My newly dug japanese maple tree is wilting...help!

17 years ago

I appreciate the advise, but think many of the roots have been severed. I am low on funds and made a deal with a young man to move 2 japanese trees into a containers for an exchange for a pool table. He sounded like he new what he was doing. I now fear that the job was too much and that he and his help did not get enough of the root system. They cut many of the large roots to fit into one of those 58 gallon containers. The top off the container was cut off about 1/4 way down and several holes drilled in the bottom and filled about 1/4 way with pine mulch. The containers were pretty tall but not very wide. I am now afraid that in my haste and knowing that this need to be done ASAP that they may not survive. Checking on their progress I saw that they had cut many large roots that were pretty close to the tree to able to fit the diameter of the container. Both trees took them all day to do and I watered both imediately after being put into the containers. It is now several hours later and the one seems fine so far, but the first one dug appears to be wilting. Is this normal do to the shock or have I made a grave mistake. I was advised not to fertilized them, so that I would not burn them. Is there anything I can do to help with the root system? It seems to me that a lot of the root system was cut and only a small ball transported with these 3ft trees that have been in the groung for approximately 10 years. I would appreciate any advice. I will feel horrible if these trees die, when I could have left them on the existing property. I just really wanted these trees for my future home.

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Comments (5)

Dibbit
17 years ago
If you can, be sure that the water is getting all the way to the bottom of the root ball. If it looks like it is just running out, this ONE TIME, leave the hose running, and really soak the tree, letting the container almost fill up with water and then let it drain.

A certain amount of wilting is normal, so water them again, make sure they are in the shade, and maybe lightly tent the wilty one with plastic for a few days to keep the humidity high around it - like a 'personal' greenhouse for it. If you do so, make SURE it is out of the sun or it will cook.

From your description, I am assuming that the trees were each planted into a 58 gallon drum, cut off part way down. For starters, do you know what was in the drum(s) previously? How were they cleaned out and with what?
spruceman
17 years ago
If the trees are bushy, maybe you could trim out some of the foliage to make the roots' job easier. If there are lower branches that you may not want to keep anyway, prune them off now. If there are any two branches growing close together, cut off the smaller one. If there are any branches that cross each other, cut off the smaller one. If the foliage in the interior of the tree seems very dense, you can thin it out a little, working carefully to remove the small branches and twigs that add little to the appearance of the tree. If you can remove a good bit of the foliage, I think it will reduce the wilting and enhance the chances of the tree living.

--Spruce
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I'm no expert on this, but I think I would leave it. It's gone pretty far, and as said above, would probable do the same thing all over again. There is a larger Autumn Blaze in front of where I work that is about a 12" trunk, that does not have the standard central leader, and is branched repeatedly where several leaders originate from one location in kind of a disc shaped arrangement. Then in late Jan we had the worse ice storm at the location I have seen, and about the worst on record. Guess what, the Autumn Blaze lost 2-4 relatively minor branches not more than a couple inches thick, and that was all. This with some formerly large probable 30 inch diameter sugar maples reduced to mostly trunks. Now I'm sure, the tree not being nearly as large as the sugar maples made a difference, but still it's a mature tree that came through the WORST ice storm essentially unscathed. On a side note, I am currently working on one in my yard, that was just plain screwed up. Partly my fault, partly not. In fact it was a tree that I gave up for dead, as I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Finally I remembered when we bought it that the nursery worked had sprayed "wilt proof" on it, for the ride home. Leaves got thick, and slowly disintegrated, and then died. Grew a few more back, but same think leaves, and very short internodes. Finally figured out it was probable 2,4 D herbicide damage, and that it had not been sprayed with wilt-proof at all. Last spring I noticed that buds set before I bought the tree were growing (all be it slowly), while the buds set afterward were not behaving normally. Little more research, and 2,4 D concentrates in the apical meristem (the growing points), and so could have concentrated in the buds set AFTER I bought the tree. So out come the pruners, cutting all the buds and branch ends set after I bought the tree. Low and behold the tree springs to life, and grows well till mid-summer. Added up to about 2.5' on some branches. Even got some decent russet orange-red fall color from it. So now the tree is still lopsided, still has a kind of crooked central leader that leans to one side, but it is on the road to recover, and I will be able to turn it into a very nice tree. This all is to say, that these trees are VERY TOUGH, and that it may very well turn out better than you expect. Also these trees seem to be more resistant to ice damage than many would give them credit for. Arktrees
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lucy
17 years ago
Get the containers into at least light shade if at all possible til next spring, it'll make a big difference, but don't overcompensate by watering all the time as maples (even newly potted) aren't happy about being too wet and having put all that bark into the bottom might have been better mixed with a lot of gravel for fast drainage.
ddeaver613
Original Author
17 years ago
I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I trimmed the branches as directed and I moved them to shade. I had a neighboring landscaper replant the trees under the shaded area this morning. They did a great job and finished off the job with mulch and placed burlap over the trees to help protect them from burning. This landscaper had driven by property over the weekend and saw that I had these trees in the drums and thought to himselfÂ"Those trees are going to die, if not already dead." However, he informed me this morning that he was happier with the condition of the trees and root system, then what he anticipated. The next several days are vital and I need to spray the leaves often throughout the day, but he feels that these trees are going to make it. He charged me a $100 bucks and was here with 2 other workers for almost 2 hours. What a great price and he now has a customer that will by future trees from him. He stated that the trees were worth $500 - $600 a piece. I told him about this forum and he was glad that I took the advice to plant them in the ground. He will move them again for me next March. Thanks again!!
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
Good luck with the trees. I hope you didn't remove too much of the foliage, because wilted or not, it is the leaves that support the function of making new roots! The foliage makes it possible.

Let us know how these plants have fared, if you think about it. We'd all be interested.

My newly dug japanese maple tree is wilting...help!

Comments (5)

Dibbit

spruceman

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lucy

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My newly dug japanese maple tree is wilting...help!

Comments (5)

Dibbit

spruceman

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lucy

ddeaver613Original Author

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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ddeaver613
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