Is my tree dying?

[minnesowtan86]

Good day, I was curious in knowing if this tree (I believe it is an ash) is dying or just growing.
There are a couple more smaller branches not pictured, that the bark appears to be bursting open as well.

Thanks

 

[Jed1124]

Silver Maple. It's not good. Can't really think of what would cause that though. I can't blow the picture up big enough to make it out.

 

[JeffGu]

Is that the south side of the tree? Looks like the tree has been heavily pruned over the years, and stems topped. Looks like sun scald and/or insect infestation... that's more bark shedding than normal for a silver maple.

Silver maples rely on the canopy to protect their bark... take too much off, they will scald, especially on the south side.

 

[minnesowtan86]

I have uploaded some more pictures. That side of the tree faces the east. The tree overhangs my deck. Sadly it was primed prior to moving in.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Sunscald can also occur on the east to south east if the wood has suddenly been exposed to more sunlight. Looks consistant with it.

 

[minnesowtan86]

Thank you all for the information. Should try and find someone who isn’t ignorant to trees to come and try and save the tree? Is it possible to save the tree? Is it doomed to a slow death?

Thanks

 

[no tree to big]

Could that be a lightning strike?

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[JeffGu]

Could that be a lightning strike?

It does look a bit like it, they tend to split the bark and sluff it off in thick barked trees... most notably Cottonwoods... and you get that long, split bark damage with sapwood exposed. The Silver Maple trees I've seen that were struck, almost always seem to throw the thin bark everywhere when the steam pressure rises during the strike. I mean, bark everywhere and lots of limb failure. I think this is more likely sun scald... multiple stems, almost entirely where the stems are exposed to sunlight. Could be any number of other things adding to the problem, of course. I've had sun scalded fruit trees develop secondary issues very quickly... bugs/fungi are very opportunistic.

That's still a good call, though... the damage is certainly very similar.

 

[no tree to big]

It does look a bit like it, they tend to split the bark and sluff it off in thick barked trees... most notably Cottonwoods... and you get that long, split bark damage with sapwood exposed. The Silver Maple trees I've seen that were struck, almost always seem to throw the thin bark everywhere when the steam pressure rises during the strike. I mean, bark everywhere and lots of limb failure. I think this is more likely sun scald... multiple stems, almost entirely where the stems are exposed to sunlight. Could be any number of other things adding to the problem, of course. I've had sun scalded fruit trees develop secondary issues very quickly... bugs/fungi are very opportunistic.

That's still a good call, though... the damage is certainly very similar.

I've seen a lot of different species with lightning damage all across the board figured I'd throw it out there. In the last couple weeks I've done a few lightning trees one was a cotton wood that just about completly blew the hell up completly covered the guys yard in thin strips of wood. The tree looked like it just went through a veneer machine every ring separated. Then you get the cotton wood that's been hit 10 times and don't show a single sign of it.

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[JeffGu]

True... I've got an ash tree on a property in a nearby town that took a good whack while I was fumbling with my keys, trying to open the door... about 30 feet away. Steam rolled off that thing for several minutes and it hissed, cracked and popped for another ten minutes. After I shook the turds out of my pant legs, I looked it over and there wasn't a burn mark on it. It was old and beginning to die already, but it went downhill fast, after that. The only damage was where the lightning hit the power lines across the street and jumped about three feet over to the tree. Blew about six feet off the end of that branch. A spot about four feet up from the ground, on the trunk, that was leaking sap. That's the only damage I ever saw on it. These days, we call it the Mushroom Farm Woodpecker Hotel. It's down to about half its original size, with only about 10% of it getting any leaves. I'm going to have to remove it, this year (city wants it gone) but I've left it for habitat. All manner of critters living in that thing.