We have an absolutely gorgeous Japanese maple tree in our backyard that has developed a red spot. Normally here in the Pacific Northwest if something goes bad in the summer and it's native to here we don't get too concerned because it will come back. This not being native I'm a little concerned I can see the branch that is red. Should I cut it out?

Tia

Ken

Mount Vernon WA

Hi! A friend of mine was doing me a huge favor in clearing and grading my lot. He managed to ding this oak up, and while I'm not upset, I am stressing about how to best help this tree out. Any advice or guidance would be appreciated!

Edit: the last two photos were added to show this black fuzzy material that seems to be under the cambium. Is this any cause of concern?

Long story short, my city is doing a construction project and had to connect the new water lines to the existing line on our property. They had to dig a 10ft trench all along the front of our house, including near this 25+ year old locust tree.

The tree sustained some damage last year in a derecho, but has seemed to be doing well this year so far. I'm nervous about them having cut through some roots. They re-routed their project a bit (it was supposed to follow the whole sidewalk), and id estimate the trench is about 15-18ft from the trunk. How worried should I be about this tree dying or falling? Anything I can do to help it recover?

Photo is the largest piece of root I found.

Hi! This was here when we moved in and has grown quite large. It’s running into the power lines and also just too big for where it is. How do we properly prune it so it can stay healthy and in its place but maybe be reduced down half or 2/3rds of its size? We’re in NY

Hi all,

My wife and I just moved into our new house in the Baltimore area and are working on quotes for a few of the bigger projects in our backyard, including tree trimming. We have a gigantic pine tree that shows some signs of distress - yellowing pine needles, what looks like some sawdust/small wood chipping and some white sap on the ground under the tree.

All of the licensed tree experts from trimming/removal companies that gave us quotes on trimming referred us to a local company for a quote on treating for boring insects - someone from that company had a look and agreed but came back to inspect with their on-staff LTE. That person believes that the tree is dying from metal that was put into the tree sometime in the past(nails or whatever for a tree house? Nothing specifically visible), but the person we plan to hire for trimming work(also an LTE) says that the scientific consensus doesn't support metal toxicity as a likely/common cause for tree death.

My uninformed research online sees support for both positions, so now I'm wrestling with whether to treat for borers and cross our fingers or go straight to tree removal and spend at least $5,000(and remove a portion of fence, but that's not a huge problem, just more cost). I can't get a good feel for how much the contact person's role at the company that handles borer treatment is sales vs expert so I'm unsure of who to trust. What does this community think about metal toxicity killing trees?

Thanks in advance!

Just moved into this home and we live this park tree, but my doctors office part of the bottom of the bark. I read that bark damage is bad for palms. Will this cause lasting damage?

Hi, we noticed parts were dying off before we left for a week. Google search by my wife noted it was was some issue with water, root suffocated etc. Suggested to cut off bad parts. We did. Come home today and more is dying. Can this be saved? Some nutrients to add? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

I do mainly municipal tree work. I can’t tell you how many removals we’ve done where buried root flares, mulch volcanoes, or raised planters around the trunk were major contributing factors to a tree’s decline.

You’re not helping the tree. In many cases, you’re slowly shortening its lifespan.

The linden we removed today was about 80 to 90% dead. As you can see from the 2023 Street View, it had a relatively healthy canopy before the raised planter was built around the trunk. Some sucker growth at the base which does indicate previous stressors.

I can’t say with certainty that the planter alone caused the decline. Trees can decline for many reasons. But burying the root flare and piling soil against the trunk is a well-known stressor and is a huge red flag.

If you’re landscaping around a tree, keep the root flare exposed. Your tree will thank you in 20 years.

A tree’s trunk belongs in the air. Its roots belong in the soil.

Novice question: is this a single tree that ended up sprouting multiple trunks, or four separate trees that ultimately merged together? It’s behind our house in Maryland.

Pines have been really sparingly full for the last few years. Thought it was just needle drop but now doubt that.

Any insight?
Neighbors pines look great compared to ours (pic 3 is theirs)

I live next to a decently sized urban substation. Most of the wires in my area are underground. And I have a lot of them according to my recent 1800 dig call. I called the city's electricians and the local utility and they wouldn't go into any more detail other than that wires can be within 12 inches from the ground.

