Please Help with Mountain Ash Tree

[Missy0107]

Hello,

I'm really upset and hoping that you can tell me that my American Mountain Ash tree will survive! My neighbor decided that he wanted to"help" me by cutting my trees. He cut my beautiful ash tree all the way to the top. He removed over 75% of the branches. It was really beautiful and had many flowers and berries on it and produced wonderful shade. Now it looks like a stick with a few branches on the top. He also cut all the lower branches on my maple tree. Plus, he pulled up many of my flowers because he thought they were weeds, but that's another story! There's probably nothing I can do to help it, but I've grown it from a seed and it's over at least 15 feet tall. I live in northern Michigan, but it's still getting in the 80's here. Is there hope for it? Should I water it more or feed it something?

 

[rjb]

im not the export that many are on here so i will let them comment but i know if it is posible for you to post some pics it would shure help in the answer to your question good luck

 

[Oldmaple]

Watering is helpful during the hot, dry days of summer especially in the sandier soils. We have had plenty of rain around here though. Fertilization of trees is best if applied in the spring or fall. I usually use April 15 and October 15 as guidelines but before Memorial Day and after Labor Day works too. Sounds like better advice would be to not let your neighbor help out.

 

[Missy0107]

View attachment 304192

im not the export that many are on here so i will let them comment but i know if it is posible for you to post some pics it would shure help in the answer to your question good luck

Thank you for answering and wishing me good luck. Here's a photo. If more is needed, I'll take some more.

 

[Missy0107]

Watering is helpful during the hot, dry days of summer especially in the sandier soils. We have had plenty of rain around here though. Fertilization of trees is best if applied in the spring or fall. I usually use April 15 and October 15 as guidelines but before Memorial Day and after Labor Day works too. Sounds like better advice would be to not let your neighbor help out.

Thank you for your help! I did water both the trees early this morning with my Miracle Grow attachment on my hose, plus plain water last night. I'm by Grand Traverse Bay and we've had a lot of rain and a couple of storms last week. I hope the Miracle Grow doesn't hurt it because it's the middle of summer? It's supposed to be in the 90's with no rain, so do you think I should water it every day? I'd never even met the man who did this to my yard. He lives a few streets away. He didn't even park in my driveway or knock on my door and ask if I'd like any help. He pulled up my mums, purple salvia, black eyed susans, strawberries, daisies, lamb's ear and a few other thing's. Plus my trees. He left a big pile of all the limbs and flowers. I wish I could have asked him not to help!

 

[old_soul]

hate to rain on your parade but that tree is planted way too close to the house.

finish cutting it down and plant a new one, out in the middle of the yard

 

[Missy0107]

hate to rain on your parade but that tree is planted way too close to the house.

finish cutting it down and plant a new one, out in the middle of the yard

It must be my neighborhood, but several other houses have trees close to their house too. I can look right off my deck and see a house with two trees close to the house. My other two trees are in the middle of the yard. I have three lilacs at the back of my yard too. I live adjacent to an open, very large field where they make the huge, round bales of hay. It must not be for the cows to eat though, because they'd never get a square meal. haha All teasing aside, the wind can really whip through that field. Maybe that's why the tree's are planted like this around here?

 

[rjb]

unfortunataly in my opinion it is too close to the house like has already been said and will have to come down some day. some of the cuts are not the best thay should have been made just out side the branch colar witch is the swalon part at the bace of that limb. just for later on if you try your hand at pruning. if you are set on keeping it as long as you can i would suggest pruning the limb that is rubbing the shingles before it causes damage to the roof.

 

[Raintree]

I see a resemblance..... :msp_tongue:

 

[Missy0107]

unfortunataly in my opinion it is too close to the house like has already been said and will have to come down some day. some of the cuts are not the best thay should have been made just out side the branch colar witch is the swalon part at the bace of that limb. just for later on if you try your hand at pruning. if you are set on keeping it as long as you can i would suggest pruning the limb that is rubbing the shingles before it causes damage to the roof.

