Top half / bottom half

8 years ago

I planted an Autumn Blaze maple last fall. This spring the reddish buds looked pretty consistent everywhere. But now that it is flushing, only the bottom half of the tree is growing leaves. The top half does not really LOOK dead (though it could be?) I am attaching a picture and my question is, what would cause only the bottom half of a tree to flush and not the top?

I studied it and there is no damage or physical trauma where the "living" and "dead" part meet to explain why the top half appears to be dead...

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Comments (10)

edlincoln
8 years ago
The cold probably killed the top. Was the bottom surrounded by snow? Snow is actually good insulation.
Jean
8 years ago
Or too little water between planting and now?
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
be nice to know where you are ...

give it a month or two.. lets see what happens ...

is that tall new growth coming from below ground or above???

its awful close to the driveway ... in 50 or 60 years.. it could crack the pavement ... lol .. but.. it also raises a question of whether winter sun or heat retention could have been a problem ...

ken
wisconsitom
8 years ago
dd, sometimes new transplants don't make it, and we never really know why. 'Autumn Blaze' is a fully hardy cultivar. If we can grow them like weeds here in sconnie, they are not bothered by cold. Just chalk it up to hmmm?
ddifranco
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks all - it was a mail order (first and last one I'll do). I live in Detroit area to answer your question. Was a relatively mild winter, actually. I wonder if it has to do with soil type. I also planted another much larger Autumn blaze maple (from a nursery) and it is flushing REALLY slowly. Does not look vibrant and healthy at all. Does Autum blaze demand a certain soil type - or - is it super sensitive to certain soil ailments?
hairmetal4ever
8 years ago
Detroit didn't get nearly cold enough last winter to kill an Autumn Blaze.

What did the root system look like? Dense? Sparse? kinked and contorted?
ddifranco
Original Author
8 years ago
Potted, and dense. But I gently raked out any that looked like potential future girdle roots.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
i mail ordered half of my 5 acres ... thats not the issue ... presuming you used a good source ...

is it on the north side of the black top ...

without snow cover ... and constant cold.. winter sun on blacktop ... can make a plant go in and out of dormancy ... and that is extremely bad ... get it dormant.. keep it dormant ...

if my theory is supported ... on sunny winter days.. the top of the tree was warming too much.. too often.. when the tree was supposed to be dormant ...

even if the top half is dead ... the rest.. if the roots settle in .. being a maple.; could take off like no tomorrow ... its not a goner.. unless your personality dictate it will drive you insane.. lol .. if so.. get rid of it ...

in adrian MI .. the trees are barely leafing out.. i know metro detroit is ahead of us ... but you are way to anxious to come to any conclusions as to how they are doing... give them both at least a month or 2 before you come to any conclusions ...

i am not aware of any soil issue in SE MI ....

ken
ddifranco
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you Ken. Your theory is an interesting one and may be the problem, or part of it. The tree is on the EASTERN side of the blacktop (the road runs north and south) and with such a mild winter, perhaps this is what occurred. I will wait it out. No sense in removing it if it has a chance! My only lament is that to prune it (if the top never revives) is to cut the main trunk line, that will result in one of the branches becoming the new leader, and my future tree will have a dogleg trunk line, instead of a nice straight columnar bole, which is by far what I wanted.
ruff78
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Leave it alone for now. I know this post is a little late, but I have an Autumn Blaze, and it does the same thing every spring, and ends up looking normal by July.

Top half / bottom half

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edlincoln

Jean

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Top half / bottom half

Comments (10)

edlincoln

Jean

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