Death to maple

countryboypa31

countryboypa31

New member
Location
PA
My dads maple tree died this year, after looking fine last year. Happened very fast. Originally i thought it was planted to deep or girdling roots. It was only planted 3-4" to deep and no significant girdling roots. My dad pulled back the bark and we found some trails and exit holes, looks like borers. I'm not very familiar with bugs so i need your help.

Here are some pictures from under the bark.
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Last one is looking from inside the bark. The exit hole.

Could this have killed the tree?
 
Initially from the pics it may be some sort of stem canker.That will kill a portion of the transpoting tissue the bark will remain on the tree but is "seperated" from "wood" until you go poking around and realize there is a huge problem....the bore holes etc are probably secondary.....that is my quick knee jerk diagnosis from a picture!! im sure some really smart person will come up with a better answer..
 
I see girdling root as well. The way the wood buckles in is pretty typical. The frass areas is feeding from flat headed borer and will be there mainly when tissue is weakened. Mb a j-root if a girdling root isn't visible.

Have you gotta pic of the crown?
 
I agree with the others, best guess would be,Phytophthora although it would have had to have it longer than a year to die for it. A likly scenerio: the tree had bleeding canker for 2-3 years and the borers were attracted to the tree due to its weakend state and finished the job
 
Thanks for the help guys. I do have pictures of the canopy when it first started dying I'll have to get to a computer though to upload them.

What Is a j root haven't heard that one before? Could you explain more or point out the buckling wood your referring too?

One last question I'm pretty sure I already know but what would I be looking for with a bleeding canker? Seems obvious I just want to be sure.

Thanks again I'll upload the canopy pictures soon. I'm learning a bunch from this. At least some good is coming from the death of this tree!
 
The more I learn, the more I think tree defect, at root level. Possibly girdling root. Other issues may have arisen as a result. The borers secondary for sure, but the trunk canker may also be.
It will make no difference to this tree in the end, but it might be worth looking at the root carefully just for your own satifaction and learning. If you do, please tell us what you found.
 
I did. As soon as the tree started declining the roots were my first suspicion. We dug down to expose the root flare (3") then used a power
Washer as a home made air spade to expose more of the roots. I didn't see anything glaringly wrong. My second thought was verticilium.'but there was no sign of that.

If the borers are secondary then the only real potential culprit seems to be the roots. Thanks guys. Were going to replace it so more care will be taken in the planting.
 
From where i sit, In th second pic the stem is vertically indented. Buckling isn't the best word to describe. Indentation or flattening of the stem as it approaches and enters the earth.
Lack of root flare is most suspicious.

I ahve found that every 1 in 20 or so Girdling roots mb a j-root.
It is a root with a sharp bend and are generally the most difficult to find. Have to know when to give up. After you ahve done a few you will know better of what I have experience. Difficult to remedy with surgery as well.

Had one a few years ago I had almost completely underdug the tree to find the root went strait down and sharply back up.

Tree was not dying but had the typical girdling root signs.
I take out 1/3 of the diameter and about 1/8" thick strip of tissue( cork to cambium) and rebury and hope that it produces new roots at the new wound. Similar to a stem trace we use in the crown.

As an arborist In general I will not spend any time in the crown of any tree with out first ensuring the root/root flare is intact.
Just makes sense to invest a little time in the area that counts the most. IMHO.
smile.gif

Ps I had one last week I was stumped, looked like girdling root but no evidence of it or an insect or a pathogen.

Narrowed it down to either deicing salts, freeze or thaw, root suffocation from springs super saturated soils.
HO still pays even if the finding are inclusive.

Cheers
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
As an arborist In general I will not spend any time in the crown of any tree with out first ensuring the root/root flare is intact.
Just makes sense to invest a little time in the area that counts the most. IMHO.
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Makes sense to me too.

Sorry but i am still skeptical about this (former?) maple's roots.
 
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