Thanks for your opinion and suggestions about pruning. I didn't realize just how much cooler that tree made my house. It's now almost 20 degree's hotter in the afternoon and evening inside! My electric bill is already almost $200 a month. I don't want to see my new one. Any suggestion for a really fast growing shade tree? One that I can plant in the middle of my yard.:wink2:

 

[Missy0107]

I see a resemblance..... :msp_tongue:

:msp_tongue:

 

[Missy0107]

I see a resemblance..... :msp_tongue:

You might want to be careful. I researched online what my tree is. I read that I can make magic wand's from the branches, and as you can see, I have plenty of them handy. :msp_tongue:

 

[ATH]

One more vote for "too close", but if you are going to keep it, there are actually 5 more pruning cuts I'd make (see red lines). These will help the tree have strong form into the future by encouraging a dominate apical leader. There will be arguments that making these cuts will take too much out of the tree. Currently ANSI pruning standards say take no more than 25% of the tree, so that would be true by that rule. Apparently (according to Dr. Gilman from University of Florida), that is likely going to be dropped when the next standard is published. The counter argument (saying it is OK to take more than 25%), is that if you do not make those pruning cuts the tree is going to have a weaker form into the future. If you don't want to make more cuts now, plan on these next year.

In my opinion, based on what I can see here, he really only made 2-3 cuts that he probably should not have (blue box covering stubs). He didn't make particularly good cuts either...but those stubs are better than flush cuts. These can be corrected...flush cuts cannot. TreesAreGood.com has a pruning guide that shows what those cuts should look like (as rjb said at the branch collar) and information about pruning young trees.

Otherwise, I don't see anything that says you should need to water more. If you were in a drought, yes...you would and the pruning should not have been done now. But you just said you have plenty of moisture.

View attachment 304355

 

[turnkey4099]

I agree with ATH that further pruning is needed. Cut those stubs back to the collar (just outside the swelled area). Remove that right hand stem.

I is way too close to the house and willhave to be removed at some point.

Mountain Ash (at least the ones I have) are a very slow growing tree but can get to be humongous. I saw one that would cover my entire house - dunno how old I is but by the rate of growth of the ones I planted it must be ancient.

Quick growing? Birch is nice.

Saw rule for planting any tree. When is a good time? 20 years ago. I bought this 2 acres with shack in 1976 and by 1980 had planted some two dozen trees of various varieties. They are just now to the "mature" stage although they will still put on a lot of growth.

Just curious. Since you seem to know who did the damage why don't you try to get him to pay? I for sure would have the cops on anyone coming onto my property and doing any kind of work without permission.

Harry K

 

[Missy0107]

One more vote for "too close", but if you are going to keep it, there are actually 5 more pruning cuts I'd make (see red lines). These will help the tree have strong form into the future by encouraging a dominate apical leader. There will be arguments that making these cuts will take too much out of the tree. Currently ANSI pruning standards say take no more than 25% of the tree, so that would be true by that rule. Apparently (according to Dr. Gilman from University of Florida), that is likely going to be dropped when the next standard is published. The counter argument (saying it is OK to take more than 25%), is that if you do not make those pruning cuts the tree is going to have a weaker form into the future. If you don't want to make more cuts now, plan on these next year.

In my opinion, based on what I can see here, he really only made 2-3 cuts that he probably should not have (blue box covering stubs). He didn't make particularly good cuts either...but those stubs are better than flush cuts. These can be corrected...flush cuts cannot. TreesAreGood.com has a pruning guide that shows what those cuts should look like (as rjb said at the branch collar) and information about pruning young trees.

Otherwise, I don't see anything that says you should need to water more. If you were in a drought, yes...you would and the pruning should not have been done now. But you just said you have plenty of moisture.

View attachment 304355

Thank you very much for all the information! The vote from my neighbor's is to keep it. One thinks that it won't even survive, so if it does, I'll wait to have someone make the cut's that you suggested. My Maple tree has stubs where he cut it too. They're longer though. There are flush cut's too. I really appreciate your help. I haven't had the opportunity to read your suggestion's about pruning yet, but I will. We only had about one week were it rained a few days. My grass was turning brown. This spring was really dry. I had a ton of snow this winter. Does any of that matter, or just the current conditions?

 

[Missy0107]

I agree with ATH that further pruning is needed. Cut those stubs back to the collar (just outside the swelled area). Remove that right hand stem.

I is way too close to the house and willhave to be removed at some point.

Mountain Ash (at least the ones I have) are a very slow growing tree but can get to be humongous. I saw one that would cover my entire house - dunno how old I is but by the rate of growth of the ones I planted it must be ancient.

Quick growing? Birch is nice.

Saw rule for planting any tree. When is a good time? 20 years ago. I bought this 2 acres with shack in 1976 and by 1980 had planted some two dozen trees of various varieties. They are just now to the "mature" stage although they will still put on a lot of growth.

