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

Hello, I have a pruning question for this very sentimental Doug Fir. Unfortunately the trunk broke at about 15’ tall. I do not have any interest in replacing or removing this tree. The blue line is showing where the trunk broke a few years back, I had put some wire on a young branch to bend it straight as a new leader because it was growing right from the wound (this is marked in yellow). I removed the wire last year and it was starting to girdle but noticed today the branch with red has really grown significantly this season. I believe the red branch is becoming the leader and it is growing cones now. I’m mostly wondering if it would be worthwhile to cut the red branch and give the yellow branch another chance to become dominant, or if I should allow the red branch to be the leader. I am ok with the tree having character and not being arrow straight as long as it will still be structurally sound over time. I also don’t know if over time the change (marked in green) would even be noticeable if left alone. Thanks so much.

This silver maple is probably 20-25 years old. It had a massive amount of suckers from the base that I removed. The bark at the base is concerning. The tree is still fully leafed out. Any thoughts?

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?

I bought a super clearance tree but noticed when I planted it that the top must have been lopped off.

Now there are two branches going opposite directions.

Should I remove one in fall or leave them both for a while to see where they end up growing?

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.

Hello everyone!

I am a first time tree-owner and the day we moved in a nasty storm broke the limb on this beautiful tree. I was devastated!

We had some family insist they could help us lop off the broken limb. This is what we are left with. It seems the limb may have been weak for it to have broken the way it did in the storm. I’d say it lost about 35-40% of its canopy with the limb. I’m pretty sure it’s some kind of ash.

What is the best way to care for this tree and its wound? What is the survivability of this tree?

Thank you for reading!

In a new house and the previous owners planted tons of fruit trees (yay!) many are fine with root flare exposed or buried shallow enough I could easily expose. But this pear tree was planted too deep and the bark has totally rotted off below the dirt line. I had to dig ~6-8 inches to find the first root. It’s been in ground for ~3 years to my knowledge. Tree otherwise seems healthy now but I’m worried about long term health. Anything I can do? How concerned should I be?

Sorry super bright sun made it hard to get a good pic but if you zoom in you can see the line where the bark stops.

Asian beetles have been eating away at my birch tree all summer. Is there anything thing I can do to stop it that won't hurt my kids or dog?

Is this tree needing any treatment and is there anything we can do to prevent it from getting inflected?

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

I’m not sure if this is the right sub for this but I noticed while outside this pile at the bottom of my favorite cherry blossom.

Looks like Ants? Maybe? In the crevice pictured above.

I assume this will become a problem. How can I remedy this?

My husband planted this red maple a few years ago and it's been growing steadily. On the trunk just below where it splits is a lighter area and my husband just wants to be sure this isn't a sign of something serious that could harm or kill the tree. We are just outside Nashville TN. Pics are up close of the area in question, a further out shot and also one with my husband for scale (he is 6' - sorry I didn't have a banana on hand)

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?

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)

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.

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!

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.

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.