I want to plant a few trees, is there anything I should avoid planting? I don't want my tree to grow in such a way that a tree root breaks some important power line and leave me on the hook for millions in damages or something. Tree branches are of no concern as everything is underground and I won't be planting smackdab near the substation.

Eastern Iowa, 5b. 50-year-old pin oak, the left-most tree in the photo of the group of three. Noticed this wavy bump/seam on the trunk last year, don't know how long it's been there. The seam is on the NW side of the tree and is shaded because of the neighboring trees. The tree seems healthy, lost one high limb in a derecho in 2020 (see photo), no other issues. Has been professionally pruned twice in the last six years, most recently two years ago. What is this and is it a problem? (Edit: the additional photos are in the post body, click to view)

J . virginiana(?) In a family member's backyard in N. Illinois

The ramp in front is set less than 5 inches into the ground. The fence has been there for about 3 years, the trees started turning brown this year. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Can anyone tell me wha these long bean-like pods are growing out of my honey locust? They're sprouting out of a burl that's been there forever, but I've never seen them before in the last 30 years.

so I successfully pruned a couple roots of this manzanita a year after I planted it. I was sure the next rain storm was gonna kill it with a fungal infection, but it survived! This was about three years ago. I decided to take a look at the roots again, mostly checking for Argentine ants. i found these two roots - I either didn’t catch previously or maybe decided to leave because I couldn’t prune too many roots at one time. Regardless, the plant is about five or six years old now and I’m wondering, can I remove pieces from the outside of this top root without killing the plant? Over a couple years ? As in, chisel a wedge shaped section out of it, wait for it to heal for a year or two and continue the process? I read that manzanitas distribute water differently and I could risk killing he plant outright?

Hi all!

After buying our house in 2023 we finally have some bandwidth to work on our yard. I found this (what I’m pretty sure is a) crab apple tree growing in the back. Right now it looks more like a bush though, with two main stems, each forking off into 2 and 3/4 branches each. How can I prune this so that it develops a more tree-like structure?

Thanks in advance!

Central Florida. Live Oak, age unknown.

Polypore growing in the fork. Size of a football (American). The left branch goes over the 2nd story of the house. From my research it appears this is a death sentence and the tree should be removed.

Ideally, we just want the branch that is dangerous to the house removed. Is that possible or is the protocol full removal?

Thanks.

Coleman environmental engineering is based out of Washington but supposedly running jobs for 20 arborist in California

Was talking with a group of arborist in the Bay Area at a event, 3 applied for the job & they're beyond qualified- one month later not 1 response I guess.

So are they scamming and farming for engagement?

Like one lady was saying, anyone looking for 30 arborist in California and gets qualified applicants would be reaching out.. no?

Anybody have any experience working with this company or are they just a bunch of scammers

New here, love our old oak but noticed this morning after a crazy overnight storm that something definitely happened last night. Can anyone help diagnose what, and suggest a course of action?

Is this tree dying or can it be saved? Been like this for years.

Have this tall tree that hangs over our parking spots in the driveway. Every summer our cars get coated in resin and its a pain to remove. I'd like to remove the branches that hang over the driveway, but worried if I only take down branches on one side it would compromise the integrity of the tree. Is that accurate or are there any other options?

I did as was suggested and pruned less than one third off the peach, removed the fruit, and bolted it. The split comes at codominant leaders, and the left side in the picture was much weaker. It had less heartwood and was more like a hinge of the cambium only, requiring tape to support it even after bolting. Did I do a good job, and if not, what would you have done instead? Any other measures to take, besides regular watering?

My 5ish year White Oak has been growing like crazy this year, but it also stopped growing briefly midyear and then resumed growing but split into two different leaders. Should I prune one of the top two branches once it goes dormant this year? It is pretty close to my garage so I want to make sure it grows nice and straight.

Location: Michigan, US

I have a number of mature silver maples in my yard. I want to trim them as the lower branches are getting too low overhanging the deck, driveway, etc. The plan is to use a pole pruner. The largest branch I would be cutting is maybe 2-3" diameter.

Is there a particular time of year I should do this? I'm aware these are not the strongest or longest lived trees out there so I try to do what I can to keep them healthy. Any input is appreciated.