Please critique my work!!!

[Local # 17 T.T.]

These are two Crimson Maples that I was hired by a homeowner to do. He ask for them to be thinned & shaped. I'm not that crazy with how they turned out, but he paid me and seemed happy. What do you guys think? Good or bad. Thanks,

Mike

 

[Old Monkey]

It looks like they are a bit lion tailed. Its never easy to tell from pictures how well someone did. I'm sure they look great from your house.

 

[darkstar]

looks good to me ... i have to lion tail all the time even though i provive books etc... on proper trimming ...sometime the customer wants a dramatic effect ... i barely can talk many out of topping .... i think you did pretty well hard to say post up more pics maybe

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

look like they were thinned too much

I cant remember one crimson king I have worked on that I did any more than deadwood and raise the crown a little, everything I see doesn't need thinned

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Thinning is no good for the tree, but hey, if that's what the customer wants, who cares? It's a crappy norway maple anyway.

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

Mike, how can you tell its a Norway and not a Crimson King as the fellow said?
Color of the foliage?
does look alittle on the green side in the second pic

 

[Elmore]

Mike, how can you tell its a Norway and not a Crimson King as the fellow said?
Color of the foliage?
does look alittle on the green side in the second pic

'Crimson King' is a cultivar of Acer platanoides-Norway Maple.
They sure are big...the images, that is. Someone needs to add an image resizer to their arsenal. Windows XP has something called Power Toys and it includes a great image resizer. Also you can resize your images by using this free and easily used program.
http://www.irfanview.com/
Once downloaded and installed, simply select file, then open your file, select image then resize, select the 640 x 480 pixels or any other size desired (hopefully smaller), click okay, then go to file and select save. I generally choose the 640 x 480 pixels option. If you want to keep your outrageously large image, be sure to copy it or rename your resized pic so that it doesn't overwrite your obscenely huge photo.

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

I did not know that Crimson King was a cultivar of the Norway Maple

as for the big pics, mine come across about 3 x 4, too small to see anything other than a dark tree.

Maas, is that tree a crappy Norway maple or are all Norway maples crappy.
if all, what's wrong with the species?

 

[diltree]

Norway maples may be crappy, but a Crimson King is a gorgeous tree......bright crimson in color from spring till fall...I think they are a great cultivar.

 

[Ax-man]

Norway Maple is a good tree if planted on a site that allows the tree to develop with minimal pruning and the root zone is not confined. They need room to mature, they grow as wide as they do tall. We have one at the farm that is only maybe 35 to 40 ft tall and almost as wide, a very handsome tree with none of the usually problems associated with the species.

Most Norway Maples are a classic case of the wrong tree in the wrong spot, narrow parkways that restrict root development, too close to structures that cause excessive pruning. Then there is the proverbial battle of a tree's defense against turf, throwing a dense shade so grass won't grow. Norway Maple excels when it comes to this battle. We have all seen the results of these factors, unfortunately it just leads to the decline of the tree and eventually it's removal.

The only drawback I have to Norway Maple or any maple for that matter is it is prolific in reseeding itself.

Another handsome cultivar of Norway Maple is the variety Royal Red. A deeper red color and doesn't fade as much as Crimson as the season progresses.

Larry

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

Ax-Man, good points, but most are not the trees fault.
In the right place and given a mulch bed, I think Norways are a great tree.
I love to work maples, great tree to climb around in, tennis shoes and bare hands. most never NEED anything more than deadwooding.
Customers WANT a whole lot more, raise crown, lower crown, line clearance, house clearance


now silver maples are a horse of a different color

 

[Husky288XP]

Man do you get paid by the pound or what?

Next time when thinning keep it conservative, 15/20%.

Most thinning is the removal of small branches at the tips, not the removal of large structural branches here and there.

Sure a large branch can be removed once in a while, but there better be a good reason for it, crossing, competion, etc.

Thinning is something that you do not just blow through like a removal either.

 

[Local # 17 T.T.]

Believe me this was no wham bam thank you mam, at least it wasn't intended to be. I really tried to take my time and make these trees look good. I really take a lot of pride in the work I do, but when I hit the ground and looked at the trees, it looked like someone poked holes all through the canopy. Hope this is part of the learning curve! They would have turned out much Nicer being rounded over from the outside, trimming them from a bucket.

Sorry about the pic size, tried a couple different things on my computer to re-size, but I couldn't figure out how to do, so shame on me.... Thanks for the honest criticism and keep it coming.

Mike

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

If you do this work during the dormant season, the holes you make disappear as soon as it leafs out. It make the work a lot easier too.

Norway Maples are over planted. They are also quite invasive, but not so everywhere. Probably considered native in Norway.
In our wet lands, we cherish Cattails, which are now being overrun by Purple Loosestrife. Down in Florida the everglades are being overrun by Cattails. I guess it's a matter of perspective.

 

[tzelmet]

These are two Crimson Maples that I was hired by a homeowner to do. He ask for them to be thinned & shaped. I'm not that crazy with how they turned out, but he paid me and seemed happy. What do you guys think? Good or bad. Thanks,

Mike

If I was the homeowner I would be pleased.

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

Mike, I usually take a hard line with non-natives, but round here Norways are not invasive, atleast not to the extent of say, red maples (a native gone bad due to changing soil and forest conditions)

about the only time i see them is planted in a yard

purple loosestrife is bad here, but our worse plant right now is japanese knotweed

 

[PRUNER 1]

norway maples over here have a real problem with splitting out due to bark inclusions. our specs dont include thinning or reductions to prevent this happening. they just let em fall over.

 

[Sheshovel]

Man do you get paid by the pound or what?

Next time when thinning keep it conservative, 15/20%.

Most thinning is the removal of small branches at the tips, not the removal of large structural branches here and there.

Sure a large branch can be removed once in a while, but there better be a good reason for it, crossing, competion, etc.

Thinning is something that you do not just blow through like a removal either.

I disagree,removing of small branches at the tips is "Heading back"removing of larger branches is
"Thinning"but I do agree there should be good reason to prune any tree and for some people good reason is $$

 

[Husky288XP]

A lot of big talk coming from a Land-scraper.

 

[Husky288XP]

Why don't you stay at Lawnsite, talking about mulch jobs and stripping grass.