Girdling Norway Maple - Can this be saved?

[Stubby]

59 minutes ago, MattyF said:

Is the tree showing signs of die back in the upper crown ? It’s all well and good posting pictures of roots but if the crown is healthy I would leave it alone ! Any extreme girdling I’ve seen has usually resulted in die back in a part of the crown ,that can be removed and balanced out according..Personally if it was mine I would plant another and wait and see if this actually dies back significantly and needs replacing ... Norway’s grow fast and in the grand scheme of trees imo are a relatively short lived species anyway but cutting through any of those roots you are opening up a whole new can of worms !

This .

[Gary Prentice]

Wow, a tree owner prepared to spend money in an attempt to retain a tree!

 

Normally the process is to try to remove self-girdling roots because eventually they'll restrict the growth of whatever they are wrapped around and so reduce or prevent  the growth of new vessels to allow water uptake. Sometimes you can see the part of the canopy that the restriction is affecting.

 

I would think that this tree was pot bound when it was planted, with roots that had grown to the edge of the pots before diverting to continue round and around the circumference. Because these were not severed or eased out and spread into the planting pit they have continued to grow until the tree stem has reached a diameter that they begin to 'strangle' it. 

 

In an attempt to retain the tree a lot of those roots look like they would need to go. You would have to decide which by considering how much anchorage function they are providing as well their water uptake role. Be too ambitious and the crown dies back or the tree falls over, don't do enough and the stem constrictions affect the crown anyway. 

 

How much time and money are you prepared to spend? On what may eventually prove to be a doomed venture? 

 

A cost/benefit analysis would probably come down on the side of remove and replace. I'd suggest looking at getting something planted and established as a replacement now if possible. You could try some careful root pruning yourself while waiting for the new tree to grow and you 'may' actually eventually be successful (but I doubt it) and end up with two healthy trees.

 

BTW, I wouldn't trust or be giving cold hard cash to anyone who says that they can definitely save that tree. There are no guarantees with trees.

[tedantle]

Yes the crown is thinning.  This year the crown was very slow to come in.  That is what got my attention and caused me to reach out for help.

[tedantle]

8 hours ago, Stubby said:

This .

What is the "new can of worms", besides the obvious, not enough water uptake, tree falls over?  And thank you for your help.

[Gary Prentice]

1 hour ago, tedantle said:

Yes the crown is thinning.  This year the crown was very slow to come in.  That is what got my attention and caused me to reach out for help.

Where are you located? Many trees in the UK are suffering drought stress from last summers 'heatwave'  

[tedantle]

On 24/08/2019 at 14:38, Gary Prentice said:

Where are you located? Many trees in the UK are suffering drought stress from last summers 'heatwave'  

I am located in the US near Chicago.  We had significant moisture in the spring, but it was dry Jun July.

[tedantle]

Update.  I cut some of the roots between #1 left to #9, pictures in the thread with numbers on Blue tape.  Then I threw some mulch to cover the roots back up.  There was some per-mature "leaf drop", but it is starting into fall.  We'll have to wait til next spring to see the results. 

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped with my challenge.

 

Cheers!

[tedantle]

UPDATE - I removed 10% of binding roots last year.  In the fall I will remove another 20%.  Goal is to keep the tree for another 4 - 5 years, when I move.  The first picture is this year.

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, tedantle said:

UPDATE - I removed 10% of binding roots last year.  In the fall I will remove another 20%.  Goal is to keep the tree for another 4 - 5 years, when I move.  The first picture is this year.

Crown definitely looks fuller  .?

[Mick Dempsey]

Thanks for the update, looks better.