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Crimson Maple Extra-Long Branches: Let Them Grow for Now

Question: 8-ft crimson maple sprouted 3–4 extra-long branches. Prune or leave?

Answer

Leave them. Young trees need foliage for root energy. Lower limbs can be evaluated next fall (2012) for clearance pruning. Allow natural shaping first.

Trees: That "Vine" on Your Maple Is Not a Root—Here's How to Remove It Safely; Maple Sunscald: Wrap, Fertilize, Protect from Borers; Maple Borer Infestation in Old Wound: Treatment and Risk; Saving a Split Maple Tree with Bracing; Diagnosing a Struggling Maple: Split Bark, Black Marks & Fungi; Waterfall Japanese Maple Snapped to a Stump: Will It Regrow?; Mulching Around a Crimson King Maple: What’s Safe?; Aphid Honeydew Causing Maple Sap Nuisance; Coral Bark Maple Losing Bark: Sunscald, Borers, or Natural Exfoliation?; Why Trees Don't Grow Indefinitely Tall: Hydraulic and Genetic Limits

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