Just curious. Since you seem to know who did the damage why don't you try to get him to pay? I for sure would have the cops on anyone coming onto my property and doing any kind of work without permission.

Harry K

Thank you Harry K for your suggestion and sharing with me. Is the Birch tree that you are talking about have a white bark? They are so pretty. There used to be a lot of them up here in MI, but they've been dying off. It sounds like your 2 acres with a shack is beautiful! I might just plant a fast growing shrub to try and block the sun and provide some privacy. My Mountain Ash was really beautiful and would have really had the berries for the bird's this winter. It is sad. There weren't any of the small bird's, butterflies and especially the hummingbird's that I usually have in my yard. My bird bath that is under the Maple tree is now in the full sun.

The man who did this told me he lived a few streets over, but my neighbor's don't know of him either. All I know is he said his name is Tom. He didn't park in my driveway, so I didn't get a close look at his car. I'm not good at distances. I would say about 15 yards away (I'm using a football field as a reference). He was parked halfway between my house and my neighbor's, but I don't think that'll help explain. :msp_wink: He did say he'd buy me a new tree and plants next month, but he also said he'd return later that day and remove the pile of branches and plants. They're still here. A couple of my neighbor's tried to explain to me that what he did is make a "line of sight" around my house. He cut down a small tree on the other side of my house, but I didn't know about that one until last night (a neighbor told me). It was outside a spare bedroom window. He said that he wanted to help me because I'm here all alone, but at the time, I was so stunned and upset at my trees and yard, that I didn't think anything of him saying that. When I was telling one of my neighbor's, they pointed out how did he know I live alone? Last night they brought me one of their golf clubs to protect myself and I left the porch light on, but I don't know his full name or street address in order to have the police do anything.

 

[philoshop]

Sorry to hear about your tree, but I think you need to call the local police and tell them what you've just told us. They may have some knowledge of this individual already. At the very least I would think they'd be interested in hearing your story.

As far as the tree goes, way too close to the house. By about 30 or 40 feet, at least! All kinds of structural and cosmetic damage just waiting to happen. I'm the guy who does those types of repairs and believe me they're not cheap. A good rule of thumb for planting near a house is to plant at least as far from the house as you're going to let it grow tall.

If you want to plant more, most pine trees will grow a foot or more per year. A linden tree will grow like that as well and looks something like a maple. Black locust has a similar growth rate but they have thorns. :msp_rolleyes: JMO.

 

[KenJax Tree]

Sounds like its time to get a gun and keep your eye out for this creep.

 

[rjb]

i also agree with ath as well. i would have some concerns for you and i also agree that you should call the athoritys on this man oppening up the trees and pulling all the flowers dose sound peeping tom ish no pun intendes sench he said his name was tom. not trying to scare you but be proactive for your sake and peace of mind. as fare as fast growing trees go birtch would be good but i do remember about 13 years ago when i lived in the lower pininsula there was a bad case of birch bark beetle or paper barck birch bettle cant remember what thay were called for shure wiped a lot of them out. your local city arborist or biologist should be able to tell you if thay are still a problem. dont know how thay would do in your area but aspen or cotton wood may work as well but a warning cotton wood as the name says will let off what looks like cotton. any one please charme in if these trees may work in that area of the country and about the beetles it was a wile ago and i would like to know just for the knowlage.

 

[turnkey4099]

i also agree with ath as well. i would have some concerns for you and i also agree that you should call the athoritys on this man oppening up the trees and pulling all the flowers dose sound peeping tom ish no pun intendes sench he said his name was tom. not trying to scare you but be proactive for your sake and peace of mind. as fare as fast growing trees go birtch would be good but i do remember about 13 years ago when i lived in the lower pininsula there was a bad case of birch bark beetle or paper barck birch bettle cant remember what thay were called for shure wiped a lot of them out. your local city arborist or biologist should be able to tell you if thay are still a problem. dont know how thay would do in your area but aspen or cotton wood may work as well but a warning cotton wood as the name says will let off what looks like cotton. any one please charme in if these trees may work in that area of the country and about the beetles it was a wile ago and i would like to know just for the knowlage.

Mine is a white birch, now 18" diameter DBH. Guestimate about 25-30 year old. Second one I planted. Some bug got to the first one and killed the top. Mine is also a great example of planting a small potted tree too close to the house. About 15' away. Well, it "looked" about right when it was a sapling . Very nice shade and shades the entir west side of the great room.

Harry K