[gardeners] Sugar maple tree needs help
Seyfried,Alice (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 7 Jul 1998 14:56:36 -0400
Hi everyone!
While the soap operas are truly exciting (I can't wait to hear about
Belle's new tatoo), I have a question about my mother's sugar maple.
She had it liberally thinned out (not topped - t'would be a horror) last
year by a professional arborist and now half of it seems to be dying.
This tree is at least 40 years old (probably older) and fully matured in
northern Ohio (zone 5 along the lake). She had it thinned because she
needed to get more light through it to the yard below. It has always
been incredibly healthy (never a fungus or disease). The leaves on the
back half are all much smaller than the ones on the front half and there
are very few new side branches on that side, too. She's scared to death
that they took out too much and is trying to figure out what to do.
She's tried calling the arborist back to have them come out and look at
it, but they are playing telephone tag right now and can't seem to get
in touch with each other. So I thought I would see if all you brilliant
people have any ideas. About a month ago, she put Jobe's fertilizer
tree spikes all around it following the package directions for placement
of the spikes. Is there anything else she can do to help this tree
recover? Will deep watering help?
If anyone has any ideas on how to save this tree, I would be truly
thankful. It was the first tree I climbed as a child, it was the first
tree my 4 year old climbed last year, and I am as much in love with it
as I am with the house I grew up in.
Alice
seyfried@oclc.org