Hello!

I have a small Japanese maple in my front yard that has been in the ground two years, and continues to be small and struggles each year. I do not know the variety, but it is the kind that will grow relatively tall - not the dwarf or mounding type. In the summer it tends to get some brown leaves, but new growth that is healthy above it, so it survives, but does not thrive. We had a very mild winter without ice and almost no snow, but last week we had a strong cold snap with a few inches of snow, and that seemed to freeze the tips on much of the new growth of my shrubs and young trees, since the cold followed a week of 80-degree temperatures. All of the other plants have bounced back but this maple is completely wilted.

I was going to pull it out but when I snapped a twig it was bright healthy-looking moist and green inside, so I hesitated.

The other issue with the site is that it is wet, and I don't know if this maple's issues relate to that. I did not realize how wet the spot was until we had an unusually wet summer, winter and now spring, and I have discovered just how poorly my soil drains. The tree is in the middle of an extremely wet part of the yard that remains squishy for about two weeks after a rain, but it often rains again in that interval. In summers past we have had droughts and I have to use the sprinkler system, so I know the wet problem is not all of the time, but right now it is.

I am tempted to plant a weeping willow there, since the yard is bare and I think the site can support it, and since it does not mind wet feet yet can tolerate it if the soil is not constantly wet (or so I am led to believe).

The yard is north-facing, so it is shady most of the time, except in the summer, when the sun hits it from the west all afternoon. Other times of year the sun is blocked by our three-story house.

Should I give this Japanese maple another chance? Amend the soil? Build a raised bed for it? Plant a fast-growing tall hedge along the western border of the yard to protect it in the summer? Or, if I move it (like I assume is probably the best thing) are there other choices for trees than the weeping willow, like one that can tolerate wet soil but does not require it? For all I know we will endure another two years of dry weather, or it could be mucky and wet until August. It is very unpredictable in this part of the state, but right now I cannot even mow the grass because it is too wet.

Sorry for such a long post with so many questions, but when I talk to my husband about it I just get the slow-blink-stare look, like he could truly not care less what I do!

TIA-

Liz