That 20 year old Norwegian maple that guy told me to leave alone...

There's this big old maple in a backyard I was pricing for removal. Customer wanted it gone, said it dropped too many seeds. This old timer at the supply house told me to walk away from the job. Said the tree looked healthy and I'd be doing more harm than good. I almost ignored him but he was so sure. Went back 3 months later and half the crown died back from some fungus. Turned out the customer had been dumping concrete washout near the roots for years. That old guy saved me from taking the fall for something that wasn't my fault. Anyone else had a random piece of advice from a stranger that kept you out of trouble?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_park81mo ago

Dadgum, concrete washout killed half the crown?

james_singh71mo ago

Is it really that simple though? I've seen plenty of trees get washed out with all kinds of crap and bounce back fine. One guy I knew used to dump old motor oil near his oak tree for years and it never even blinked. Not saying concrete washout is good for a tree, but blaming half a crown dieback on just that seems like a stretch. Could be a dozen other things wrong with that maple.

taylor6681mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah I read somewhere that concrete washout basically turns the soil into poison... the lime content messes with the pH so bad the roots can't take up any nutrients. I guess it's like slowly starving the tree underground where nobody can see it until it's too late. That old timer must have spotted something off about the ground around it. Crazy how much damage happens below the surface before you ever see it up top.