Is my maple tree dying?

Hi,

I found this forum while searching for help on google search. I have a maple tree ( not sure what kind ) in my front yard that seems to be dying and before I call an arborist, I wanted to see if there is anything that I can do on my own first. The tree is probably about 25 years old.

I am located in the Greater Toronto Area ( Richmond Hill )

Any advice would be great

Thanks
David

 

Since there hasn't been any ideas from the forum. I contacted an arborist and maybe my findings can help others save their trees.

Maple tree is the Norway Maple. Most probably reasons are girdling root and soil piled up against the trunk. I started reading up more about trees to find out that I've been doing a few wrong things.

1. Piling soil or mulch too high against the tree trunk. Best practice is to mulch 3" deep and leaving 6" gap between trunk and mulch
2. Roots need to breathe, so if possible expose flare rather than covering it up - use 3" mulch for looks
3. For new trees, always open up the roots and not to plant them too deep. It's all about exposing the tree flare.

Even though it is a Norway maple and nothing can really grow under its shade, I love how it looks in the front yard. I'll try to save it and cut the girdling roots - or at least the ones that are easy. I'm digging till I can expose the flare as well so that I can minimize more girdling root.

I'll keep you guys posted and hopefully this help someone. I'll get some pictures of the roots I'm talking about later when it stops raining.

 

That's good advice you got; obviously, the cause isn't visible in the pics here.

 

Some pix of girdling roots. Problem is I cannot see the tree flare. I still have a few more inches before I reach ground/grass level.

I cannot imagine that these small roots are causing the tree not to get nutrients to the top and causing die back. There could probably be larger girdling roots closer to the flare.

 

In the second photo, you can see a larger root running along the trunk. I think as you go further down you will find more like it and worse. Not sure if the arborist gave you advice to prune those roots, but if it were my tree I would be pruning those roots off. The thinner roots will only become a problem as they grow larger.

The roots should be growing outward from the trunk and not along it. Sometimes you will not find "one root" that is growing around the tree trunk, but several that are growing along the trunk that combined will cumulatively cause the girdling. For example you may find one growing along the west side of the trunk, further down one along the north side and another along the east side, etc. All those combined will cause the girdling effect and reduce the flow of moisture and nutrients.