Japanese Maple not looking good!

16 years ago

I'm doing research for pictures of problems - aphids, bacteria, fungal disease. Thought I'd post pics here in the meantime of my sad maple.

Looks like it's been splitting for quite some time. We just bought this house in November. I went around the back of the tree for the first time tonight and didn't like what I saw.

It's sandwiched between a spruce on one side, large shrubs on the other, a fence behind and a deck in front of. The fence is on the south side of the tree but the house next door casts a shadow. More so now that they put a second floor on it last fall. Air exchange is certainly lacking, and I'm thinking about removing the shrubs. I don't know that I can part with the spruce.

Wide shot

Major splits on every section

Splits closer

Closeup of fungus?

This is what I found when I pulled back some bark. The white spots make me think of insects and I see a lot of information on aphids, but they look larger than this.

Thanks for looking. :)

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Comments (6)

bullthistle
16 years ago
Mother Nature and old age can do things to plants and insects may be feeding on it because they know it is unhealthy. Unless someone else comes along to say otherwise I'd say cut off all the diseased branches, then paint the cuts and see what happens or contact an arborist through your local garden center. Looks like the roots are surfacing as well. Previous owners didn't seem to care.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials
bullthistle
16 years ago
Mother Nature and old age can do things to plants and insects may be feeding on it because they know it is unhealthy. Unless someone else comes along to say otherwise I'd say cut off all the diseased branches, then paint the cuts and see what happens or contact an arborist through your local garden center. Looks like the roots are surfacing as well. Previous owners didn't seem to care.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials
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Marie, you might want to take a look at the historical data on your location for the past 5 years. I went to Weather Underground and pulled up Lexington MA for January 1st 2008 to January 1st 2010 as an example. It seems that the minimum t*emperature during that time was 'zero'. Not sure if that is considered zone 5 or 6. I am in zone 6a according to the latest zone map and my sense is that is right to me, but I do notice that Lexington, Bedford area sometimes has temperatures that are lower than mine when I notice them on the w*eather forecast. When you click on the link, scroll down and you'll see every day's weather for the past two years. You can do longer than that period too. it would be time well spent to assure yourself whether you are zone 5 or zone 6. Naturally, your property could be a micro climate in your town too, I suppose. The only way to confirm that would be with a minimum/maximum thermometer that you track the t*emperature yourself every day for a couple of years. Even though I believe I am zone 6a, I almost always try to get plants that are hardy to at least zone 5. For an expensive tree, I'm sure you thought you were buying hardy to zone 5. Since you bought it at Stonegate and it was expensive, I would call them and confirm with them that it is hardy to zone 5, according to them. Ask about a warranty. If you are aware of other r*eliable sources that report it not hardy where you live, I would ask if they would take it back. Arnold Arboretum could help you answer that question too. I know it's the last thing you want to do, but I can only imagine how much you paid for it. I've been pricing them. If that is not possible. I would ask them to come out and evaluate your 'site' and figure out where there might be a micro climate where it would have the best chance of surviving. I would explain to them that you don't want to be worrying about it. I bought a Holly at Broken Arrow last year that was supposed to be hardy to zone 6. I discussed at length with them and asked for advice about where to p*lant it. I put it where they directed me to and it was dead as a doornail this spring. One phone call and they refunded me my money without a problem. An inexpensive shrub though, not an expensive tree. Here is a link that might be useful: Weather History Lexington Mass Jan 2008 to Jan 2010
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myersphcf
16 years ago
Your tree definitely has problems... I would agree the bug damage is opportunistic not causable.It does not to me look diseased but could be ...that may be more obvious this summer. The damage is likely heat cold sun wetness bark split possibly in combination with old age .(If it is diseased those brancheds are dead at any rate I'd wait until spring to remove and if they aren't complely dead...I'd leave them and see if they heal) as in pic #3 shows healing has been under way and this has been going on for several years and you just didn't notice cause it was in back of tree (??)(I have had this happen on an older dissectum that loked bad for several years and then I looked at the south west sun side and saw similar damage .don't know why I didn't check before I just thought it was duiseased not sun /winter damaged..mine is still alive and healing)but not doing "well" ...if the bark is attached even by 1/3 it should heal..
Although i have seldom seen this on older trees and is more usual for younger ones...If by june the branch(es) are leafless then it's ok to trim...but it looks like if you do your tree may look a horror film so I hope I am right and it will heal ...the bugs can be treated with seven or other insecticde and hopfully the branches will repair but due to the extensive damage ... I can not promiss that... Others may have a differnt opinion ..david
greenfreak
Original Author
16 years ago
The arborist came by today and feels that the problems are being caused by a girdling root. You can see it in the second picture above.

I will get a formal estimate on Monday but it appears that I am hiring them for this and other trees on my property. They will prune back the dead wood, cut as much of the girdling root as possible, and apply a fertilizer.

David, to explain, I've only owned this house (and the tree) since November. So it was the previous owners that let this, and other trees, suffer needlessly.

If I can get another few years of enjoyment out of it, I will be happy. In the meantime, I will be scouring these forums for a new Japanese Maple which I will plant in a better spot.

Thanks for your replies!
myersphcf
16 years ago
You did the right thing contacting an arborist ...cause even now I can't see roots in any of your pics let along girdling ones . This ia a problem with long range diagnosis.I guess girdling root(s) could cause stangulation of tree and death of certain parts of it ...still seems strange in such an old tree even if it has been going on for a while... but if it is just one large root you should be able to save the tree ... as I said it may look bad for quite some time but that is perferable to a stump ;>) David
nelran
16 years ago
It's a shame. I hope that this tree will recover.
good luck!

nelran

Japanese Maple not looking good!

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bullthistle

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Japanese Maple not looking good!

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bullthistle

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greenfreakOriginal Author

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