Should it stay or should it go?

I would like some impartial input on what to do with a silver maple in my yard. The base is 35 feet from our house, and the photos will show you the reasons for my concern: it is huge, perched on a slope, and has co-dominant leaders with a weak V-shaped union. It has been cabled, and my tree company says it looks healthy, but I still worry. I love trees, but not so much that I want one in my bedroom.

The last photo was taken from a neighbor's driveway. In case they're not legible, the sticky at the top marks the top of the problem tree, and the bottom one points to the top of the 1st story of my house.

That "little" tree in the bottom left of the 3rd photo is a Japanese Maple that is almost as tall as our 2-level house!

I have one almost exactly like it. Keep it, and enjoy it, for it may well outlive you!

Mmm, yes, it may outlive you. On the other hand, I've seen many massive Silver Maple branches laying across roofs following a big wind. Bur Oak, I'd leave it. Silver Maple, I don't think so.

Me again. I meant to add that it likely isn't a major hazard right now, but they grow so fast and get so big, when is the right time?

I see a viburnum and a hydrangea in harms way - I'd be firing up the chainsaw tonight.

That type of V crotch in a Silver Maple is a no-win situation, long term or short term. Cabling is a way to support the two stems, but not a guarantee from any arborist against failure.

With all the plantings you currently have and obviously plan to do in the future, I'd plan to have that tree removed sooner rather than later, on a schedule that you plan for - not when nature and circumstances impose it upon you.

Thanks for making a very hard decision easier, VV and Pseudo.
Yes, unless that tree fell towards our neighbor's house (and I'm not wishing that for a second), it would crush many small shrubs and tree-sized crape myrtles and hibiscuses that would be much happier if it were gone. Worst of all, my beloved Japanese maple would help break its fall if it crashed into our bedrooms, but would suffer major damage in the process.
I guess I should call my tree company before the winter storm season keeps them busy cutting trees off cars, houses and power lines.

We took action this summer on nearly the same thing. (red maple). On your tree, you can see bulging under the crotch. On our tree, the bulge was accompanied by a herd of black ants making a nice network of tunnels, and lots of fungus. We could not afford the potential loss of our neighbor's fence or cars, or the corner of our bedroom.

Thanks Sally. Our tree has lost bark in the area from the crotch to the base, and that area looks darker. I hadn't noticed that before.
Your story reminds me of a dogwood that I finally had cut down last year. I couldn't see why it was dying, but it kept looking worse and worse no matter what I did. After it was cut down, we saw that something - probably ants - had bored a 3" diameter tunnel through the pith.

Here is a photo of a Silver Maple in my Grandmother's front yard. At the time it made a big mess in her front yard due to an ice-storm. It narrowly missed the house, it got the porch pretty good and it blocked the walkway for a while and destroyed a section of fence that had been there for 40 years.
A cousin was outside that nite and visibility was terrible during the storm and he nearly got kabobbed by a big, falling Silver Maple branch, those trees are weak in storms. -

ow shortleaf…thank heavens no one was hurt.

Our tree bulge had a large dark stain. Bark was bulging and buckling oddly on a couple places on the tree. Big black ants had been seen around it. The kicker was when I noticed crumbs of dark brown stuff collecting in a pile under the tree. THen I watched---ants would come out of the tree and drop a crumb of …rotten ant chewed wood fiber?…to fall on the ground.
There was an area under the crotch, most of the width of the double trunk, a' plane ' of tunneled wood, and rot going up into one of the trunks

What a mess, Shortleaf; I'm also glad no one was hurt. I see some leaves remaining on the branches, which of course made them more susceptible to ice storm damage. Now imagine that same ice on pine limbs covered with needles! The limbs that drop from my silver maples are nothing compared with those dropping from white pines. I probably should have my last white pine cut down before it crushes the dogwoods under it...and before it gets more expensive.

Thanks Sally! I'm hoping that there will be some serious damage apparent in the tree when I get it cut down so I feel better. The arborist is coming on Thursday to have a look.

I'm interested to hear what the arborist says.

Here are some photos of the white pine that dropped half of its split trunk onto my house. The silver maple (not the one I'm having removed - yet, anyway) broke the pine's fall, losing 3 large limbs in the process.
The pine trunk is at the bottom of photos 2 and 3, parallel to the gutters. The top of the pine hit the second story. Miraculously, all of the shrubs survived; the rhododendrons actually look better than ever; the major pruning did them some good.

Wow, you weren't kidding Muddy, that pine had a nasty looking split, definitely an obvious weak spot. My own personal thoughts on Silver Maples aside, I would still cut down that tree. I have never really believed in cabling and view it as effective as a delaying of the inevitable. I think with that tree gone, your yard would really open up and then you'd have a bunch of opportunities to plant some sun loving shrubs.

