Top half of my Sugar Maple won't grow

[Quadinaros]

A few months ago, I ordered a Sugar Maple from a nursery. It was just a 3-4 foot tall stick with roots. Well, after about a month, branches started to sprout off starting at the bottom and working up the tree. However, they only got about halfway up the tree. There is still nothing on the top half. It has now been about a month since the last branch started growing. What is going on here? Is the top half dead? Or is there a chance it will still start growing in time? What should I do? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

First, was it planted right? http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/tree_planting.asp

The top does sound dead; you rbest bet may be to train the best sprout as you rnew leader. Post a picture here and you will be deluged with precise advice.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Your Maple sounds like it's heavily stressed out. The sprouting, or " Witches Broom", usually indicates a last ditch effort to reproduce. Maybe try a fertilizer of some sort. I'm no expert by far on this subject, but that's my thoughts on it.
John

 

[Quadinaros]

Here are some pics. The photos are of poor quality, but it's the best I can do, and you can get the picture. You can see that the top half ins't growing, but the branches that are growing on the bottom seem to be growing quite well. The last picture is just of the top half. Please advise?

 

[Dadatwins]

Not sure what you have there, but that does not look like a Sugar maple leaf to me. Would advise cutting off the dead top down near some live growth and start training a new top in a year or so.

 

[glens]

Looks more like ash from here.

 

[Quadinaros]

Thanks for the responses. I have two questions.

1. Should I cut the dead top off right now? Or should I wait until fall? It seems I remember reading that it's better to prune off branches in the fall.

2. How do you train a new top?

And yeah, I guess it's not a Sugar Maple like it was supposed to be. I guess it'll be interesting to figure out what it is. I ordered it from naturehills.com. Take that for what it's worth...

 

[Dadatwins]

OK to cut the dead top off now. Cut it at an angle above the next live growth branch on the tree. Do a search on site for proper cutting technique. Do not leave a stub. As tree gets bigger you want to develop a new central lead to become the top. Maybe post a closer picture of the leaf and someone can figure out what type tree it is. I am thinking ash also.

 

[Quadinaros]

OK, top has been pruned off. Now here are some closer pictures if anybody wants to take a stab at identifying it. I have no idea. Each branch has 9 or 10 leaves on it.

 

[glens]

That's each <b>leaf</b> has 9 or 10 <b>leaflets</b> on it.

I can't tell now if it's an ash or a walnut(/butternut).&nbsp; Are the (entire) leaves directly opposite each other or are they alternate on the stem (not the leaflets, but the leaves).

Glen

 

[Dadatwins]

Closer pics look like Butternut to me. Definitley not sugar maple as original post.

 

[Quadinaros]

The leaves alternate on the stem. They are not directly opposite one another.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Dadatwins
Closer pics look like Butternut to me. Definitley not sugar maple as original post.

?Right, alternating pattern eliminates maple and ash. Do you see prominent hairiness on leaflet stems? Is the end bud long and pointed?

We're at the southern limit of butternut range; canker eats em up.

You may want to stab a stick into the ground and tie one of the branches to it to train a new leader.