I live in Northern Kentucky and have a nine year old maple in my front yard. The last two years some of the branches have not produced leaves and are brittle. The tree was about 25 ft tall two years ago but the center stalk died first and was cut back about 8 ft. The tree is still green in parts but only has about 30% of it's normal leaves. I have attached some pictures. The tree does have som Lichem ( I beleive that's the right name ). Ihave a sprinkler system that waters it most every day during the summer months. Ther are some euyomous plants at its base. Can it be saved or is it dying and in need of replacing? Thanks in advance for your help.
Well, the answer to your question is - yes most likely it will carry on living in some manner. However, the more important question is what you want in front of your house. I live in an area where a builder put in a bunch of low priced trees (read damaged) and six year on, the worst of them still look like the worst of them. I ripped mine out and put in a proper tree. If I had your maple in my front yard I'd consider doing the same. Cheers, CSL
The lichen won't damage your tree, don't worry about it. I agree with CSL, even if you cut out the center branch completely, it will take a long time to look like anything. Unless that's a really hard spot to establish anything, I'd dig it out and replant. Good luck, -E
