Is our maple tree on its way out?

[Irony58]

We've got a (formerly) beautiful maple tree in our front yard. This year the leaves came out OK in the Spring, but they soon thinned out and the leaves that remained looked "weak". It's hard to describe, but the leaves themselves weren't as green or as large as previous years. And the tree never filled out during the summer. Now that it's Autumn here in New Hampshire, only one small section of leaves have color. And then there's the sawdust. It looks like powder-post beetle activity. I wash the dust away, but it comes back in a few days. So I'm guessing that some of the interior wood is dead, as those bugs are still chewing away.

I don't know how old the tree is. It was a full tree when we moved here 12 years ago. The trunk is about 20" diameter, and the tree itself is maybe 25 - 30 ft tall.

So is the tree past the point of no return?

 

[Raintree]

Without good visual aids we can't help you, trees decline due to a plethora of issues. Good pictures of the stump, trunk, leaves and crown can help narrow it down.

 

[Irony58]

Without good visual aids we can't help you, trees decline due to a plethora of issues. Good pictures of the stump, trunk, leaves and crown can help narrow it down.

Thanks for the response, Raintree. I've attached some pictures.

The Full Crown picture shows how sparse the leaves are closer to the top. The yellow color on the left side is not from this tree, but some sumacs we have back further in the yard. Except for the reddish leaves on the left, the tree has looked pretty much like this throughout the summer.

On Partial Crown, I circled the section where the leaves have turned color. Even these are pale compared to previous years. By this time of the year, this tree should have a good 50% of its leaves red or orange.

I zoomed into the Crown Top to show how weak those leaves look. The top has the worse leaves. They're either completely gone or shirveled.

And the Leaves picture shows the "average" state of the leaves. I took those from the bottom. Some of the middle area leaves look a bit better, as they don't have holes, but they're still undersized. The top leaves, as I mentioned, are either completely gone or shirveled.

And lastly, there's the Stump, with the wood powder.

Thanks again.

**Edit** I hope these pictures are good enough. The crown pictures are a bit difficult because we're surrounded by trees, so it's tough to get a good contrast between these and the background.

 

[Raintree]

The girdling root structures have been slowly restricting sap flow through the tree trunk. The symptoms of this is reduced leaf size, early leaf drop and drought like leaf curl. It's at the point where wood boring insects are active in the trunk, these are secondary. Do to the prominent location and the grim long term prospects of your maple, I would recommend removal and replacement.

 

[Irony58]

The girdling root structures have been slowly restricting sap flow through the tree trunk. The symptoms of this is reduced leaf size, early leaf drop and drought like leaf curl. It's at the point where wood boring insects are active in the trunk, these are secondary. Do to the prominent location and the grim long term prospects of your maple, I would recommend removal and replacement.

Thanks for that. It's not the answer I would have preferred, but it's totally expected. I was hoping for a "Hail Mary"answer. We'll miss the old girl. My 11-yr-old grandson grew up climbing that tree. Such is life. At least I now know about root girdling for future reference.

Take care...

 

[Tim Kirkpatrick]

It looks like you may have borers. Asian Long Horned beetle is likely. They can destroy a tree in a season. Systemix applied as a douse treatment may save what remains. If Silver maple I would just take it down. Wood will become too weak.

 

[Raintree]

Tim, I don't usually respond to other people's posts and opinions. Being your first post I'm hoping your misinformation is just due to lack of experience. I won't respond any further than this.

 

[tmillthetreekiller]

The girdling root structures have been slowly restricting sap flow through the tree trunk. The symptoms of this is reduced leaf size, early leaf drop and drought like leaf curl. It's at the point where wood boring insects are active in the trunk, these are secondary. Do to the prominent location and the grim long term prospects of your maple, I would recommend removal and replacement.

Hey Raintree,
Any idea what caused the roots to do this, I planted 2 black walnut trees about 10 years ago one is strong and tall the other seems to have similar symptoms, plus it’s branches have grown in a strange criss cross fashion. I’ll get some pics up

 

[pdqdl]

Regarding the Asian Long-horned beetle: While it is unlikely to be the cause of the problem, If you should happen to see any of these bugs around, be sure to notify your county extension agent. They are an invasive species of insect, and the USDA is taking fairly agressive steps to eliminate them.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/bro-alb-an-invasive-tree-pest.508.pdf
The sawdust/frass reported is one of the tell tale signs of borer activity, so that's a good sign you have other problems than just girdling roots.

 

[Jed1124]

The sawdust/frass reported is one of the tell tale signs of borer activity, so that's a good sign you have other problems than just girdling roots.

The girdling is the primary issue though, borers are secondary. They generally do not attack healthy Maple trees.

 

[pdqdl]

This issue was raised as to an invasive boring beetle. I posted information related to that topic, so that the OP could choose for themselves the likelyhood of him the Asian Longhorned beetle being a problem.

It seems rather unlikely, given that they have not yet been reported in his state, but 1/2" borer holes ought to be pretty easy to diagnose. It did look like a lot of frass on the bark in one of the pictures, and it does seem unlikely that a lot of frass could fail to be associated with crown dieback. Perhaps only an indicator of a systemic problem, but still one that should be clarified a bit.

 

[ClimberBusinessman]

I agree with the other arborists above; it appears to be a girdling root issue.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Any idea what caused the roots to do this, I planted 2 black walnut trees about 10 years ago one is strong and tall the other seems to have similar symptoms, plus it’s branches have grown in a strange criss cross fashion. I’ll get some pics up

A basic explanation of girdling:

https://arbordayblog.org/treeplanting/girdling-roots-and-what-to-do-about-them/

 

[TheJollyLogger]

A basic explanation of girdling:

https://arbordayblog.org/treeplanting/girdling-roots-and-what-to-do-about-them/

Good article. Another thing we used to do, aside from inspecting and loosening any girdling roots, especially in clay soils, is dig a square hole. When the roots hit a corner they have a better chance of "escaping" the hole, whereas in a round hole they often just circle around...

 

[holeycow]

Interesting

Good article. Another thing we used to do, aside from inspecting and loosening any girdling roots, especially in clay soils, is dig a square hole. When the roots hit a corner they have a better chance of "escaping" the hole, whereas in a round hole they often just circle around...

 

[Raintree]

This issue was raised as to an invasive boring beetle. I posted information related to that topic, so that the OP could choose for themselves the likelyhood of him the Asian Longhorned beetle being a problem.

It seems rather unlikely, given that they have not yet been reported in his state, but 1/2" borer holes ought to be pretty easy to diagnose. It did look like a lot of frass on the bark in one of the pictures, and it does seem unlikely that a lot of frass could fail to be associated with crown dieback. Perhaps only an indicator of a systemic problem, but still one that should be clarified a bit.

Just noticed this thread coming back around. It doesn't bother me if a poster misdiagnosed an issue, it's when they give treatment advice on top of their error. Not a good look for us.
Just a side note, lm going to be retiring at years end. So you'll see a lot less posting, however I'll browse the site from time to time.