Tree guys - need advice

[JohnTRourke]

My tree trimmer tells me if he has to remove 25 to 33% of a tree, he suggests to just remove the whole tree as it has little chance of success.

You have to remember that Colorado is not an easy environment to grow anything in. little water, crappy soil, serious temperature extremes.

[Erni]

Grrr, that means I have at least 2 maybe 3 trees to replace, and a few bushes. The heavy snow a few years ago wrecked them and I lost some branches, then I overzelously trimmed them and the late frost last year just killed whole branches.

[Wulf202]

If it's just to shut the Hoa up rock the tree till its firewood.

I have a tree that got hit by lightning 5 years ago loosing 90% of its branches. It's still alive.

You won't hurt the tree by removing dead branches they already have the circulation cut off.

[Monky]

I have a weed eater/chainsaw thing you can borrow.

I know I know.. loaning of a chainsaw on this site is dangerous.. but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

Its a bit overkill for pruning but it's a chainsaw.. so I had to..

[JohnTRourke]

Grrr, that means I have at least 2 maybe 3 trees to replace, and a few bushes. The heavy snow a few years ago wrecked them and I lost some branches, then I overzelously trimmed them and the late frost last year just killed whole branches.

yeah, i lost 2 myself last year, I see you're in longmont too
My guy was so busy last year they were 6 weeks out on ESTIMATES. They weren't even taking on new clients for a while. This area just got hammered two years ago. You still see lots of dead ones throughout town and the area. Just a perfect combination of hard times and stress.

[sako55]

As others have said, prune the dead out. Be sure to prune back to the proper places to ensure good healing. it look like the tree is going to form two tops. Not horrible but they can be more prone to storm damage down the road. If the tree recovers, one of the tops can be kept stunted so it eventually has just one. Its a maple and you can prune it anytime of year.

Be careful with the fertilizer. This is not a case where more is better. Too much and you will kill the tree. No different than spilling fertilizer on your lawn. It will "burn" the roots. As far as products, the Ross Root Feeding system is probably one of the better products for homeowners to use. Just follow the instructions. DO NOT USE THE JOBE"S TREES SPIKES.

Water but not too much. A rule of thumb is 10 gallons for every inch of diameter. Looks to be about a 3 inch tree in the picture. So you are looking at about 30 gallons every two to three weeks during the summer and at least once a month through the winter. If it is frozen, don't worry about. If air temps are 50 degrees or over, you should be watering. During the summer you want a little drying between waterings. Deep root watering would be best since there is turf around. Turf will out compete the tree for water and nutrients.

It looks like many other young maples out there. The freeze in the fall of 2014 zapped a lot of trees. It could be several other issues. Is there sunscald on the trunk? Could have some girdling roots where the tree is literally choking itself. The basket could still be on it and causing issues with root growth. These are just a few besides frost.

Hope it helps.

[SideShow Bob]

I've got a tree in the same area between the street & sidewalk, it is 10 years old and is in no better shape or any bigger than yours.
I cut all the dead wood out this spring to see if it will help it.

I may end up digging it out and replacing it next spring if it continues to die off.