Japanese Maple damaged during project
Hello! I’m helping supervise a project at my boss’ house this summer, and the contractors arrived today. There was a young Japanese maple (seen behind and to the right of the excavator) that they were meant to move, but while the excavator operator was moving it, downward pressure made the trunk crack, and a large branch fell off of it. To my eyes, the tree was still 75% intact, and the operator moved it aside. Shortly afterwards, the operator crushed the remains of the tree that he’d « gently » excavated, at which point I went out to ask what he was doing. He insisted that the tree was beyond saving at that point. While I don’t have a picture of the damage before it was crushed, is it right to assume that a tree with a crack down its trunk is as good as dead? Thank you!