Sugar Maple Bark Peeling

[reilley]

I have a 50' sugar maple that is peeling bark... Bark hasn't fallen off yet but seems to just be separating from the trunk in large pieces (maybe about 6"x12" pieces). The tree has a dead section at the top and is barely budding in comparison to the rest of my maples.

Any ideas what could be causing this? Surrounding trees are healthy. I was thinking about cutting the peeled bark off and grafting it back to the tree, but I'm not sure how far up the trunk the peeling extends.

 

[TreePointer]

Sugar maples will have big plates of bark start to curl; that's normal for the species. If you can, post some pictures to give us an idea if anything else may be happening.

 

[reilley]

Ok, thank you. I will try to snap some pics tonight.

 

[treeseer]

If yo are Montreal area or south I can refer someone who is very good with trees.

 

[pdqdl]

.... I was thinking about cutting the peeled bark off and grafting it back to the tree, but I'm not sure how far up the trunk the peeling extends.

Don't try it, it won't work.

It sounds to me like your tree might be in decline. You will need an expert to look at it to determine why.

 

[reilley]

Here are some pictures... Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the help.

 

[blewgrass]

your sugar maple actually looks like an oak, probably a red oak, and is susceptable to sudden oak death or oak decline. can't say for sure what to do, but the tree is probably a loss.

 

[reilley]

your sugar maple actually looks like an oak, probably a red oak, and is susceptable to sudden oak death or oak decline. can't say for sure what to do, but the tree is probably a loss.

Hmm, possible. I just bought this house last August and I can't recall for sure what the leaves were like. It's budding now so I'll know in a short while, I'm pretty sure it's a maple though.

There's nothing I can do to help this tree out? Looking inside some of the bark splits I can tell it's been like this for a while. I'd hate to loose this tree.

 

[S Mc]

When you can, in addition to a leaf picture, please post pictures showing the entire tree, the base and the injury a little further away.

I also am questioning the species identification as this was not what I would expect a sugar maple bark and structure to look different.

Side note: I didn't think SOD had reached Canada...did I miss a memo?

Sylvia

 

[reilley]

Here is a pic of the canopy that I took last night. The leaves aren't fully out as you can see. If you look closely you can see many dead branches... It looks worse off than in the fall. The splitting bark isn't very noticeable from a distance as the splits are less than an inch wide in most spots.

The maples in my yard all have similar bark (minus the splitting). They are very tall for their age as this was bush until 1981 when my house was built.

 

[reilley]

Woops

 

[S Mc]

Reilley, I'm seeing opposite configuration on the twigs so am going with your maple id. Will still be interested to see a leaf when they come out more. The bark is not what I would expect to see for a sugar maple, but I have learned that regional variances together with species variances are huge on many trees.

These trees also look like they might have suffered storm damage in the past. Your tree with the splitting bark looks like it comes down from a co-dom up high. Maples are very prone to fracturing due to extremes in temperature, wind loading, etc. These can be every degree from "fairly innocuous" to lethal freezing events and major limb failure.

How far away from these trees is your house? Construction damage can also take its toll, taking a long time to show up, and add to long term stressors.

An onsite evaluation would be warranted, especially if this tree is within striking distance of any target.


Sylvia

 

[reilley]

Reilley, I'm seeing opposite configuration on the twigs so am going with your maple id. Will still be interested to see a leaf when they come out more. The bark is not what I would expect to see for a sugar maple, but I have learned that regional variances together with species variances are huge on many trees.

These trees also look like they might have suffered storm damage in the past. Your tree with the splitting bark looks like it comes down from a co-dom up high. Maples are very prone to fracturing due to extremes in temperature, wind loading, etc. These can be every degree from "fairly innocuous" to lethal freezing events and major limb failure.

How far away from these trees is your house? Construction damage can also take its toll, taking a long time to show up, and add to long term stressors.

An onsite evaluation would be warranted, especially if this tree is within striking distance of any target.


Sylvia

Well these maples do flex quite a bit in the wind. I have read that sunscald / frost cracks can cause these but the cracks are all around the tree, not just on the south side. This tree is about 35 feet from the house, so definitely within striking distance. I just had some trees taken down that were close to the house and some smaller ones to open up the wooded area of my yard. I wish I had noticed this earlier, I would have left on of the smaller maples standing.

I will call the guy I had take down the trees to have him take a look at this one...

 

[JeffL]

Thats a red maple, right?

 

[reilley]

Thats a red maple, right?

Do red maples have red leaves? These maples have green leaves... My understanding is that they are sugar, or hard, maples.

What is a co-dom?

 

[treeseer]

I will call the guy I had take down the trees to have him take a look at this one...

This is like asking a mortician to treat an illness, isn't it?

Hire an arborist.

 

[reilley]

This is like asking a mortician to treat an illness, isn't it?

LOL... well he calls himself the Tree Doctor. He can either fix them or take them down is what he said.

Co-dom as in codominant? As described here:
http://www.whitetailstewards.com/glossaryonsite/codominant.htm

 

[S Mc]

Do red maples have red leaves? These maples have green leaves... My understanding is that they are sugar, or hard, maples.

What is a co-dom?

In your post #11 where you post your picture...the picture shows a tree that has two tops that are approximately the same size. That is what I am referring to as co-dom or co-dominant leaders. It is hard for me to say, because I am seeing a picture where the tree is back lit, but it appears that the scar goes from this junction all the way down the trunk. Above this junction there is a confluence of many branches which give the appearance of a "topped" tree; which can happen from pruning or storm damage.

FYI: Red maples do not leaf out red, they leaf out green. Their twigs, flowers (which are upright) and buds are red but the not the leaves. They do turn brilliant colors in the fall. Sugar maples have drooping flowers, which are green, their twigs and buds are green as well. These also leaf out green. Sugar maples are commonly called hard maple being the densest and hardest of the maple family. But red maples are also considered hard. A leaf would help or if you can get pictures of the twigs and flowers.

This information is just for our interest as it really doesn't matter to what this injury is and its ramifications.

Sylvia

 

[treeseer]

Sylvia the red maples here do leaf out red-dish, and the petioles can stay red-dish.

It'll be interesting to hear the Doctor's prescription.

 

[S Mc]

Yes, the red maple leaves come out "reddish" but they turn green as they mature into their spring full leaf and this is what (in my experience) most people notice. We have clients with Norway maple cultivars which come out red and stay red. They tend to refer to these trees as "red maples", as opposed to the true red maples which have green leaves throughout the spring/summer and change to brilliant colors in the fall.

Sylvia