Weather is a powerful force, and each year countless maple trees (of the genus Acer L., thriving in all U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones) are damaged and destroyed by Mother Nature. Six main types of weather damage occurs to trees: lightning, branch failure, root failure, crown twist, stem failure and blow-over. The severity of the damage in each of these categories will determine the proper course of action when pruning a weather-damaged maple tree. While young, mature maple trees can be pruned with hand pruners or a hand saw. It is best to leave tall, mature maple trees to a professional arborist.
Mix 1 parts chlorine bleach with 9 parts water to create a 10 percent chlorine bleach disinfecting solution. Pour the solution into a 5-gallon bucket and soak the garden tools in the solution for 30 minutes. Rinse tools with water and use immediately. It's important to disinfect garden tools before use to prevent the spread of plant-borne illness and disease.
Choose the proper tool for the job. Use hand shears to prune small branches up to 1/2 inch thick. Use a fine-toothed pruning saw to cut branches up to 3 inches thick. Use a coarse-toothed pruning saw to cut branches up to 6 inches in circumference. For branches larger than 6 inches in circumference, call your local arborist.
Wait one growing season to prune a maple tree if the tree was struck by lighting but less than 30 percent of the tree was damaged, if foliage is destroyed or if less than 30 percent of the main trunk is damaged. In these instances, damage is serious but not severe. Prune young, established maple trees during the next summer growing season by placing the hand pruner or hand saw at the base of broken stems and twigs just above the collar -- the swollen section where the stem connects to the parent branch or trunk. Cut or saw at an angle next to a bud that can produce new growth, if applicable. Remove the entire branch and do not leave a branch stub, as this can promote decay.
Prune off dead, damaged branches immediately on young, established maple trees if less than 50 percent of the live crown is gone or if less than 50 percent of live branches are damaged, assuming the damage was not caused by lightning. Here, damage only affects the very outer region and is the least severe.
Things You Will Need
- Chlorine bleach
- 5-gallon bucket
- Hand pruners
- Fine-toothed pruning saw
- Coarse-toothed pruning saw
- Contact your local tree removal service to remove the entire maple tree if it is dead, if greater than 50 percent of the live crown is affected, if the roots are severely damaged and the tree is leaning, if more than 30 percent of the main stem is split or damaged, or if other, similarly serious problems persist. At this stage, the maple tree is a liability and may continue to have problems in the future.
- When in doubt, it is always best to leave pruning to a professional.
- Always wear eye protection, hand protection, long sleeves and long pants when pruning trees.
- Always sanitize pruning tools before use to prevent the spread of disease. If you are working on multiple trees, re-sanitize tools before switching from tree to tree.
- Do not prune bent trees or branches larger than 6 inches in diameter. After a storm, chainsaws are commonly needed to prune damaged trees, but broken branches can be under tremendous strain that is not detectable to the untrained eye.
- Do not stand on a stool or ladder while pruning. If you cannot reach the branch on foot, call your local arborist.
- Do not attempt to prune tall, mature maple trees, as these can pose serious safety risks to untrained civilians; instead, call your local arborist.
- The University of Georgia: Storm Damaged Trees: Prevention & Treatments
- Save A Tree: Maple Tree Care and Diseases
- South Dakota Department of Agriculture: The Basics of Tree Pruning
- Montana State University Extension: Pruning Deciduous Trees
- University of Missouri Extension: First Aid for Storm-Damaged Trees
- USDA Plant Profile: Acer L. (Maple)
- University of Florida Extension: Disinfection of Horticultural Tools
- Art Wolfe/Digital Vision/Getty Images