Don't do anything until fall. You may continue to be surprised. Wait and see to what extent it recovers. Before the deciduous leaf drop, you will know what is alive. You could gently cut into the cambian bark layer also to look for green. Then prune back all the dead growth. You will need to train a new central leader to get back your height from one of the most vertical new branches. It can take years to reconstruct a lace leaf JM since they are relatively slow growers. I would feed it lightly to help. the recovery with an acid fertilizer unless you native soil is acid already.

RIP for your poor little seedlings, Steve. Next time it will work for you! David, As Digit pointed out to me last year when I brought up Sunshine Mix, it and Black Gold are made by the same company! I had no idea. I use Sunshine Mix because I can get it in bales, and because itÂs what everything was planted in at PaulinoÂsÂall the perennials and bedding plants and veggies. Everything except the water plantsÂwhich are planted in clay! They used Sunshine #1, which is what I use to put swap stuff in and any other outdoor plants IÂm starting or putting in pots for any reason, and I use Sunshine #5 for house plants just because it has finer perlite, and I donÂt like big chunks of perlite in my houseplants! But the primary ingredient in all the Sunshine mixes is Canadian peat. Ball Mix was what the first garden center I worked at used, and what my brother in Illinois usesÂbut I donÂt know of anywhere in Colorado where itÂs available retail in any size, small or bales. But the Ball mixes, from my experience, are virtually the same as the Sunshine mixes. IÂm sorry you didnÂt like it. And when Digit posted about the Sunshine and Black Gold coming from the same place, I got curious and tried to look up Miracle Gro, and couldnÂt find anywhere on their site where they listed the ingredients! And that may very well explain why some people seem very happy with it and others kill everything when they use it. IÂve never used it, but as IÂve heard from other folks who have, apparently if varies widely from batch to batch, and IÂve even heard, at times, that it seems to contain a high volume of sedge peatÂwhich I believe is the primary ingredient in Hyponex. I canÂt imagine trying to grow anything in sedge peat, a/k/a muck, so I strongly recommend staying away from Miracle Gro. Or, to put it in other words, itÂs a Miracle if your stuff GroÂs in Miracle Gro! So maybe you just got a bad batch of potting mix, Steve, and IÂm glad somebody on the other forum had some helpful info for you. Happy trees to you........ Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Sun Gro Horticultural Products

I'm in zone 6 for those who wondered... I'd never had issues with my potted maples before...and this was my first year that I even wrapped the pot with leaves, bubble wrap and burlap for the winter months. Guess that may not have been enough with this prolonged winter.... ;-( Also my plant is on an (elevated) balcony which only exacerbates any cold conditions... There's no last ditch effort I could try...maybe like 'pruning' all the branches just above a 'knob', to see if it stimulates some new growth? I suppose I could also try to scrape the bark a bit and see if I see any green underneath? And if I WERE to see green underneath, but yet still no new buds, then would conclusion could be made then? Tx!!

I wouldn't. Other than staking a leader (JM's do not have a true leader) for increased height if you wish, this little tree needs no further attention at this time. The natural habit of this cultivar is as a low growing,draping mound so branching will begin soon above the graft. You may decide to do some thinning or low branch removal down the road a few years but it is far too soon to do much now. The tree needs all the structure it has currently to support root development.