Is my norway maple safe in a storm?
Better than homeowners expect: it resisted ice damage well in the ISA ice-storm survey, and its dense canopy notwithstanding, the branches tend to hold. Failures here are usually the trunk splitting at an old frost crack or at a girdling-root-weakened base rather than limbs snapping out of the crown, which flips the whole risk assessment — on Norway maple you inspect the bottom three feet, not the canopy.
What pruning can and can't prevent
Prune in summer or fall rather than late winter — beyond the sap bleed common to all maples, Norway maple is the species most prone to frost cracks, long vertical bark splits on the south and southwest trunk face that reopen in the same spot winter after winter. The trap is over-thinning: it carries an exceptionally dense canopy, and crews who strip interior branches to 'let light through' expose that thin bark and make the sunscald and cracking measurably worse.
Related
- How much does it cost to remove a norway maple?→
- Should I remove or save my norway maple?→
- When should a norway maple be pruned?→
- Are norway maple roots a problem for foundations or pipes?→
- Is my norway maple dying or just stressed?→
- How much does it cost to remove an american basswood?→
- Should I remove or save my american basswood?→
- When should an american basswood be pruned?→