Ditto what dibbit said except get rid of those guys ASAP if you still have anything standing in the yard. Make them replace the tree at their expense and then tell them to get lost.

When you say the wounds go "all the way to the green part", are you referring to the cambium layer? If so, that's really not that deep, especially on a 4" tree. I'm sure it looks bad, but I would hate to remove a tree of that size so quick. Most trees, especially maples, are very good at healing themselves and staying perfectly healthy. Unless the wounds are deep gashes, like 1 or 2 inches deep, I would leave it and in a few years you'll just be left with a small knot.
I have a Red Maple that got sunscald real bad on the trunk a few years back and I almost removed it because it looked so bad. Today, it is fine and just has a couple knots or scars, and as the tree grows they stay the same size and are less and less noticeable. It is a tree, and they know how to take care of themselves for the most part when they get injured.

However, I too would pursue the issue with the service until I got some type fo reimbursement.

Thanks everyone! Good advice. I'm going to demand he replace the tree with a similar size, but NOT until next Spring...so I can plant it. I think I'll have him give me the cash equivalent now, and get him out of my yard!!! The tree is SO beautiful, I hate to cut it down, and it stands right in the front yard! :-( We really love that tree.

Yes, the cuts are all the way THROUGH the green area, to a whiter center area. Should I just leave it until next Spring and see if it's still alive, and survives Winter, or should I just cut it down now, with the hopes of planting something in its place next early Spring? I live in Texas and it will start getting colder toward the end of November.

Thanks again!!! Like I said, I "trimmed" up the wounds with a box knife, and it is literally a solid 4-5 inches tall gash (all the way through the green part) 3/4 the way around the trunk. When I removed some of the dead bark, I saw a couple VERY tiny little bugs crawl out from behind the dead bark....and there are parts that were behind the deag bark pieces that were BLACK. What's that all mean prognosis wise????

THANK YOU!!!

Heartbroken in Texas

It is that green layer (phloem) that has the rather important job of transporting essential photosynthates manufactured in the leaves to the root system. That's why woody plants that have been damaged by weedeaters and mowers die. Trees are actually rather fragile organisms in spite of what most people seem to think.

Fire the landscaping company but be sure to get compensated for your tree. Do not let them tell you that it will 'heal' or 'grow over'.

Do you think I should remove the tree (after showing it to them) or leave it...to slowly die, presumably??? How long does it take for a 3/4 severing of that layer, for the young tree to die? ANY hope of a miraculous recovery???

It sounds like more than weedeater damage to be a gash that deep. I'll bet they went zipping around at top speed on the mower and ran into it. I see them doing it pretty often, trying to get the most lawns in the shortest amount of time. I really recommend something like the cement borders or landscape timbers if you're going to have someone else cut your grass. If they hit that, it will damage their own equipment.

If you really WANT a reasonably sized tree in that spot, then I would cut it down, dig the roots/stump out over the winter and replace it come the spring, although fall plantings should do well in TX - that long stretch of time until it gets really cold allows tree roots to get well established, so trees can take off come spring.

If you really want to try to save THAT tree, you can make the attempt - the blackened areas are what make me slightly less willing to say for sure this will work, as it may mean that there is a largish area of rot, which may extend to the roots, and kill off any future regrowth from the roots a few years down the road. However, if you want to take the chance, and because, after 2 years in the ground, the tree should have a good root system, you can cut the tree off at ground level as soon as you like, and then wait to see what the spring brings. You SHOULD get several sprouts from the roots, the lower down the better, which is why I suggested cutting the trunk at ground level. After the shoots have grown to 12-15", select the 2-4 strongest ones, and remove the rest - pulling them off may work better than cutting them. Let these grow through the summer, and in the fall, select the best one and remove the rest. This should, in the next year, grow rapidly into a tree that will be almost as big as the tree you now have. And, if you get NO regrowth, and if you got the money from the lawn service, you can then replace the maple with another tree. If you do get regrowth, then you can plant another tree somewhere else in the yard. Or, use the money to buy mulch....

