For some trees in their first year in the ground always look bad but comes back looking much better next year (small size trees). Also, planting time does make a huge difference during the first year. Planting in fall/winter will give you much better looking tree compared to spring planting. Sometimes the tap water does funky stuff to the leaves when watered so if you use sprinkler system for the lawn, it's probably why. If you're worried about watering too much, look at the year of 2007 when Texas got a lot of rainfall. That happened to be such awesome year for tree growth. Must be something in the rainwater, eh? As far as getting rid of grass, I use round up to kill them then mulch over dead grass. I occasionally us RU whenever grass pops through the mulch. Annoying but that's Bermuda grass for you. It'd take nuclear weapon to get rid of it entirely. Throw in Montezuma Cypress... Pretty cool tree to have that will turn rustic red in the middle of the winter. Mine grew 4-5 ft in their first year. Shantung Maple 'Skinny Dragon' looks like it grew about 5 ft? Blaine's Dragon about 3-4 ft. Super Dragon got burned off unfortunately. I guess full brunt of afternoon sun was too much for lime green color leaves to handle... Or too much water since all the container trees were around it that needed daily watering in the summer. Who knows?

Coral Bark maples are boderline hardy in Z5. It's unlikely your tree has any sort of disease. The most likely explanation is that where protected by snow, the tree survived but succumbed to cold above the snowline. Check the base of the tree to make sure the new growth is not coming from below the graft. If it is, this means the entire Coral Bark part is gone. If the parts sprouting are from above the graft, prune back to that point and the tree will regrow over the summer. A screen of burlap or some other material can help boderline Japanese maples survive because it protects the thin bark from winter sun and wind. Such screens won't turn -20 to +10, but they can be a big help, especially for young trees.

hur hur - yep, seeing the mattock made me wince in sympathy since it is a tool never far from my reach either. Have to say, for such a whopping tree, the fig left a surprisingly small hole. Crepe myrtles are not really seen over here (in fact, I didn't have a clue what this astoundingly popular plant was until I looked on Wiki). Still, changes are the lifeblood of a garden, d'y'not think? My mutabilis is being banished to the allotment as it has been a sad mildewy wreck in my tiny garden at home. As I have such a small space to play in, only top class plants make the cut here. I am also eyeing the coral bark acer (SangoKaku) which looks slightly crispy from the windtunnel effect which comes in a tiny enclosed garden in East Anglia (winds straight from Siberia). Also due for banishment: a too large Rozanne geranium - lovely but it has taken up an entire border, mugging the agapanthus, various campanulas and sidalceas. However, this time of year is the start of the gardener's year as far as I am concerned - bulbs have been stuffed into gaps (had a minature narcissi moment and bought a couple of hundred fragrant jonquillas and triandrus), plants are in the process of being dug out and divided (the mattock!) and the biennials are fat and ready for their new places in the garden and allotment. The old virused raspberries are being removed alongside a gigantic acanthus, to make way for more wild roses (cantabridgensis, helenae, pomifera duplex), 2 philadelphus are being moved around,the new fruit trees are going in the ground next month (a cherry and a lovely almond ('Ingrid' a prolific and hardy source of almonds)as well as another 30 raspberry canes and 5 redcurrants. The move away from vegetables towards fruits and nuts and roses is coming along (slowly, like everything I do). While this is going on, we are trying to get our heads around the kitchen floor. After 25 years of horrid grey vinyl tiles, I ordered rubber flooring (from an industrial supplier, having quickly learned to avoid sites such as the 'natural flooring co and Ecofloors, in favour of Jaymart, Polymax, Shitco). The prospects of trying to move assorted dressers, aged cabinets (no fitted kitchens here) and ancient sinks, while offspring and granddaughter and huge dogs are all in residence is, frankly, terrifying. We have a couple more weeks before the landscaping season starts in earnest too so it's back to the grind (but at least we will get paid). Neeargh, life is far too busy for old, worn-out and jaded gardeners. yep, Ingrid, your man looks handy!

thank you Houston Texas, I think you're right. The 2nd post picture is the REAL Sango kaku based upon all my research and the 1st photo is not. I checked all the attributes of the 'Shindeshojo' and found that it is not in line with this JM. The Imposter Tree has a bright red bark, Spring and Summer shows Green leaves while fall is bright red leaves with bright red twigs. The Shindeshojo's leaves are red in spring. Although both have leaves of 5 lobes.Any other suggestions? -M Here is a link that might be useful: