David, VW can often invade during dormancy and make severe inroads - it is quite common - and a pretty pernicious attack it can be as it is difficult to diagnose any problem when the tree is not in leaf :-( The first sign that there is any problem is a failure of large portions of the tree to leaf out in spring. As to the rapidity of its spread, it can be very sudden, decimating an entire tree within a matter of days, although that is far more typical with young trees than it is with mature, well-established ones and is generally more of a midseason phenomenon. I've had it happen myself and it is startling to see how fast a decline can be produced. With a tree this mature, an overnight or very rapid decline is quite unusual - generally it is just a portion of the tree that is affected and if otherwise healthy, the tree is often able to compartmentalize the pathogen and even outgrow the problem. From such a distance and by only verbal description, it is pretty nigh impossible to determine what exactly may be the cause of the problem. We are ony offering speculations. I would agree that replanting with another maple (or other VW susceptible species) in the same location is NOT advised.

THANK YOU David. I appreciate your help here, but I'd already sort of planned on letting the tree thaw with sap in it's veins and me perhaps staying out of nature's plan until Spring. This JM doesn't seem brittle at all since it didn't split or break but I am reluctant to try touching it and maybe breaking it with my panicked effort when all things are frozen solid as glass we can shatter. I think maybe patience is called for here, rather than pro-active efforts on my part right now when the beautiful little tree is brittle and frozen. We'll soon see what happens to our prized little now 9 foot Maple tree, and like always I am counting down the days until Spring. I just wondered if this sort of thing was unusual and you have given me some hope here. That Japanese Maple has always loved it's spot and grown slow but perfectly into a tree with a grace that seemed destined to have giant bonsai qualities. I'll suffer the tough winter with it and put it on notice that it'd time to straighten up. God only knows how many times I've been told to do that very same thing. I have a lot of faith in this tree but I'm no expert at maples like it, or how to care for it when it's so bent from 3 inches of ice as it's load. I planted that espensive tiny tree on my 25th wedding anniversary back 9 years ago and my wife is now not happy. She thinks it is ruined, but I think maybe I can save this very special tree if I don't do anything stupid. Poor Karen (my wife) has now endured my mad passions for 34 years and that includes the indoor greenhouse I once built in our first apartment. Now she and I just feel "special" about our little maple tree. jim On Dec 4, 2006, at 5:06 PM, myersphcf wrote:

I live in South Africa, with a temperature of between 61 - 93 Fahrenheit, or between 16 - 33 Celsius for summer. For winter 28 - 72 Fahrenheit, or between -2 - 22 Celsius. This is the second time that I've lost a Japanese Maple the first lack of light or to much water. This time around I planted in a spot that received sun between 11 and 3 o'clock and rest of the day shaded. It began to loose its leaves showing the typical water droplet on leaves burns that has been described on the forums. I addressed the watering from the sprinklers. Later it actively created new leaves, whereas other leaves were scorched basically green/brownish. As discussed before the tree was most-likely under extreme stress and needed saving. Unfortunately I best thought to replant the tree since it was not located in a pot. So I left it in my room with plenty of light then went away a few days. I left instructions for it to be watered twice a week if the soil is dry. Now I came back last night. I found no new sprouting leaves and the trunk is black with some green spots (original bark I presume). I was told the tree was covered with a white pest of some kind, and was thus cleaned with soap water. First question: Is the tree dead? Second: any general suggestions regarding the climate. Since the general solutions posted relates to 1)ensuring that the cultivar can cope with the climate and 2) planting it in positions that gets morning or later afternoon sun, thus filtered sun during noon. The Idea of the cultivar is lovely, I'd like to have some of those trees in the back yard. Provided I can get it growing.

The topic is Japanese maple trees, not tender non-woody annual or perennial plants like tomatoes or sunflowers!! The reaction to herbicide drift will be very different between the two types of plants. One will react to the herbicide virtually overnight with browning, drying and death. The other will not die unless it is directly sprayed with herbicide and even something like gylphosate or concentrated brush killer will take multiple applications to kill an established woody plant like a tree. This is not supposition but fact......documented by literature and confirmed by several decades as a professional horticulturist!