I do strongly suggest, whether or not you put down the suggested landscape timbers, that you mulch all the areas in your yard that wayward, rapidly moving mowers and weed-eaters can damage - that way there will be at least a small buffer zone to protect them. Even though this particular lawn service seems especially bad, most of them are not as careful as they should be, and certainly not as you would be. I will admit their convenience, however - you just have to be proactive.

Thank you for the continued advice. I am saddened by the loss of my little tree. Maybe there will be a miracle, or I will make the decision either to cut it off toward the ground, and hope for just as healthy of a tree next year, and PUT A MULCH barrier around this time!!! (we had a small one initially, but our very thick grass took it over and I just let the grass grow around, it) - though despite that it was doing so well!!!
Now...it will take a miracle. SO MAD at those yard guys!!!!

Maybe we don't even need a tree in that spot? We have a small front yard with 4 large Crepe Myrtles and a 3 year old Magnolia. We had planted the Red Maple right between one Crepe Myrtle and the Magnolia. Too many trees? Perhaps.
I was SO looking forward to those gorgeous RED leaves though.... :-(

So, there's no "miracle" cream, substance, tree medicine I can put on the open wounds to help it live??? Would a "tree doctor" be able to help?

Being you are from Texas, and I have an awful lot of New Orleans in my blood,
"Honey", you need to let that little tree go to tree heaven. Although you are mighty attached to it, there are truly more red maples in the universe. And you learned about tree services and tree murder on a smallish tree, not one you've been growing for 20 years from a seedling of your dear departed mama. This may be a case where you really can fill that empty place in your heart. Dig it up, put in a new tree now, and watch it grow. I do think trying to nurse that damaged tree will just extend your sadness.

I think your question re needing more trees is a good one. Have you considered growing a small one (or large shrub) in a container (with very good drainage of course)? Then you'd have the option of moving it around (not every day, but possibly seasonally), be able to control how large it gets, learn to root prune properly, and feel more in control of things (not to mention WE's won't be able to get at it).

My friend's lawn service did the same thing.

She brought the damage to the lawn guy's attention, She notified him of the cost to replace the damaged ones with the same sized potted trees.

She gave him the choice of paying that bill, or agreeing for her to deduct it from the bill she still owed him for his services. He took the latter, she now has her new trees installed; 8 months later, no more reminder of the problem.

She did fire that lawn service, and now has a very good service, which is better than most people would usually ever expect.

Her damaged trees were nearly all her pines trees on one side of her property, and Plicata Thuja 'Green Giants' on the other side of her property's screen plantings. The damage impact, if she had not replaced them, would have been signifiant.

With your maple tree, if it was planted less than 5 years ago, it most likely will dig up pretty easily. Use a garden fork to loosen the rootball; to cut any larger roots or break through any hard soil you encounter, use the wide edge of a pitchfork in your efforts. That is; if you are going to be the one removing the damaged tree and planting the new one.

With your new tree it is a good idea to keep the grass away from under the canopy and from over the rootball area. If your grass is bermuda grass, you will need to use a systemic grass killer that does not also harm your trees and shrubs and, which also does not stay effective when it contacts the soil, and which is drawn down to the grass roots through their leaf blades.

the most important thing .. either with this tree or a new one .....

install a ring of mulch, at least three feet round diameter ....

grass is a competitor to a new transplant ... stealing water from it ....

and i would rather have the lawn service throw a little mulch around the yard from getting too close to the mulch ring.. rather than have them running into or weed whipping the trunk ...

this little preventative measure removes the tree completely from their reach ...

good luck

ken

PS: i have to admit i haven't read all the posts... but an otherwise heavily damaged tree .. can be cut down to near ground level ... and since there is no root damage ... can PROBABLY resprout next spring.. and grow like gangbusters, easily replacing the lost tree in short order ... but as noted.. you will have to deal with the pain for 2 or 3 years while it regenerates itself ... and you would have to insure that only one sprout is allowed to return to tree shape .... on my 5 acres of garden ...this would not bother me in the least.. because i would not fixate on it for 3 years.. because the problem would disappear .... and i would forget about it .... if this is in the middle of your lawn.. and a focus point of your landscape .... you may not be able to forget about it for a few years.. so it might be better all around to be done with it ...

