Is there hope for this young maple?

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LAS14 Albany, ME(Zone 4b) Jul 11, 2013

It was planted about the same time as the one to its right, but it has been in very poor condition for about 3 years. We don't have a diagnosis. Any ideas?

TIA
LAS

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growin Beautiful, BC(Zone 8b) Jul 11, 2013

I can't see anything but a silhouette of the tree. Close-up of trunk, leaves, branches, soil around trunk, etc would help. Is it still b&b?

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LAS14 Albany, ME(Zone 4b) Jul 11, 2013

I couldn't reach the leaves, but they look pretty much like the leaves of the healthy tree. Here are snaps of the bark and the ground.

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growin Beautiful, BC(Zone 8b) Jul 11, 2013

I see holes in the trunk. Maybe a borer. The bark has peeled away and this tree is best removed.

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Sequoiadendron4 Lititz, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 12, 2013

It is definitely best to cut that tree down. Somewhere along the line it got a bug and you don't want a diseased/infested tree around your good trees.

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LAS14 Albany, ME(Zone 4b) Jul 12, 2013

We'd like to use it for firewood. Are there any precautions we could take to keep the bugs from leaving the cut up logs?

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Sequoiadendron4 Lititz, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 12, 2013

So just to get it straight, you want to make sure the bugs are still in the wood when you burn it? If that's the case, they'll probably be reluctant to leave as long as their food source remains, which is the dead wood.

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LAS14 Albany, ME(Zone 4b) Jul 12, 2013

Happy to hear this. Yes, we're content to let them chew until we burn them. They don't care if the wood is dead?

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Sequoiadendron4 Lititz, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 12, 2013

Nope, that's why they're there in the first place :)

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LAS14 Albany, ME(Zone 4b) Jul 12, 2013

Since they're what caused the dead wood in the first place (so I'm told above), I thought they might keep working their way out toward live wood. No? They just kill a spot and stay there?

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Sequoiadendron4 Lititz, PA(Zone 6b) Jul 12, 2013

I'm fairly certain that most boring (lol) insects only feed on dead or dying wood and that something else caused the tree to "invite" them in.

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growin Beautiful, BC(Zone 8b) Jul 12, 2013

It is my understanding that Birch Borer and Pine Beetle feed on living trees and this has caused a significant impact on the forest industry in my province. I'd say remove the tree and burn it immediately before it gets your other trees.

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