Outsmarting the tree rats (squirrels) around my house is a full time job. This past spring I hit on a new idea. When I plant a container I invert an empty wire hanging basket over the container and the plant gets sun and can be watered but the squirrels can't dig in it. Another idea: I bring in a lot of plants to "over winter" under lights in my garage. I have so many that it is hard to reach my hand under the lights (4 shop lights) to the middle for watering. So I bought a pump sprayer with a long wand and it works great! In late winter I add a little liquid Dawn detergent, few drops, to each gallon of water and not only does the soil get wet easier but the worms that are waiting to hatch into distructive pets just don't hatch. Don't know what it costs me to run those four shop lights all winter but I don't care. It is a small price to pay to be able to "garden" every weekend in the garage. Many people have mentioned that they mark their outdoor plants with a "permanent Sharpie". In my experience there isn't a "permanent Sharpie", they all fade and quickly too. A grease pencil/china marker or expensive "no fade" garden center marker are the only markers I have found that won't disappoint you by fading. Eight years ago I decided to learn about gardening so I tapped into my local library. I checked out nearly every book they had on gardening and learned so much. The Gardenweb forums are also a wealth of information and entertainment. There is always something new to learn and I appreciate all of you who take the time to write in your ideas. One last idea from me...I keep a small notebook on my computer table and jot down any idea I find that's new and I will want to try. Little pieces of paper get lost but I always know where my notebook is and also use it when I order "on line" so I will remember the name of the company and the order date. Tina or Trowelgal

There are some other Coral Bark maples that are purported to do much better than SK - A.p. 'Japanese Sunrise' and A.p. 'Red Wood' in particular. I have both of them, but have not had them long enough to compare to SK. I've had my SK for about 8 years now, and it was about 6ft. tall and a stout tree when I bought it. Now, years later, its still about 6ft tall and a little stouter! The winter die-back on this variety is a joke! Definitely not worth the hassell. I'm also trying an Acer circinatum, which is a native American species, but is directly related to Japanese Maples and can even cross with them. I have a variety called 'Pacific Fire' that was an absolute stunner this past winter! Reddest thing in my garden! The stems are much thicker on this species than on the palmatums. May want to give it a try. Needs protection from hot afternoon sun, but other than that seems to be doing well. Regards, K4

Nailbird, You must live on the Western shore. Your sun exposure in the morning followed by shade in the afternoon is fine. Dont try and overcompensate for this heatwave by excessive watering, it wont do it. Providing your tree is not root bound and you 'teased or straightened' them if they were circling the pot they came out of, your tree is just being stressed from its new location and conditions. Dont water overhead like a sprinkler,dont fertilize and i wouldnt plant flowers or anything at all at the base of the tree that could interfere with its root system. Your tree is far from established and what you are experiencing is not uncommon.Your tree will acclimate and recover on its own with time. regards AL

Agree with "Gall" except that because you had so much damage to this planting I wonder about the wisdom of spending more money on additional attempts with any Japanese maples (or other trees prone to bacterial blight). For instance on one property I have been involved with for some years in addition to attempts with grafted Japanese maple cultivars* failing there has even been a problem with a red maple (Acer rubrum) dying back in the past (we eventually removed it) The site receives air from farther uphill so I assume cold damp air sitting over it in the fall just makes it too ideal for bacterial blight. *Also a poster that used to write at length on another site, had some kind of commercial involvement in the past repeatedly asserted that careless production practices were resulting in grafted Japanese maples being sent out to retailers pre-infected internally with bacterial blight. So that although the plants looked clean at time of purchase by end consumers they went on to blight off visibly afterward, as the blight become more developed