THANKS you all, from the bottom of my broken heart. The owner of the lawn service (who has been very nice on the phone and said he would do "whatever it takes" to make it "right") said he wanted to bring his arbourist friend over and see if he thought it was a definite goner. I can tell you now, IT IS! But, I will let them come over, check it out and see the extensive damage...and then have them dig it up, and make the bald spot on the lawn look as good as possible. I'm going to make him do some extra work for us, no charge, in the back yard (and WATCH so no more damage can be done!) and then give us the $$$ - i'm guessing $150 to replace the tree next year (if we decide to).
I feel better now that I can make some more educated decisions regarding all this.
Thanks again! BY THE WAY...I have been so fixated on this smaller tree that I didn't notice until today, but they "scarred" the bottoms of all my crepe myrtles AND my magnolia....but since they're older, the damage is not nearly as bad. I'll shoe the lawn guy those as well.
God Bless you all!!!

Unfortunately, many lawn services have no appreciation of trees and shrubs. In fact, they see them as objects in their way. The ideal yard in the eyes of a lawn service is one with no trees and perfectly straight lines in the grass. I know many people who think this way. This guy probably rolls his eyes at you when you turn your back to him, and thinks you're being silly about your precious trees. You may have a hard time finding a lawn service who doesn't have this way of thinking.

Last year the pastor of the church next door gave me permission to plant a bald cypress on the church lawn. I watch every time the lawn service cuts the grass. Sometimes it looks like that mower is going 50mph, with the tree as a target. I ended up putting down the circular concrete rings, if he hits those he'll be done for the day. LOL

if the damage goes all the way around the trunk, its a goner

Tulah, I may be being extra cynical, but DO NOT let the lawn service guy's arborist talk you into deciding the tree isn't so badly off after all. It IS badly off. You had a nice tree, looking good, as a focal point in your yard. The lawn service has deprived you of this tree, end of story. They need to replace it. It may well be that the arborist will say the same thing, but..., forewarned IS fore-armed. Don't let any weasel-wording talk you out of a replacement - and of a comparable tree, not a smaller tree.

And DO mulch all the other trees - even a more mature tree can be seriously damaged by weed eaters and mowers. You may have to get out and hand-weed yourself, next to the trunks, or judiciously spray with Round Up, but it's not too hard if you keep on top of it, and a LOT safer than letting the lawn service, whether this one or another one, do it.

Who knows, you may singlehandedly change his policies, and make him have his crews be more careful in the future - for someone else!

Thanks, Dibbit. You're right about that. I'm not going to let them convince me it's fine. It's CLEARLY not fine. There's a gaping hole 3/4 of the way around my Maple! They're going to be dealing with a grieving crazy person when they come to look at it next Wednesday. The tree ALREADY looks like it's taking a tern toward ill health. The bottom part is dark black in the wound areas, and the leaves don't look healthy anymore. :-( I think I'll just have them remove it for me on Wednesday.
Yes, and I'm definitely going to Mulch around the other trees to prevent this from ever happening again. Every experience in life has a lesson to teach us, no? :-)
THANK YOU for bringing up the fact that there is the possibility of SOMETHING good coming out of this. MAYBE one single tree can be saved if someone in his crew is a bit careful.
God Bless.

Seems like good advice overall, but in my case it was a young tangerine tree that suffered the cruel blows of a carelessly handled weed eater. Citrus trees should not be mulched, especially in the southeast, as the mulch creates an environment for fungus and additionally interferes with cold protection in winter. I should have hoed the area over the root zone so as not to tempt my careless yard man. I'm still going to ask that he pay for a replacement.

This is why I call them landrape companies because the damage they do — overcutting, stripping land bare of nutrients, making excessive noise and pollution with their mowers, blowers, and wackers — is a daily American nightmare. Whatever happened to people doing their own yardwork???