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Texas Gardening

Something Chewed My Japanese Maple!

13 years ago

I noticed limp leaves yesterday...I thought this was odd, I thought the sudden change from hot to cold with a wet weekend had somehow shocked the plant. Upon closer inspection...something chewed it...I'm hopping mad. There are several places about 8 inches a part..the worse spot is the lowest as seen in the picture below. This damage is about 10 inches up.

Is there anyway to tape this up to save the top? Or should I cut it off now to avoid further stress? If so how? I've posted another post in the maple forum as I'm sure time is of the essence if I'm going to fix this somehow.

Also does anyone know if the top can be saved ie rooted somehow?

{{gwi:1048158}}

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Comments (5)

rock_oak_deer
13 years ago
Oh no, that's awful. Have never seen that so don't know what would have done that.

It does look like a lot of damage. You could try wrapping it with grafting tape, but with that much damage you might have to cut it off. I have attached a link to a GW discussion on this subject.

JM's are pretty resilient and you might get new growth below the damage next spring if you do have to cut the top off. If the plant has been grafted, it might not grow back. The new growth will come out in a wagon wheel pattern around the trunk and take several years to look natural again.

You can root JM cuttings in wet perlite and covered with plastic. I usually do this in the spring, but this is an emergency. Cut as many different size twigs and branches as you can then dip in rooting hormone. It takes a long time to get a nice JM this way though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Using grafting tape on Maple
equinecpa
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the fast input. I went ahead and wrapped the damaged areas with masking tape (it's what I had on hand). I don't hold out much hope but I figured I could at least try.

I cut some cuttings off of the top being careful to leave some decent branches in case it does decide to live. I did as you said dipping them in hormone, sticking them in perlite and wrapping with plastic. Now I am crossing my fingers that they have life in them and will decide to grow.
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A few holes in the leaves from insects is really nothing to get overly concerned about.......this is more of a cosmetic issue than anything that can actually harm the tree. And at this stage of the season, it is too late to consider spraying for -- the tree will be dropping its leaves soon enough. I'd be more concerned about the dried, crinkled leaves showing up in the second and third photos. These look like the tree is going through some sort of stress, either transplant shock or improper watering. Mulching is always a good idea. Just keep it away from the trunk.
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Hmm,you're at least the 4th person to have this happen here in recent weeks....just wish some of my maples would grow a bit more ha. It's not uncommon when conditions are favourable for maples to throw out vigorous shoots.It's certainly not a sign of ill health,quite the opposite.With some cultivars of maple it is undesirable to keep the vigorous growth,but I think with your maple it boils down to personal taste.The branches however may not necessarily keep their drooping stance and may grow more upright with time.I'm guessing the trees you have seen are what are referred to as 'dissectums'...their inherent deformities cause their leaves to be heavily dissected and their branches generally droop and twist more.Your maple is not one of these. Please note that if your tree is grafted and these shoots are coming from below the graft(you'll see a join very low down on the trunk)they should be removed.
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roselee z8b S.W. Texas
13 years ago
I don't have any advice on how to save the tree, but with damage like that I'm wondering if a buck scraped his horns on it. I've had them get right in the middle of a flower bed and use the small limber trunk of a young crape myrtle to get the velvet off their horns.
equinecpa
Original Author
13 years ago
I wish it were a wild critter...but this is in my fenced yard where we don't have many wild visitors due to 4 loud active dogs. I'm thinking one of the dogs used it as a chew toy or perhaps one of my cats...I'm thinking I saw one of my kitties playing in it this past weekend..the dangly leaves would sure get her attention...

I'm laying the blame on one of my pets...
rock_oak_deer
13 years ago
I do hope that works for you.

It probably was one of the cats, I had to chase the neighbor's cat away from my Brugmansia this week.

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