joy
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:33 am
Location: Maine

Cut down or trim maple tree?

Four years ago I found out I have type 2 diabetes. Now I am 58 pounds lighter and more energetic :) I have a lot of lost time to make up for. My first question is...I have a beautiful maple tree growing behind my shed, it's about 30ft tall and starting to cut off the light to my garden and chicken run. I would like to trim it back if I could but don't know if a good trimming will kill it. The alternative would be to cut it down. I have a few more questions about my trees and shrubs but will make sure not to make a nuisance of myself :oops: ...Joy

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!potatoes!
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1938
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:13 pm
Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line

a good trimming would almost definitely NOT kill the tree. chopping it down wouldn't even absolutely guarantee it. I'd say go ahead and trim away.

valleytreeman
Senior Member
Posts: 101
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:31 am
Location: Shenandoah Valley

By trimming, it really depends upon what you intend to do. Since you are in Maine, I presume you are dealing with a sugar maple.... or possibly a red maple. The sugar maple is slow growing and the red maple is a relatively fast grower among trees. In either case you really want to avoid the concepts of "rounding over", "dehorning", "pollarding", "topping" etc. These type of prunning techniques, while they won't kill the tree, do leave it open to structural and health problems down the road. Selectively removing the offending limbs would be prefferable, however you do want to try to maintain some balance.

Check out this site:

https://forestry.tennessee.edu/urbanpruning.htm

There are many good prunning primers on the web. University sites will give you the best information. This is a good one from my Alma Mater:

[url]https://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/nursery/430-456/430-456.html[/url]

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Nice Treeman!

HG



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