Has this occurred on a SOUTH facing side of the tree?!

I had what looked like this on a Crape Myrtle (on the South side of the tree). I read up on the issue and IF that is what the problem is, it's triggered (not just by cold), but heat. Sure enough, the year it occurred was unusually Winter warm in NJ..., followed by cold. So you need the heat AND the cold.

Crapes are MUCH more forgiving though! I though mine was dead and replaced it in the yard only to have the damaged one return completely from the roots.

With that extent of damage I would say it is time to cut it down.

This is actually the north facing side of the tree. Dumb question..what tree is this?

total speculation.. until you cut it down.. and do a autopsy ....

its dead at ground level .... on the side where that big wound is .... it has died all the way up the tree .. where you see all the cracking ... the bark is losing its integrity to stay attached to the tree ...

in tree time.. the original event could date back years and years ... and any relevant weather since the injury might not be helping.. but i doubt it is a cause ....

i also wonder if it was telephone poled at planting ... or there was a significant field digging injury????

too bad you dont have more history .. only having been there 2 years ... it would be easier to guess ....

im with embo.. there isnt much to save .. cut your losses and remove it .. and replant something else ... not particularly right where this one is .... only because it would be easier to dig ...

ken

Looks like some sort of Maple tree. Probably soft maple. It's pretty far gone and not the type of tree that will recover well. Remove it.

Think of something more durable. In your Z8, you have a world of better choices.

I haven't let any silver maple types go from 1 foot to 15 feet in my yard lately. The trees I do have generally reach this stage where their smooth young bark begins to look like, well, mature tree bark.

I'm not saying this is it but does the tree generally look healthy?

Is there any soft decaying wood in those cracks?

Is it generally happening bottom to top where the oldest wood is affected first?

Silver maples have kinda weird flaky bark. https://www.google.com/search?q=Silver+maple+bark&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLgNXz2OLcAhWMylMKHS7uAoQQ_AUICigB&biw=1440&bih=763

Not saying its a great choice for your spot either. On the back 40 I love them. Over my house.....

With that habit and leaf shape probably a Freeman maple.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I am waiting on a tree specialist to get back to me on this. I will keep you all posted.

Update: I had an arborist take a look and he mentioned the tree cracks are due to the freeze/heat and it is affected with gloomy-scale(parasite). Very common issue with Red Maple tree. He gave the tree maybe 5 years time, so not worth investing any solution. The mulch is at the right level (2 inches). I am planning to address the gloomy-scale issue.

Thank you for the Update.

Now for the fun part, deciding what you're going to use for a replacement. :^)