Sally, could you see the rotted area before the tree was cut down?

I took a close look at the silver maple shown in the photos and found what seemed like ground-up wood in the crotch..and 2 seedlings growing in it. I think I should get that one taken down as well. I've already planted a successor tree right beside it anyway: a nice red maple that I will have professionally pruned as it grows. Our problem trees were mature when we bought the house and there wasn't anything we could do at that point.

It would be nice to have more sun in the backyard...I can move my winterberries from the front yard to the back there so the deer can't get at them, and plant a pollinator garden in their place..or more viburnums..or both!

Muddy, the rotted area was not visible, all interior. THere was a big bulge and it was dark stained. Bark was starting to separate and have loose edges around the bulge.

I would get rid of any silver maples yesterday. They have VERY invasive roots, they get absolutely HUGE and are a very weak brittle wood. They tend to have weak branching and break off in storms. The question usually is not whether one should take down one of these, but rather whether to take it down now or finish taking it down later after it has landed on and crushed whatever is in it's path. Very expensive to clean up in an emergency fashion, much cheaper and easier to plan its demise. These are great trees for large public parks or field areas, but way too large for smaller residential yards.
The plus side is more sun, chance to choose and plant new plants/trees, more water for surrounding plants/garden/grass, and peace of mind knowing it will not land on your house.

I stand corrected. What I have is an old Virginia native maple. It provides alot of shade for our little cottage, and as we are pretty retro, meaning, no central air system, this is important! The lot next to us just went commercial, so...we're letting our old Maple live, and the future will decide the fate of all!

Gracye, I also have 2 old maples - red maples, but I'm not sure what kind - as well as one red maple I had planted a year ago.Those are trees of a different color (pun intended), and I will keep them around.

Good point about the expense, FrillyLily...and tree companies are also very busy when storms hit. I was home when the trees hit my house, and the very first thing I did was call my tree company because I wanted to be at the top of their list. It was definitely an experience I don't want to go through again.

I really appreciate everyone's input, especially because the arborist did not tell me what I wanted to hear, which was that the tree definitely had to go. Instead, he gave me an honest, educated, balanced assessment of the tree's strengths and weaknesses and would not make the decision easier for me - maddening!!

Nevertheless, I've decided to have it and my other silver maple taken down, because I would kick myself hard and long if either one damaged my house. I know the cables only hold up until the wind reaches about 60 mph, which happens way too often around here lately.

"Instead, he gave me an honest, educated, balanced assessment of the tree's strengths and weaknesses..."

That's all fine and well, and of course it's your decision. Personally, I would like to hear from this professional what he/she would do if they lived here. Just curious, did you ask that question?

interesting.

I did ask what he would do, and he said he'd keep it. Granted, that's one of the reasons why I keep using this tree company; even though they stand to gain, they don't push cutting down trees or doing expensive work on them.
As for pros and cons, he said it looks healthy, has a lot of branches to break its fall if it did hit the house, is somewhat sheltered from strong winds, has good root structure, and he doesn't take many silver maples off people's houses (branches, yes, entire trees, no). On the other hand, he said trees with this kind of crotch are more likely to rot and split because water gets into them, and when it freezes and contracts it pushes the trunks apart; cables are no guarantee because they're only good to about 60 mph; and we could find rot after cutting it down.The tree is perched on a hill in a swale, so it could topple over after a heavy rain.
In this case, however, I've decided to go with my gut. We happened to have strong winds last night, and I lay awake worried that it would fall on us...and remembered that I've done that for years. Besides, I can probably squeeze in another tree or conifer back there!

Sally, I'm glad you mentioned that dark streak in your (former) tree, because mine has one from the crotch to the roots even when it hasn't rained for weeks. We've seen woodpeckers dig into one of the large limbs with gusto, too.

Here are some photos of the 2 huge silver maples I had cut down today. It turned out that each had cracks and some rot from the V-crotch to the base, so I'm glad I decided to cut my losses and free up space for more viable trees.

The first 2 photos show the (former) tree in the front yard. It essentially had 2 trunks - the V-crotch was just 2 feet above the ground - and that crack ran right between them.

The last three are all from the SM in the back.

Nick of time! Interesting how both those trees had the cracks internal so you could not see them from the outside.
Now you get to decide how to plant the area up-what fun. We will want updates.

I think the front tree was one good 65 mph gust of wind away from splitting, and our homeowners insurance might have dumped us if another one of our trees fell on our house!