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| We had a very strong storm a few days ago and my 3 yr old red maple was almost blown down. It is not returning to its original position and I am looking for advise as to the best way to pull it back upright.
I really want to save the tree, since I need some shade for the sun porch. Thanks in advance for any tips ya'll might have. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Tell us more about what happened. Was the rootball or root system moved by the wind, are there any signs of damage (cracks, etc) to the trunk, or is the tree's trunk just bent over? It looks like there may be a stake under the canopy near the trunk; is that what I'm seeing? Tell us more about that too. |
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| Oh, and have you thought about how close to your house this tree is!?! |
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| Looks like the trunk may have suffered internal damage. |
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| That is a metal bird feeder pole showing in the pic.(now removed) There are no cracks,splits, or breaks that I can see anywhere and the rootball does not seem to have moved at all. As best as I can tell, the trunk and limbs just bent in the wind storm and held that shape. Brandon, I planted the tree in this location because I have a large paver patio over the best spot for it. I agree that it is closer than it should be to the house. Maybe this storm is a call from mother nature telling me what you are telling me. But it would really help cool off this solar oven I call a sunroom! |
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| OK guys, if I very reluctantly decide to whack this tree,which is now 8 feet from the house, how far away from the house would YOU feel comfortable replanting a Brandywine red maple? Keep in mind that I really can't plant in the best location to give shade, so I am getting farther away from the sunroom and will have to wait until it gets really big to do much shading. Thanks for the help! |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Tue, Jul 17, 12 at 17:29
| Weedpuller, sure the tree's a little close to the house. But you've got good specific reasons for having placed it there. Plus, there's this thing called pruning..lol....such that some years hence, individual branches can be headed back or removed to give more clearance. You clearly like it where it is. Why not just stake it up to get it straight, and enjoy it? Even worst-case, whatever that might be, you've got years before you're in a hazardous situation. As far as non-hazardous but still detrimental aspects of a too-close tree, the pruning will mostly alleviate that. +oM |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Jul 17, 12 at 18:19
| why would you whack it.. move it at the proper planting time.. and plant it so it stands straighter .... come on tom.. isnt red maple famous for surface roots.. whats that going to do with that gorgeous paver walkway in 5 years???? .. if tom says no.. i will defer ... ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: link
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| "...whats that going to do with that gorgeous paver walkway in 5 years????" ...and what's it going to do to the footing of the house in a few decades? With the combination of all the problems it could cause (stopped up gutters, debris/sap on roof, limbs dropping on house, footing issues, messy/uneven patio pavers, etc), I sure wouldn't want it that close to my house. At least consider the possible negatives, and make your decision with those things in mind. |
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| PS... If you do decide to keep the tree and want to straighten it, that probably can be done with a decent chance of success. My guess is that you'd have to stake it well for at least one full year. Use wide straps to go around the tree and sturdy (so it doesn't break) nylon rope (which has some flex/shock absorption ability) when staking. If you cannot easily pull the tree back into position, you may have to correct it gradually or settle for partial straightening. |
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- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Tue, Jul 17, 12 at 22:07
| Been there, done that, I agree with +om. It will become an issue in about 80 years or so. My grandmother had a sugar maple about 3" from her porch. It was probably about 80 when it was taken down. The big issue with trees like that is that once they start to fail, they have to be dealt with. |
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| ...and I've seen 'em, less than half that age, push the footing out from under the wall of a house. Believe me, having a backhoe dig out from around your house and rebuilding from below is not a fun thing to deal with, especially after having to put up with all the rest of the problems until then. |
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| Well, I cut off a lot of the top growth (probably would not have had this problem if I had done this earlier) I think the fast top growth had out paced the trunk strength. I have it pulled back into position and am expecting the patient will make a full recovery. Thanks to everyone. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, Jul 18, 12 at 18:32
| Yes, yes, all these horrible things could happen. Yet every direction in which one looks, there are trees near houses. There must be just millions of ruined foundations, trip hazards, etc, etc. everywhere you go! I don't deny that trees can do all these things-I deal with same for a living! I just find that quite often on this board, there comes to be a bit of myopia wherein only worst-case scenarios can result. For example, in each and every case where a tree or tree part is growing over a building or other potential target, couldn't that tree or tree part fail and cause damage? Yes, it could. But in remedying this, millions and millions of trees would need to come down.....now! A little overboard, if my decades of watching and interacting with the urban forest means anything. So how's that for a guy that did-after 30 years-decide he just couldn't live with his city's largest silver maple over his home...and the neighbor's home...and the other neighbor's home!? +oM |
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| Although we can't see how the loop around the tree may be - I hope you used a nylon strap or at a minimum a lenghth of garden hose around it where the rope goes around the tree, otherwise, as long as it will take to correct this problem you will be creating another problem later by cutting into the bark - it will tend to grow around the rope if the weight of the "pull" isn't spread. hortster |
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| Tom, I totally agree with what you are saying. We are looking at pretty much the same point. But, since you were looking at that point from one side, I figured I'd go around to the other side for my view to give a broader prospective (kinda a devil's advocate thing). I really wouldn't want that tree nearly that close to my house, but I wouldn't tell someone they were crazy if they wanted to keep it there and I thought they realized the potential for problems. |
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| Hey, brandon, some get away with it, some don't. So far, no prob with a river birch planted 6' from a (modern) foundation. An older, perhaps block foundation - totally agree. I'm tiring of trimming this one away from rubbing on the roof. BTW, a few years and I will remove the tree when the red oak takes its place for shade on the house for the worries you state. Guess I may be lucky... hortster |
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| Actually, it's encouraging that the base of the tree before supporting still looked straight. That prb'ly means the root-mass wasn't affected, but the trunk was semi-permanently bent. Prb'ly it will escape significant damage. If it was bent by the most common wind direction, fortunately it looks away from your house. Still, I'd be prudent about keeping branches trimmed directly above your house later on. Most maples are densely leaved & can suffer from warm-season storms, even Sugar maple, tho my 65 foot Sugar maples have withstood 70 mph Tstorm winds w/only superficial damage. |
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