Water Maple problem

[joejoeky]

I have 2 older Maples that was "topped" 4-5-6 years ago by their previous owner. There is alot of "dead wood" in the top of them, that I'm in the process of cleaning/removing it out. #1 Question - What is good to use to 'seal" these cut out areas ??? #2 - The top of some branches, the bark has split open and this area of the branch has rotten......what caused this and how can it be corrected ??

 

[Stumper]

It is best not to seal the cuts-doing so can actually promote further decay by retaining moisture. Trees wall off dead tisssue through a process called compartmentalization. Unfortunately not all trees compartmentalize well. -Thus the decayed branches in your maples. There isn't much you can do aother than evaluate the trees' safety..

What is a "Water Maple"?

 

[Newfie]

"What is a "Water Maple"?

I was thinking probably a regional reference to a red maple as they are commonly referred to as "swamp maples" around here.


Or not.

 

[che]

Water maples have yellow leaves in the fall, fast growing, roots along the soil line as often as not....very shallow. They have a very light, brittle wood.

Drive anywhere around here and you'll see many of them....mostly topped. I've had three guys here for advice on what to do with mine, ALL of them told me how they could pollard them and make them look BEAUTIFUL.

Definitely not my favorite tree.

My first thought was silver maple...checked and found this:

silver maple

 

[Stumper]

I suspected Silver Maple-It is the poorest compartmentalizer of the maples save boxelder and in some cases it seems far worse than boxelder!. Thanks Che. It is hard to keep up with all the regional names.