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Help with my one branch Japanese Maple please

7 years ago

My son gave me a beautiful red maple sapling with lacy-looking leaves about 4 years ago. I live near Charleston, SC. We had some particularly cold weather and my puppy knocked the pot of the Japanese maple over and all but one branch broke off. I am sad to say that was a few years ago and none have grown back. It has one long beautiful branch with a lot of leaves. Is there anything I can do? I know I should have done something sooner but I did not. I will add a photo tomorrow. It does have some leaves that grow right of the trunk but they are green not the deep red of the leaves on the branch and I was advised to pinch them off. I am rather a novice and would appreciate some help.

Thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱

7 years ago

Replace the zip ties as stated above. If there is any pliability in the trunk just above where your top tie is now, you may have a chance. Put one stake on the side where it is leaning and tie it off where your top tie is now. Put a second stake on the opposite side with a tie above the branch below the car door. GENTLY see how high you can lift that bend before you feel too much resistance and tie it high on that second stake. Come back in a month and see if you can lift it any higher. The key is how pliable that bend is.

tj

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Comments (9)

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
7 years ago
If there are two different colored leaves I will assume the green is from the generic root stock, the red from the named cultivar. That is why they want you to pull the green off.

Not totally sure what to recommend. Maybe after I see the pics?
Kathleen May thanked Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
Kathleen May
Original Author
7 years ago
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Kathleen May
Original Author
7 years ago
Here is a side view I took this morning.
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
7 years ago
Zip ties! Use those to hold your cars together lol.

More seriously, they'll chaff the bark of the tree.

Use something gentle like a loosely tied cut off piece of nylon leggings to hold the tree to the stake. You can even pick a more or less natural looking color.
Kathleen May thanked Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
Kathleen May
Original Author
7 years ago
any advice?
Kathleen May
Original Author
7 years ago
The trunk is very pliable...I don't understand how that will help more branches grow though.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
You can't "help" more branches grow. They will do that naturally on their own as the tree grows. All the staking will do is encourage the single stem that exists now to grow more upright, providing a reasonably erect support for what branches will form in the future.

Otherwise, it is just a matter of time and you providing proper care for the tree before new growth develops and a proper branching structure develops.
Kathleen May thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
Kathleen May
Original Author
7 years ago
the trunk is totally straight the one branch is just very long...,longer than the trunk actually.

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