Down around the corner from me a friend has a yard full of box elders. He has had me hack anything big that leans over the house off. Can't blame him, as he has had damage to his house more than once. I keep telling him to plant some trees so we can prune the Box Elders off at the ground.

 

[flushcut]

Not the best choice for a tree in the north, either. Ice storms make a mess of them. Snow, when the leaves are still on them.

Down around the corner from me a friend has a yard full of box elders. He has had me hack anything big that leans over the house off. Can't blame him, as he has had damage to his house more than once. I keep telling him to plant some trees so we can prune the Box Elders off at the ground.

I have a buddy who had the very same yard but he would not let me touch his trees.

 

[sotc]

Was the Arborist certified? If so I would call and ask how he came to the conclusion. Might be a learning experience, either learn about trees or that particular fella

 

[maggies dad]

I think the "arborist" was just a guy in a truck that saw them outside and stopped to try and get some work. Right now down here there is alot of that going on. People are just broke and trying to make money anyway they can. I did a job last week in a rough part of Fort Worth, and just before I got there the owner got into it with some guy that was insisting on trimming her trees. She said she pulled her cell phone on him and started to call the cops so he left. Dont guess I can blame them, if I was hungry, and my kids needed food and clothes I would do whatever I had to for them. Not saying its right ,I just see where they are coming from.