Silver Maple Trim

  • Thread starter kikori
  • Start date
  • Replies 47
  • Views 7K
K

kikori

Guest
Here's a quick video of a trim I did last week.

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k12aDwPDokI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k12aDwPDokI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>


Turn up the funk and Enjoy!

Eric
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3
Thanks. What advice would you pass on to my groundie?
 
I try not to leave large wounds on the main stems. That silver maple will never be able to compartmentalize such the big cut. Did you inform the customer that taking off such a large limb would be condeming the tree to an early demise? There were other options.
 
Thanks. What advice would you pass on to my groundie?

My guess would be that he needs to let stuff run a bit instead of letting it swing so much, possibly swinging into you...;)
 
Butch,
If you think in tree time, out maybe 50-100 years.. there is no "might".. that tree will become a hazard from that cut in time... so the cut has reduced the potential life span of that tree significantly. If the tree has no chance of making it that long for other reasons, and will be removed in the next 10-30 years either way, then maybe it is not such a big deal... of course the resulting decay could always end up with the tree on the house before someone has the sense to do the removal.. Leaving big cuts on the trunk of any tree, and especially a poor compartmentalizer liek the silver maple, should be highly discouraged to the homeowner... there are other options
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10
Good comments guys. This is why I post videos when I can-to learn as much as possible!

Letting it run: The client had some fencing/ corner of the garage in the drop zone that we were trying to avoid. The rigging point was swinging the pieces towards the fencing as we got to the bigger pieces.

Also, as a team my groundie and I are definitely learning and looking to improve so your comments are welcome. The faster he lets the pieces run, the less swing there will be but slowing the piece down before it digs into the lawn is the ultimate goal.

Murph: I am aware of trying to minimize large wounds to the trunk area but the client requested that this section be gone.

If silver maples are poor compartmentalizers what trees are good compartmentalizers?

Could you give a best to worst list of some general species?

If you feel confident comment on the compartmentalization abilities of maple, oak, ash, elm, locust, birch, linden??? I would think Oak is the best?? Not sure

Thanks for comments!

Eric
 
Letting it run: The client had some fencing/ corner of the garage in the drop zone that we were trying to avoid. The rigging point was swinging the pieces towards the fencing as we got to the bigger pieces.

Also, as a team my groundie and I are definitely learning and looking to improve so your comments are welcome. The faster he lets the pieces run, the less swing there will be but slowing the piece down before it digs into the lawn is the ultimate goal.

Exactly. And if swing is still a worry, climber with a tag line and a friction devise up in the tree can dampen that effect in real tight places. Working the piece together.
 
I often run into clients that ask for large limbs to be removed as well, and it takes some educating to get them to understand the irreparable damage that those large wounds are going to do. You can usually find a way to meet their needs, while doing far lass damage to the tree... even leaving a short stub to re-sprout, or die would be a far better choice than leaving that large of a wound on the trunk.

I'd say silver maple and tulip are on the low end for compartmentalizing. As is birch and linden.

red maple slightly better

then sugar maple about the same as many oaks and ash..

locust would better yet..

It doesn't really matter what kind of compartmentalizer a tree is though, when you leave a 12-16" wound on the trunk, you have effectively shortened the tree's life span.

This video is a good example of this perspective ... though a little wordy..


<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j36V8dchcqE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j36V8dchcqE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
 
I would put London Plain trees atop my compartmentalizing list followed by oaks. Younger silver maples do OK but older ones cannot close up fast enough to ward off cavity creation. On the bright side you've probably made some future wildlife habitat. I think silver maples do better with lower branches as they tend to catch the high branches when they break out. I cut them back to laterals to reduce their weight but generally keep them for protection and so all the trees new growth isn't at the top of the tree.
 
Shigo described it well, but it's how woody plants isolate wounds at the cellular level to prevent decay from spreading into healthy tissue.
 
Nick,

http://www.huhs.org/departments/agriculture/hennes/Landscape Design/codit.pdf

Here is what a quick google search popped out. I just glanced at it. Looks like some of the "textbook" diagrams, and some information that you put you on the right track. Some internet searching will lead to lots of info.

CODIT is the model that I believe Shigo formalized. Compartmentalization Of Decay In Trees.
As a model, there are four walls in CODIT, the first three walls, in not necessarily the right order, block decay from spreading from a wound site vertically up and down, inwardly, and sideways/ circumferentially/ around the rings. The fourth wall forms between the "wood present at the time of wounding" and the next years growth ring/ annual growth increment (I think people call the idea of one shell of a tree on top of a shell on top...). This 4tht wall is the strongest wall, resulting in hollows in trees when the decay organisms degrade the wood that was present at the time of wounding, but couldn't breach into all the new growth year after year, after the time of the wounding.

Here is a webpage with lots of illustrations and images
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?sub=17639&area=183


Different species of trees have different inherent ability to chemically defend against decay. Some stronger ones around me: black locust, redwood, western red cedar.
Some weaker ones around me: red alder, willows, cottonwood, bigleaf maple, birch.
Middle of the road, doug-fir,
 
There was a court case on "The People's Court" yesterday. Some sort of Oak tree failed in a wind storm, and the plaintiff drove into it. The defendants had done everything they could to warn traffic.

The Plaintiff hired an arborist to examine the tree and other in the yard. The Judge got it wrong, she assumed that IF a tree's outside looked fine, the tree was OK. The arborist wasn't present when the case was heard. By the pics you could see that the heart was all punky, and had been compartamentalized. They Plaintiff didn't tell her how much sound sound wood was present, nor did he venture into how TRA works.

Ihave a friend who spend a lot of time in courtrooms as a Consulting Arborist. It is another way we can generate income. It is a valuable service!

Another term that is used for "compartamentilization" is "CODIT".
 
Nick, after learning about CODIT/ Compartmentalization, splitting firewood will not be the same. Its like a dissection sometimes, especially at pruning wounds, natural wounds, staining, etc.
 
Silver or "soft" maples were planted about 1890-1900 or so as fast growing urban shade trees .Little did they know back then that in years to come they would provide the "bread and butter " trees for arborists .About 100 years give or take is the life span .They can get pretty plump though in that time .

Funny ,I never really ever knew where that species was native to .It certainly is not from these parts as the native species is sugar maple .Never ever once have seen a soft maple in the woods .
 
Im not a fan of silver maples. By the time folks around here get around to gettin them removed, they are usually trashed and have a lot of bad spots in them. Half the silver maples I whack each year have been topped a few times in their life and most all of the main stems are nothing but hollow shotgun shells. Plus, when i remove them in the winter, the wood just wont hinge for crap. it pops and bursts part way through the back cuts. I cant say I even care to prune them. They just dont hardly ever look nice. It seems like after they've been pruned of all the garbage, they look lion tailed.

They're good for business though and I guess if we didnt have them, Id be doing less tree wok in a years time.
 
Silver maples are a big part of my work too. They can be decent if pruned properly. Folks used to top them like crazy, now they just lion tail them like crazy. They are very susceptible to sun scald on the trunks and when folks prune them too hard in the summer its bad news. I leave them fuzzier than most of my prunes and make sure to get out on the laterals and reduce the tip weight. Folks also lift them up way too much. I think one of the reasons they fail so often is that instead of having branches to the ground, they are pruned into vase shapes which are more prone to breaking in the wind. A silver maple out in a field left to its own accord would be reliable and have less breakage IMO.
 
Some trees do better without trimming I think. I deadwooded and thinned my mother in laws catalpa and ever since its had large branches break in every wind storm we get. I think it was more resilient when it was scruffy and over grown.
 
Back
Top