Question about sugar maple tree branch looking odd and risks

[WackyTomato]

Dear all,

I'm glad I found this forum. I would really need some of you experienced folks here to have a look at these pictures and recommend a course of action. This here is an established approx 50 years old+ sugar maple. One of the main branch seems to have a significant canker in it (refer to pictures). I am not sure if that is a canker caused by rot, animals, or anything else OR an old healing wound caused by the pruning / cracking of an old branch. The problem is that if that particular limb cracks and - God forbid! - falls off, the roof of the house might get the top of that limb. The top of that limb is composed of thin-ish / medium sized branches, but this cause still cause some significant damage nonetheless.

It has to be noted that the foliage of that particular branch is perfectly fine and it looks healthy otherwise.

What do you guys think? I uploaded four pictures to this thread.

Thank you very much.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Looks to me to be an old wound from a codominant branch breaking off.
Interior wood is decayed but woundwound reaction looks great.
Canopy looks good from the pic but I would want a closer look at the root flair. I generally recommend pneumatic excavation, sod removal, and mulch bed installation in curcumstances similiar to this.

 

[WackyTomato]

Looks to me to be an old wound from a codominant branch breaking off.
Interior wood is decayed but woundwound reaction looks great.
Canopy looks good from the pic but I would want a closer look at the root flair. I generally recommend pneumatic excavation, sod removal, and mulch bed installation in curcumstances similiar to this.

Thank you for your answer. Would you therefore NOT be concerned with risks of that particular branch breaking off?

I will soon mulch that tree, avoiding the typical "volcano" type mulch mistake some people do. Any kind of wooden mulch mixed with dead leaves okay?

 

[Zale]

I would let the client know that there is a risk of failure. You could reduce the weight 15-20%. The tree is young and removing that branch would not effect its overall health.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Disagree. Large diameter cut adjacent to the trunk but reduction may be in order.

 

[Oldmaple]

Reduce it to lighten the load, don't remove it. Smaller cuts, the tree will be fine.

 

[buzz sawyer]

When was the driveway to the left of the tree in the photo installed?

 

[WackyTomato]

I would let the client know that there is a risk of failure. You could reduce the weight 15-20%. The tree is young and removing that branch would not effect its overall health.

I had the tree pruned a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully this helps. They raised the canopy to the 7 or 8 feet mark and thinned it by about 10 or 15%. They also removed dead branches and a branch that was decaying. Not sure how young you think that tree is but the house was built in 1957... I'm guessing the tree was planted around that time.

 

[WackyTomato]

When was the driveway to the left of the tree in the photo installed?

Not sure why this is relevant. Houses in that area were all built in the late 50's.

 

[WackyTomato]

Disagree. Large diameter cut adjacent to the trunk but reduction may be in order.

No idea what you are talking about... sorry What do you disagree with? Could you please clarify? Thanks a lot.

 

[Jason Douglas]

I wouldn't remove the damaged limb. It's large and attached to the main trunk and would likely breach comoartmentalized decay.

 

[ropensaddle]

No idea what you are talking about... sorry What do you disagree with? Could you please clarify? Thanks a lot.

I'm with Jason especially on maples reduction cuts 2 inch and under are enough to dispel the hazard at the end of that limb. If cut to collar the trunk will likely hollow jfyi

 

[buzz sawyer]

Not sure why this is relevant. Houses in that area were all built in the late 50's.

If the driveway was recently installed that close, it could have damaged root system, causing problems a couple years down the road.

 

[WackyTomato]

If the driveway was recently installed that close, it could have damaged root system, causing problems a couple years down the road.

Ah, gotcha. No, the driveway was definitely installed there decades ago.

 

[murphy4trees]

That limb looks to be pretty stable, with all that wound-wood, which is amazingly strong.. It would be good to see some pics of the entire branch and especially the tips.. Removing the entire branch would never be needed and would certainly be the cause of long term decay in the main stem with all that weight above it: that would be a future hazard. I would most likely feel comfortable with no pruning, however it would be best to see how heavy and how much lean there is in the limb and prune accordingly.. The only issue is "According to whom?"

Sometimes you can just take a little weight off the branch tips and end up removing "the straw that breaks the camel's back"... other times when there is serious structural compromise, its best to take a good bit of weight off the tips.. Note though that no live cuts on the main stem should be made over 4", and eve then only make cuts on the main trunk or stems in extreme circumstances... Several reduction cuts of 2-3" diameter on the tips of that limb should suffice for the next few years...