Q. I have a pair of mature crimson king red maples in Arlington
ma that are showing signs of stress due to recent construction close to
them and coinciding drought their canopy has reached its limits to
receive water easlily from rain or the surrounding irrigation that is in
the lawn under them I was told fertilizer and lots of water should bring
them back before pruning any suggestions would be appreciated
ma that are showing signs of stress due to recent construction close to
them and coinciding drought their canopy has reached its limits to
receive water easlily from rain or the surrounding irrigation that is in
the lawn under them I was told fertilizer and lots of water should bring
them back before pruning any suggestions would be appreciated
 |
| Crimson King maple picture from University of Arkansas Extension |
A. I think water and fertilizer is pushing
your luck this time of year. It is possible to lose quite a bit of roots and
not have many canopy problems but that just depends on which roots were cut and
how many.
your luck this time of year. It is possible to lose quite a bit of roots and
not have many canopy problems but that just depends on which roots were cut and
how many.
General rule of thumb is to correct root loss with decreasing the
size of the canopy. Don’t have pictures so I would tell you to prune back the
canopy ¼ to 1/3 by reducing the canopy size at the furthest distances from the
roots.
size of the canopy. Don’t have pictures so I would tell you to prune back the
canopy ¼ to 1/3 by reducing the canopy size at the furthest distances from the
roots.
Trees have the most difficult time getting water to leaves and stems
furthest from the roots. They show stress first…leaf scorch and limb dieback. This will probably mean you many have to “drop crotch”
the canopy. If done by a good arborist, they should be able to maintain its
beautiful characteristic shape and you will notice very little change in
appearance except size.
furthest from the roots. They show stress first…leaf scorch and limb dieback. This will probably mean you many have to “drop crotch”
the canopy. If done by a good arborist, they should be able to maintain its
beautiful characteristic shape and you will notice very little change in
appearance except size.
Of course putting about an extra ½ inch
of water under the canopy weekly beyond irrigating the
of water under the canopy weekly beyond irrigating the
grass will help because
of the tree’s shallow roots. They aren’t very drought tolerant due to their shallow roots.
of the tree’s shallow roots. They aren’t very drought tolerant due to their shallow roots.