Obviously you've never grown a maple (of any kind) before. Yes, I'm pretty sure you'll never known it next year. I doubt the shape will suffer even.

Thanks, dbarron. You are right. This is the first maple I have ever grown. I had a silver maple, but it was already full-grown when I moved here.
Will my paper bark maple tree still reach the height in the long run as it would have had it not broke?

This post was edited by BeccaSue on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 10:43

Here is the top of it.

This post was edited by BeccaSue on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 10:39

Yes, it will grow a new leader and be fine. It will never reach the size of your silver maple though, if that's what you meant. Paperbarks are a much smaller tree.

S

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This post was edited by BeccaSue on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 10:49

Thanks, S. I meant will it reach the same height at maturity as it would have if I didn't break it?
I used a long pruner to cut it off more evenly.

This post was edited by BeccaSue on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 11:49

ALL trees releader ... no harm done ... period

if you can get up there...i would cut it at an angle.. just above the next set of leaves.. presuming what is there now is not a flush proper cut ..

and next time.. forgo the instant gratification of a 12 foot tree.. imagine how the whole process would have been easier... with say ... a 6 foot tree ...

and if it dies... it will have nothing to do with this break ... august is not the best tree planting time... refer to link.. and lets discuss anything you may have done wrong ... and if you did anything wildly off ... i might suggest you replant it in sept ...

ken

ps: how did you get a 12 foot tree home????

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks, Ken. I am glad to hear the maturity height won't suffer from the break, and I will make a slanted cut just above the top shoot as you suggested, as I have a standing ladder.
It was actually a pretty inexpensive tree, 89 dollars, that I bought at Andersen's in Toledo, Oh. They only had 2 trees and both were tall. They told me over the phone the trees were about 10 feet tall, including the root ball in a pot, so really I thought the tree would be only just over 8 feet. I rented a u-Haul cargo van to haul it. They helped me load it, and I unloaded it myself and moved it to where I wanted it with a rolling pin. It broke in the van. The van was a little too short.
I almost bought a smaller paperbark tree the day before from another nursery, but the root ball wouldn't fit through the hole to the trunk in my little Kia car. That tree cost 144 dollars (which is more than the cost of my current tree plus the U-Haul) plus they charge 90% of the cost of the tree to deliver it. They would have, however, also planted it and warrantied it for a year as well which is good.

This post was edited by BeccaSue on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 11:54

Thanks for the link, Ken, I will check it out!

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This post was edited by BeccaSue on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 11:55