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Fireglow Japanese Maple.

14 years ago

Good Morning Everyone. In the spring of 2008 I planted a fireglow japanese maple in an appropriate location with morning sun and shade in the early afternoon. In 2008 it did really well. The winter in Chicago was a wet cold winter. In the spring of 2009, 2/3 of the tree came back so I considered it a success. Over the past month, the tree has been loosing its distal leaves, but in an atypical fashion - they have been wilting and then falling from the tree. The leaves near the trunk of the tree have remained, but to be honest the tree looks pathetic. It has been an atypically wet spring and early summer, with a recent decrease in rain over the past 4-6 weeks. I have been doing deep slow watering once a week. When examining the soil, it appears to be neither too wet or too dry. My questions are.

1. Is this typical for a 2 year tree?

2. What is the appropriate watering schedule for a 2nd year tree?

3. Has anyone had similar experiences with this species of tree with favorable outcomes?

The nursery has been kind enough to extend their warranty, so I would like know if I should pull the plug on this tree. I appreciate your feedback in advance.

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Comment (1)

victor5
14 years ago
This is not typical for a 2 year old tree. If the soil was too wet after it leafed out, the roots could begin to suffer from the water and the tree will shut down distally as you have mentioned.
There is not a typical watering schedule for any tree. Some trees like to dry out between waterings like pines, and some trees like evenly moist soil throughout the growing season and do not like to dry out. Clethra come to mind in this respect. You must water any tree per it's needs versus the weather and rain you have been experiencing in your area.
I had a Crimson Prince Japanese maple in this same situation and it finally expired. If you can get your money or replacement tree, thank the nursery and get it done. I would make sure that if you are planting anymore Japanese maples, that they have great drainage and do not have wet feet.
Take Care,
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I planted my fire dragon last September. I am loving it! Lou, do you have any pictures of the Skinny Dragon? I also have one but it looks like a stick with leaves growing out of it right now. Magoo, I put a Murasaki Kiyohime in a pot on my front porch last weekend and now all my friends are accusing me of engaging in illegal agriculture. Jscaldwell, I do not think I would be worry about those unopened buds but I am an uber rookie with these trees so my opinion means nothing! Beautiful pictures everyone! Fire Dragon pictures taken 3-27.
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Thanks so much for your replies! The tree that we bought was the single trunk one, but I kept obsessing about the other one. It was really driving my husband crazy, as returning one and getting the other is a huge, big, messy deal. I actually ended up going back to Lowe's to look at the other one again, and on second look I was finally sure that we went with the right one. The info from you guys really helped. Houzi, it was so good to just hear some confirmation that the single trunk has some positives. And rmac78, thanks so much for posting the great photos. Your tree looks perfect there. Really pretty. Another factor is that it's in the side yard in an area where a tree tending to be a little more narrow will be fine--we don't need a ton of low width there. The final deciding factor is that my neighbor just gave us 4 small Japanese maple seedlings from his trees that he's been nurturing, each about a foot tall. (One parent tree looks like a bloodgood, the other has a very slight greenish tint but is very similar. I have 3 really red seedlings and one on the greenish side.) I think eventually with these I'll have trees with the cool trunk pattern I love, and in locations where I'll appreciate it more. Thanks again for your help. I'll be posting soon looking for advice on planting the four new little trees to give them the best chance. Kate
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Alot depends on what it really looks like is it just not as red or is it green ???and yes sun heat etc can make a differnce in its color...my E1 in full sun this summer is almost totally green while another one in the shade is red ...my fireglow is red to red/bronze in mostly full sun some later afternoon shade it got alot of leaf burn this year and is definitly NOT currently "glowing" but looks nice but the 'green E1 ( which was bright red as was the fireglow in the spring ...the E1 has just a bit of leaf tip burn. So YES location and weather conditions can make a big differnce ...If it is a reputable nursery your prob. allright but it could also be mislabed ..you might return it and buy one in spring when it should definitly should have that fireglow "glow" even if in partial shade IMHO ..David
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Most of the red foliaged acer palmatum will display more green to the leaves if kept in shade - Fireglow no exception.
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