Dead Norwegian Maple

[Melissa Glick]

Today I noticed that my Norway Maple is totally dead. No leaves at all. (Picture 1) The bark is cracking off and when I removed a piece it had bugs, but it also looked oily.(Picture 2)

Last year I had to have one removed. It had a break in the trunk and was starting to fall. It was leaning on another so it didn't crush the cars below. Picture 3 shows inside the tree that came down. Its beautiful but was it sick? And did that weaken it so that it cracked?

What happening? Is this something that is spreading to all my trees? Is there anything I can do?
Thanks
Melissa from Cambridge MA

 

[Raintree]

Trees in urban environments often struggle with poor soils, volume, compaction, fertility, drought, vandalism etc.
These stressors can open the door to opportunistic pathogens such as verticillium wilt.
An other common abiotic condition we find with planted Norway maples is girdling roots.
This would be my first guess due to the fact that near by trees appear to be vibrant.