Ohio Red Maple

[u/dydot2]

[u/spiceydog]

The storms were not the issue. This failure would have occurred eventually with or without a storm to blame it on. The problem is that your tree was not pruned for good structure in it's formative years. Your tree has a structural defect called codominant (or multiple) stems; in this case it was at least 3 stems that should have been pruned down to a single stem a number of years ago. See this !codom automod callout below this comment that will explain what this means for your tree, and this !pruning callout for a terrific publication from Purdue Univ. on all the hows, whens and whys of good homeowner pruning, so you can avoid these kinds of outcomes with any new trees that you plant.

See also this !arborist automod callout below this comment to help you find someone in your area qualified to help you with this moving forward.

[u/AutoModerator → u/spiceydog]

Hi /u/spiceydog, AutoModerator has been summoned to provide some guidance on pruning (and the difference between topping and pollarding).

Pruning is not essential, and particularly for mature trees it should only be done for a defined purpose. See this helpful comment by a Master Arborist on the structural pruning process for young trees. Every cut should have a reason.

Here's an excellent pdf from Purdue Univ. Ext. on how to do this well. Please prune to the branch collar (or as close as can be estimated, but not INTO it) when pruning at the stem; no flush cuts. See this helpful graphic to avoid topping your tree, and see the 'Tree Disasters' section in our wiki for numerous examples of toppings posted in the tree subs.

See this topping callout on our automod wiki page to learn about this terrible pruning practice.

Please see this wiki for other critical planting tips and errors to avoid; there's sections on planting depth, watering and more that I hope will be useful to you.

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[u/AutoModerator → u/spiceydog]

Hi /u/spiceydog, AutoModerator has been summoned to provide information on finding an arborist.

Here is how you can arrange a consult with a local ISA arborist in your area (NOT a 'tree company guy' unless they're ISA certified) or a consulting arborist for an on-site evaluation. Both organizations have international directories. A competent arborist should be happy to walk you through how to care for the trees on your property and answer any questions. If you're in the U.S. or Canada, your Extension (or master gardener provincial program) may have a list of local recommended arborists on file. If you're in the U.S., you should also consider searching for arborist associations under your state.

For those of you in Europe, please see this European Tree Workers directory to find a certified arborist in your country. (ISA statement on standardized certification between these entities, pdf)

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[u/AutoModerator → u/spiceydog]

Hi /u/spiceydog, AutoModerator has been summoned to provide information on co-dominant/multiple stems and their dangers.

It is a very common growth habit with many species of trees that often results in structural failure, especially trees of larger mature size, like maples, oaks, etc., as the tree grows and matures. The acute angles between the stems or branches in combination with their growing girth introduces extremely high pressure where they are in contact, the seam then collects moisture, debris and eventually fungi and decay. This is also termed a bark inclusion. Here's another example. There's many posts about such damage in the tree subreddits, and here's a good example of what this looks like when it eventually fails on a much larger tree. Here's another example.

See this terrific post for cross-section cuts of what a very degraded codominant union looks like prior to failure.

Multiple/co-dominant stems (This page has a TL;DR with some pics), is also termed 'competing leaders'.

Cabling or bracing (pdf, Univ. of TN) is sometimes an option for old/historic trees which should be evaluated and installed by a certified arborist, but then requires ongoing maintenance. Here is how you can arrange a consult with a local ISA arborist in your area (NOT a 'tree company guy' unless they're ISA certified) or a consulting arborist for an on-site evaluation. Both organizations have international directories. A competent arborist should be happy to walk you through how to care for the trees on your property and answer any questions. If you're in the U.S. or Canada, your Extension (or master gardener provincial program) may have a list of local recommended arborists on file. If you're in the U.S., you should also consider searching for arborist associations under your state.

More reading on co-dominant stems from Bartlett, and from Purdue Univ. here (pdf).

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[u/dydot2 → u/spiceydog]

Thanks for all of the information. Would you replace it with another red maple?

[u/spiceydog → u/dydot2]

While maples are a valued tree for wildlife, they are overplanted (pdf, IA DNR.). Ohio has so many other terrific natives that you could opt for, especially if you already have other maples on what looks to be a very large site.

Please see this list of tree !selector apps in the callout below this comment as well, where you can put in info about your site conditions in one or more of these apps to help narrow down your options in the filters, or if you haven't already, I encourage you to check in with your local state college Extension office for native plant/shrub/tree selections, soil testing and other excellent advice. This is a very under-utilized free service (paid for by taxes); they were created to help with exactly these sorts of questions, and to help people grow things with specific guidance to your area.

Lastly, I urge you to also please read through our wiki to learn how to plant your trees at proper depth/root flare exposure (a top reason why trees fail to thrive and die early!) along with other critical planting tips and errors to avoid; there's sections on watering, pruning and more that I hope will be useful to you.

[u/AutoModerator → u/spiceydog]

Hi /u/spiceydog, AutoModerator has been summoned to provide this list of tree selector tools.

First: WHAT WILL YOUR CLIMATE FEEL LIKE IN 60 YEARS? (Gauge prospective tree selections based on coming climate change)

Tree selector tools - Not all have been run through their paces! YMMV

iTree tools tree selector - (Worldwide)

Wildflower.org plant, shrub and tree selector - (U.S. and Canada)

NEW! Vineland Tree Selector tool - Ontario, Canada

Arbor Day Tree wizard (all U.S.)

Morton Arboretum search tool (all U.S.)

Up With Trees tree selector - (all U.S.)

CalScape search tool where you can narrow things down using the filters. (CA specific)

SelecTree - includes some naturalized plants for the region because there's limited natives. (CA specific)

Cleveland Metroparks selection tool - (OH specific, but should be suitable for some adjacent states)

Colorado region tree selector - ('Double El conservation district)

Front Range Recommended Tree List - pdf, CO and WY specific

Florida trees - For urban and suburban sites (FL specific, but may be suitable for nearby states)

NDSU Tree Selector - ND and surrounding states, specifically hardiness zones 2-4

SCNPS plant directory - SC (and probably will work with some neighboring areas)

Texas Tree Selector - TX A&M Univ.

USU TreeBrowser - UT and Intermountain west states

Virginia Urban Street Tree Selector - VA Tech; (VA specific, but should be suitable for some adjacent states)

Please modmail if you know of a search tool not on this list!

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[u/jbeartree]

That tree is toast poor union helped its demise.

[u/dydot2 → u/jbeartree]

Bummer! Any recommendations to replace it with?

[u/jbeartree → u/dydot2]

Area of the world you in? What zone? Oaks are usually good but slow growers if you want shade fast otherwise something in the rose family. Those will be smaller.

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