Worried: Health of Tree after Excavation

[UpstateHomeowner]

Hi all,

Please excuse our non-technical terms as we're just learning about all this and thankfully stumbled on this wonderful site.

After some research (sadly, after the fact..) my wife and I are nervous about the health of a tree we love in our front yard. We had our basement waterproofed and the excavator didn't take any precautions in regards to our beloved tree. Before the work was done, we had some roots popping up though the soil so I'm assuming we might have compacted soil already. Our concern is the amount of weight that was placed right on the tree as well as the weight of the equipment used to excavate. The work took about a week to complete. The tree is a Crimson King (we believe) and we'd love to save it if we can. It might sound silly but we really love the tree and we've been reading about a possible need for either air spading or root excavation (if thats the correct name of the service). I've linked a couple photos if any of you have time to check it out.

Thank you all in advance for your knowledge and this site.

 

[UpstateHomeowner]

Some additional photos of the tree attached

 

[Del_]

It is a Norway Maple cultivar and is considered invasive.

Maples are pretty good about doing well in compacted soil, it likely will be fine.

If it were mine I'd have removed it years ago and planted better trees.

The job could have been done a lot better as far a preserving the tree is concerned. And it would have cost more.

 

[old CB]

Are you seeing any negative effects in the canopy? Loosing leaf vigor, yellowing, or any other such? Unless serious symptoms present themselves, I would rest easy. The tree may need to adjust to the pruned roots, but from your description I don't think lasting damage will result. Assuming the tree was healthy to begin with, it's not likely to suffer much.

 

[UpstateHomeowner]

It is a Norway Maple cultivar and is considered invasive.

Maples are pretty good about doing well in compacted soil, it likely will be fine.

If it were mine I'd have removed it years ago and planted better trees.

The job could have been done a lot better as far a preserving the tree is concerned. And it would have cost more.

Thank you for your time. We were unsure but its nice to learn what the actual tree is, thank you again. Can you tell what the other small tree is and if that will be at risk? There are small red cherry type things on that tree and it blooms purple flowers.

 

[UpstateHomeowner]

Are you seeing any negative effects in the canopy? Loosing leaf vigor, yellowing, or any other such? Unless serious symptoms present themselves, I would rest easy. The tree may need to adjust to the pruned roots, but from your description I don't think lasting damage will result. Assuming the tree was healthy to begin with, it's not likely to suffer much.

Thank you very much for your reply! I feel much better about the situation. We were going to call Daveys tomorrow to ask for ideas on treatments to keep it alive should there have been major damage. Would I see canopy changes this quickly? I haven't noticed it yet but I've been more focused on the ground. I'll check for that now, thank you very much. Maybe a stupid question but should I water the area or get more top soil to cover the area?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Keep an eye on it, but in their defense, I'm not sure how they could have done the job any other way without exorbitant costs, and they actually did a decent job of reestablishing the grade... if you see signs of stress, i.e. yellowing leaves, excessive leaf drop, etc. Post new pics, but I think it will be ok at this point.

 

[UpstateHomeowner]

Keep an eye on it, but in their defense, I'm not sure how they could have done the job any other way without exorbitant costs, and they actually did a decent job of reestablishing the grade... if you see signs of stress, i.e. yellowing leaves, excessive leaf drop, etc. Post new pics, but I think it will be ok at this point.

Thank you very much for the reassurance. We'll keep our eye on it for sure. I was under the impression the signs of damage would present themselves years down the road so this is good news. Thank you again

 

[Raintree]

Clean cut exposed ragged root stubs.
Maintain soil moisture until ground freeze. Mulch root zone. Deep root fertilizer application in fall. Check soil PH adjust as needed for maple.

 

[UpstateHomeowner]

Clean cut exposed ragged root stubs.
Maintain soil moisture until ground freeze. Mulch root zone. Deep root fertilizer application in fall. Check soil PH adjust as needed for maple.

Thank you very much for this - how far do I cut the exposed roots? Two are pretty large. Also, how high and wide should I lay down the mulch? Is it possible to over water? Thank you again for this

 

[Raintree]

Clean cut to just below grade. Don't know the soil type, best not to let the soil dry out until the tree can reestablish itself. The larger the mulch bed the better within reason, no more than 4" thick.

 

[UpstateHomeowner]

Clean cut to just below grade. Don't know the soil type, best not to let the soil dry out until the tree can reestablish itself. The larger the mulch bed the better within reason, no more than 4" thick.

Thank you again for the education. One more question if I may: we (unfortunately) will be out of town for about a week. How time sensitive is this?

 

[Raintree]

The sooner the better, a week delay is not a worry. Give the tree a good watering before you go.