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I have a sugar maple tree in my yard that is dropping lots of leaves right now, leaves are a mixture of green and brown. There has not been a drought this year in my area and no extreme heat. The other sugar maple trees nearby seem to be fine with no leaf drop. Would could be causing this?
Further to the above, I was reading a post you just made in another thread where you said something which I think is significant:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater
No, never enough trees. I am planting more trees on my lot, my house has deep woods surrounding it with many varieties of trees, several hundred on my 0.75 acre lot.
The biggest issue is managing the buffer area between the grassy area and the woods as lots of invasive species like that area. Wildlife is quite numerous, and my roof gets plenty of shade in the summer, lowering my utility bills substantially- while the ignorant other neighbors have their houses being broiled by the sun. I have a very large pine tree that is over 80 ft tall that is nearly on top of the foundation, but it seems to be far enough away and is well over 40 years old. I will have to trim it a bit next year to remove some dead branches.
Sugar maples each need really a lot of root and branch space and air circulation, at least 35 feet distance, 50 feet being optimal, away from all other trees.
Where exactly is the effected sugar maple located in relationship to all the many other trees and to your house, and to the sun? How many hours of uninterrupted direct sunlight is it getting every day? It should be getting a minimum of 6 hrs uninterrupted light per day. What are the species of the other trees that are in closest proximity and competition to the effected sugar maple and how tall are they? To your knowledge, are they all trees whose roots off-gassing is compatible with that of the roots off-gassing from the sugar maple?
Have you checked all the other trees on your property for signs of lack of water, diseases, insect infestations and competition for direct sunlight and competition for root space and for water and nutrients?
Do you have healthy mushrooms growing on the property as an indication of healthy mycelium in the soil? If you have no mushrooms that's an indication that the soil is being depleted.
Just something for you to think about for the future - even Mother Nature will put a stop to over-crowding and over-consumption, one way or another.
Going by the above quoted post it sounds like you have a large variety of tree species, some being "sweet" trees and some being "sour" or "bitter" trees (not a good mix), with too many of them all crowded together on such a small piece of land. The size of your small property will not healthfully support more than 100 mature trees in optimal conditions and you are saying you have several hundred trees growing on 0.75 acre lot.
It IS possible to have too many trees when too many trees crammed together means each tree is a detriment to every other tree, especially if some of them require differing PH levels in the soil. Cramming different species together in a small space is asking for root poisoning from the off-gassing of roots of non-compatible trees, then there's competition for water and nutrients in the soil, diseases, fungal infections, infestations from a multitude of species of insects that can and will cross-contaminate different tree species and invasions from invasive plants that thrive in such crowded conditions.
Your 'ignorant' neighbours might not be quite as ignorant as you think they are.
When I moved here, there were two trees in the front yard and three on the street. My instinct said that was too many; I gave away two (the Red King maple, I think it was) and an eastern redbud. The silver maple the previous owners had topped had to come down a year or two later. So I now have a silver maple and a chinquapin oak on the street (probably too close together) and the sugar maple. The sugar maple gets all-day sun and looks like it's doing well.
Further to the above, I was reading a post you just made in another thread where you said something which I think is significant:
Sugar maples each need really a lot of root and branch space and air circulation, at least 35 feet distance, 50 feet being optimal, away from all other trees.
Where exactly is the effected sugar maple located in relationship to all the many other trees and to your house, and to the sun? How many hours of uninterrupted direct sunlight is it getting every day? It should be getting a minimum of 6 hrs uninterrupted light per day. What are the species of the other trees that are in closest proximity and competition to the effected sugar maple and how tall are they? To your knowledge, are they all trees whose roots off-gassing is compatible with that of the roots off-gassing from the sugar maple?
Have you checked all the other trees on your property for signs of lack of water, diseases, insect infestations and competition for direct sunlight and competition for root space and for water and nutrients?
Do you have healthy mushrooms growing on the property as an indication of healthy mycelium in the soil? If you have no mushrooms that's an indication that the soil is being depleted.
Just something for you to think about for the future - even Mother Nature will put a stop to over-crowding and over-consumption, one way or another.
Going by the above quoted post it sounds like you have a large variety of tree species, some being "sweet" trees and some being "sour" or "bitter" trees (not a good mix), with too many of them all crowded together on such a small piece of land. The size of your small property will not healthfully support more than 100 mature trees in optimal conditions and you are saying you have several hundred trees growing on 0.75 acre lot.
It IS possible to have too many trees when too many trees crammed together means each tree is a detriment to every other tree, especially if some of them require differing PH levels in the soil. Cramming different species together in a small space is asking for root poisoning from the off-gassing of roots of non-compatible trees, then there's competition for water and nutrients in the soil, diseases, fungal infections, infestations from a multitude of species of insects that can and will cross-contaminate different tree species and invasions from invasive plants that thrive in such crowded conditions.
Your 'ignorant' neighbours might not be quite as ignorant as you think they are.
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Most of the trees on my lot are in the wooded portion near the back portion of the yard. I have a few dozen in my front and backyard in total. The sugar maple is near at least five additional sugar maple trees in somewhat close proximity and gets half a day of direct sunlight. All of the trees are 30-40 years old, and this is the only one displaying any symptoms in the yard part. And yes, the original owner planted nearly all of them and spent a massive fortune on landscaping, so I'm just maintaining what is present within reason. There is nothing unusual on the trunk portion, just leaf drop where the leaves are half brown and green. The odd thing is that the leaves tend to be completely green until August or September every year.
And yes, the neighbors are certainly ignorant if they want completely scorched roofs/no shade and very high utility costs in the summer as the sun will heat things up to a very high degree.
When I moved here, there were two trees in the front yard and three on the street. My instinct said that was too many; I gave away two (the Red King maple, I think it was) and an eastern redbud. The silver maple the previous owners had topped had to come down a year or two later. So I now have a silver maple and a chinquapin oak on the street (probably too close together) and the sugar maple. The sugar maple gets all-day sun and looks like it's doing well.
Spacing is usually adequate within 7-10 ft between trees for the most part. I like having greenery all year long as I intensely dislike Ohio Valley winters with pitch dark skies with little actual snowfall to brighten up the landscape, so still planting plenty of coniferous trees this Fall. I am up to 13 on my lot now, 8 white pine trees, 3 hemlock trees, 1 norway spruce, and 1 virginia pine. I would have far more if white pine trees grew naturally from soil as seedlings, but they grow very well when planted.
GraniteStater, can you post a couple of pictures of that one sugar maple? A relatively close up pic that shows a good detail of the leaves, and one of the whole tree that shows the trunk and lower branches and the base of the trunk at ground level where it grows out of the crown. Also, is it on the east, south, west or north side of the property?
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