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Cutting down a maple

17 years ago

I have what I think is a silver maple in my front yard. It is around 30-40' tall, drops large limbs every year, and has what appears to be iron chlorosis. My neighbor indicated the tree has been in the yard since the 40s. It is also planted directly on the corner where my driveway and the street meet, which I read is very bad, especially for silver maples.

Is there a way for me to confirm that it is a silver maple? I keep looking at leaves, but due to the discloration, it is really hard for me to confirm. The leaves on the small branches that I can reach are also much smaller then ones on higher more established limbs.

Assuming it is a silver maple, if I cut it down can that be done any time of the year? Once cut down, can I replant a different tree in close proximity?

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Comments (2)

urbandk
17 years ago
Google is your friend.

leaves
http://images.google.com/images?q=silver+maple+leaf&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=MGfvSoiHL87FlAfhovn_BA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQsAQwAA

Bark
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/s/si/silver-maple-bark.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Silver_Maple&usg=__ycpWlP522EPZ2TfGGBp9OoKcga4=&h=135&w=180&sz=17&hl=en&start=16&sig2=Ian-FuPlnN7HkluHbDhkiw&um=1&tbnid=jr3DPrVyaAiR-M:&tbnh=76&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsilver%2Bmaple%2Bbark%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DuX6%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1&ei=VWfvSuPJBZ20NO-UmOgP

when you say cutting it down, cutting it as you mean prunning, or cutting it and turning it to firewood?
I assume the latter, i don't see why not - then why would you care if its a silver maple? , but check with your local building or parks department, especially since you might need to close the street for a bit.

You also might get shoots in the spring off the trunk, just trim them off, once it uses up all its reserves, it'll be gone.

as for planting a new tree, you might want to get rid of as much of the stump and roots as possible, since it might block new root growth of the new tree.
techigirl78
Original Author
17 years ago
It is a silver maple. The city forestry department is coming out today or tomorrow to take a look at the tree. As it is on the easement, it is their tree. I would prefer to cut the tree down. They already prune it regularly as it constantly has new shoots and droops over the street. Hopefully they decide to remove the tree completely.
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