drew55•23d ago

I spotted a huge change in a maple I've been watching for 7 years

There's a silver maple on a property I drive by every day on my route. After the 2019 drought here in southern Ohio, it started dropping branches left and right. I figured it was just getting old, but this year it leafed out way better than it has since 2020. Turns out the owner finally took down a big locust tree that was shading it out. The crown literally filled back in over one season once it got full sun again. Has anyone else seen a tree bounce back that fast after removing a competitor?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_gibson20d ago

Totally get what you mean about "the greedy one" being gone. It's like when you clear out a closet that's been jammed packed for years, and suddenly you can actually find things and breathe in there. I noticed the same thing with a patch of blackberries behind my shed. They were barely producing for like three years, then I cut down this huge weed tree that was leaning over them and they went crazy the next summer. Sometimes you don't realize how much one thing is hogging all the resources until it's not there anymore, and everything else just gets to be what it was supposed to be all along.

miles_young5923d ago

Have you checked if the locust was a black locust? Those can fix nitrogen in the soil which might explain why the maple bounced back so quick once it was gone. I've seen similar fast recoveries when you remove a greedy shallow-rooted tree that's hogging all the water.

bettyroberts23d ago

Honestly, isn't it wild how fast things bounce back once the greedy one is gone?