I am no great friend of 'landscapers' but feel that they should not take all
the blame. To have chosen a tree with a genuine V branching was to invite
this problem sooner or later. The first real wind would have possibly
achieved the same result. It was probably grown in a very sheltered
environment in the nursery and is an expected form with Maples that should
have been noticed and avoided.
The tape might work but the fault will arise again.
Personally, I would approach the supplier and investigate the possibility
of a replacement, having explained how easily the damage was caused. If all
else fails then by judicious pruning the tree could expect to regain a
reasonable shape in a couple of seasons. Good luck~~ Brian
"CP" wrote in message
m...
All:

After carefully choosing a very nice 5ft Japenese maple and taking
delivery of it, our landscaper slightly damaged the tree while moving
it from the pot into the ground. Where a two branch fork exists, the
tree split 1-2 inches right down the middle of the fork. The
landscaper used duct tape to pull the split back together and told us
the tree should heal in a few weeks. If this repair does not work,
the tree will be lost as the two forked brances that I'm describing
are two of three main growths from the tunk.

Is this the right way to repair the split? Is there anything else I
should consider?

Thanks,

Charlie (Boston, MA)

P.S. The reason I ask is because our landscaper was less than honest
that he did the damage, claiming the split was there when he went to
plant it. I don't want to compound his mistake by permanently
damaging our new tree.