I have a tree that has badly deteriorated bark

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BigRich1950 Apr 20, 2024

I bought a piece of property about ten and one half years ago and there was a very small maple tree on it. I landscaped and put a border around it and some landscape stone.

A few years ago we had a drought and I didn’t notice until the following year that the bark was badly damaged from my oversight and neglect. Yet, the tree grows a little and has leaves each year.

This year a new problem arose and it baffles me. It is a maple tree and of course has pointed maple leaf shaped leaves. The other day I was looking for the nest of some fledgling birds that I saw and noticed a growth on a branch of the maple tree about ten feet off the ground and definitely growing out of on of the maple tree’s branches and it is a somewhat circular bunch of little branches with oval shaped leaves.

See attached pictures (the pictures uploaded out of order but they are pretty self-explanatory)…
So, I have three questions.
1. What is the strange growth coming out of the maple tree’s branch?
2. What should I do with the growth?
3. Is there any hope to save the bark on this tree and if so, how?

Thumbnail by BigRich1950 Thumbnail by BigRich1950 Thumbnail by BigRich1950
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ViburnumValley Scott County, KY(Zone 5b) Apr 24, 2024

Hi BigRich:

The "strange growth" is Mistletoe. Not that strange, but certainly unusual if you don't recognize it. You can break off its fleshy stems if you don't like it or don't want it on your maple, but it really is not a long term problem. You could just harvest a stem each year around Christmas, to get some extra mileage out of it...

You haven't provided much in the way of illustrative images showing badly damaged bark, so I can't offer you an opinion or prescription for improvement. Take some more pictures, and post them here - you can include up to 5 at a time, and you can repost as many times as you need to get all pictures on here. Take at least one picture that shows the WHOLE tree, and where it is growing. That helps with diagnosis. You might also tell us where you garden; location helps understand climate, weather, rainfall, soils, etc.

Your tree appears to be a Red Maple (Acer rubrum) or a hybrid thereof (maybe Acer x freemanii, which is a cross between Red Maple and Silver Maple). These are typically quite hardy trees, and normal conditions suit them just fine.

Until we get more information from you, I suggest irrigation during abnormally dry periods. With normal rainfall, your tree should do just fine. We will await more evidence from you.

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