Please help identify what is wrong with my tree
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lumberjack48
ArboristSite Operative
Looks like somebody ran into it, and scared it up.
The bark has just rotted and is falling off. Nothing has ran into it.
Agreed, looks like mechanical injury to me. Also, looks like it may have been planted too deep.
Due to its location, I am the only one who would have the chance to damage the tree by hitting it and that has just not happened.
Maybe you cant tell from the pictures but there is some white fungus growing on it. If you cant see it well enough I will try and get better pictures. Let me know??
I planted it my self and followed the instructions to the letter.
No, I have not ever had any work done to it.
Maybe you cant tell from the pictures but there is some white fungus growing on it. If you cant see it well enough I will try and get better pictures. Let me know??
I planted it my self and followed the instructions to the letter.
No, I have not ever had any work done to it.
There are a lot of things that could cause mechanical damage besides "running into it". The damage could have happened when it was being planted, if the stem got bent (especially in the spring) you can damage the cambium enough to cause this to happen. In the first picture, it looks like there MAY be some old insect damage. Either way, that damage didn't "just happen"...it is at least a couple of years old.
In the 3rd picture, it does look a little deep. I find that most trees come from the nursery too deep, so you may have planted it such that the top of the pot or root ball was at ground level - but if it came too deep, then it is planted too deep.
PassionForTrees
ArboristSite Operative
I agree ! It's too bad that is the way it is. Nurseries are not arborists and mostly plant wrong and most of that wrong is too deep as for landscrapers and even many arborists. Allow for some settling and over dig your root are and back fill so you have looser soil for the new tree to help get root established. Also true about the damage done possibly from transporting and or planting, I see some companies choking the trunk with straps to lift and that will injure the cambium, but be un noticed and cant always be detected. after a few years you will be left with a decayed section on the trunk that is why you see the decay there. you will still see life up above for some time on your tree but will eventually decline more severe and the inevitable is such. Or you or a buddy were drunk and cant remember running your car into it. Ha ha! just little humor!
What wrong with your tree? More than 50% of the trunk is decaying from an old wound, it's best if you start over with a new tree.
Am I the only one who thinks that's not a Jap Maple?
Am I the only one who thinks that's not a Jap Maple?
I bought this tree at a home improvement store about 4 years ago. Someone mentioned I planted it too deep?? If I recall correctly, I dug my hole 3 times the size of the root ball and made sure the top of the root ball was even with the ground. Then I backfilled with loose soil. This is how I was told to plant it. So if it is planted too deep I am guessing it was planted too deep when I bought it..
No one has mentioned anything about the white fungus growing on the tree so I am assuming it is harmless?
Is there anything I can do at this point to nurse it back to health? or is it firewood??
No one has mentioned anything about the white fungus growing on the tree so I am assuming it is harmless?
Is there anything I can do at this point to nurse it back to health? or is it firewood??
Old sunscald, probably incurred in winter following transplant.
Right now, you have extensive damage from the initial injury and the fungal invasion of the dead decaying wood left after the initial injury. It seems unlikely that this tree will ever become the desirable landscape plant you intended to be there, so I would replace it with another tree in good condition .
Next time, wrap the bark in a loose white reflective bark wrap that is made for that purpose. Leave it on for a couple of years, making sure that it never gets choked down tight on the bark. Also, you should make sure it has adequate water, even in the wintertime, for at least two years.
Right now, you have extensive damage from the initial injury and the fungal invasion of the dead decaying wood left after the initial injury. It seems unlikely that this tree will ever become the desirable landscape plant you intended to be there, so I would replace it with another tree in good condition .
Next time, wrap the bark in a loose white reflective bark wrap that is made for that purpose. Leave it on for a couple of years, making sure that it never gets choked down tight on the bark. Also, you should make sure it has adequate water, even in the wintertime, for at least two years.
Urban Forester
ArboristSite Guru
I think it WAS an october glory red maple. It would appear that the tree is SERIOUSLY lacking energy, I don't see CODIT in progress anywhere.
treemandan
Tree Freak
Looks like a piece of seasoned firewood to me. I agree with sunscald and or mechanical damage.
PassionForTrees
ArboristSite Operative
I believe the white fungus you see is the after affects of the rot and decay setting in. When you see the mushroom bodies of fungus, you have decay. To know for sure and have a better chance of identification, do you have better pics to show like the whole tree and it's structure and leaves. In my opinion from the pics there , it does not look like a Japanese Maple.
PassionForTrees
ArboristSite Operative
So different from trees around here in CT. Yes I see opposite branch pattern which confirms Maple, not sure of what species, I was expecting like a bloodgood variety but man those little leaves look like little Oak leaves? So I dont know Texas trees. But still fact of the matter is most of the posts seem to be accurate in seeing the flaws of planting with the other possibilities from the nursery as well. sometimes if you call back the nursery you got if from they might help you out with a new one but be sure to pick a much better planted product from the start and try to avoid the same issues.
Wow, I should have noticed that oak leaf on the ground in the first set of photos you posted. That is no Japanese maple. Please out the name of the home improvement store that sold you this oak and told you it was a Jap maple.
Take a closer look... most of the branches are offset not opposite, though there does appear to be an opposite here and there. I think this guy got sold a bag of goods, I hope he didnt pay japanese maple price for an oak tree.
It really doesn't matter what kind of tree it is/was. It will never be worth mowing around, and it is too late to talk to the nursery about warranty.
To the OP: cut it down, plant another tree. I don't see any reason to blame the folks that sold it to you for the failure. It is pretty unusual to get a mislabeled tree, so I think we should all assume it is a maple. If it is important to you, just put up a well focused picture of some of the terminal end of the branches. A closeup of the buds or leaves would be nice, too.
To the OP: cut it down, plant another tree. I don't see any reason to blame the folks that sold it to you for the failure. It is pretty unusual to get a mislabeled tree, so I think we should all assume it is a maple. If it is important to you, just put up a well focused picture of some of the terminal end of the branches. A closeup of the buds or leaves would be nice, too.
Jap Maple LOL!
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