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Help! Is my Japanese Maple drowning?!

4 years ago

looking for some advice here.

We planted this bloodgood last spring. We are in zone 6. The tree was planted in the ground which consists of mostly clay soil. I ensured I planted it slightly above grade as to not bury the graft and to allow for drainage.

This tree did amazingly well last summer considering it was quite hot and dry here. It has been doing well this year to now, but unfortunately last week I noticed a couple of small branches with the leaves still red but curled up and dry.

I did some reading and decided to prune off the bad branches and made sure to disinfect the pruners between cuts.

Today I noticed the same issue on two more branches, and also noticed the tips of some of the leaves look a little strange.

We have had had an unusual amount of rain here and the ground everywhere is quite moist. I checked around the tree and although the soil isn't spongy, it is still quite damp. we are forecast to get some more rain tonight and tomorrow.

I am worried that it may be starting to drown or that it may have verticillium.

I have added some pics of the tree in its state tonight, along with a pic of a branch I removed also. Can anyone give me any advice? thanks!

Featured Answer

Mens Tortuosa(5b Omaha, NE)

4 years ago

It looks like your tree is suffering from climatic variation disorder, also known as weather. My advice is to chill.

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Comments (10)

Embothrium
4 years ago
Last photo taken from too far back to see if there is brown streaking characteristic of verticillium wilt.
Alex
Original Author
4 years ago
Here are two more pics. difficult to get a close up as my phone won't focus in. thanks for the help!
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The sunken area at the base appears to be to be canker. Had to remove a Ukigumo JM earlier in the season for this very reason. I have seen allot of this over the last few years. Have seen allot of it on crabapples, Japanese Maples, and other maples. Plants sometimes beat the pathogen, sometimes not. If they are going to beat it, then expect to see callus to form around the edges of the sunken area. Even if the callus forms, it is far from certain. Once the tree goes dormant for the winter, the canker will often gain the upper hand again. However if the callus does not form by end of summer, then from what I have seen, it's almost certainly a matter of time before the tree is killed. As for how your plant became infected, I suspect that a number of low cost and/or large scale producers have gotten very careless over the last 5-10 years. There has been allot of apparent disease increase in allot of other plant groups as well over the same period (Aster Yellows seems to be everywhere anymore, to the point it's getting rather difficult to get disease free coneflowers, saw this Saturday at the largest local nursery). I'm sure part of it is due to producers having a difficult time the last several years, therefore cutting corners, poor training, poor enforcement, less responsible labor, etc. But also Big Box Store has little incentive, as they know Q Public is unlikely to know anything about disease and will be back again next year to buy another one. Arktrees
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It would also be helpful to know where you are. Being a dwarf really doesn't have much bearing on the container size - the roots will still grow :-) Can't see all that clearly, but that looks to be a 1G nursery pot, which is typically used here as a starter size for small, 1-2 y.o. grafts (24-30" or so tall). I immediately pot up to a larger size container and since I use a very durable, fast draining soil mix, I often go up quite a lot in size.........generally around a 5G container at least. The potting soil you should be using is something formulated specifically for containers - a soil-less mix. Preferably bark based (rather than peat or coir) and with a fair proportion of perlite/pumice or grit, like the 5-1-1 or gritty mixes discussed in the Container Gardening forum. Or you can just plant in the ground in a suitable location.
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Alex
Original Author
4 years ago
thanks for the reply. I suppose I may be jumping the gun a bit however the other branches that suffered were much larger. my concern was that only select branches seemed to be affected. if this is considered to look normal and healthy than I am happy. thanks!
Embothrium
4 years ago
If those streaks are brown it could perfectly well be verticillium wilt.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years ago
Agree with the above, especially if it is affecting isolated branches and the dieback is increasing. You need to take samples into your extension office for a path diagnosis.

And it looks like that is some very tight siting for a Bloodgood. If not VW and the tree recovers, it is going to be squeezed into that corner!!
User
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
What gardengal said..., "squeezed into that corner"!!! Bloodgood is not a dwarf tree.

When I moved into my current home, there was what I thought was a "bush" out front. It seemed that the previous owners would cut it back every year to be a shrub. Fast foreward to the present. For whatever reasons (climate change?), we have lost our larger Sugar Maple and Red Maple trees. The "shrub " that we never cut back would take over in the now open canoply from the removed Red and Sugar Maple. The 'Bloodgood' is now a gorgeous TREE and the only surviving maple (one of our favorites on the property). It has survived floods, hurricanes, droughts, snowstorms and (humid) HEAT in an unobstructed southern exposure. We have tons of rain here (NJ), rain would only be an issue if you have a DRAINAGE problem. Do you see standing water in that part of the garden?
Alex
Original Author
4 years ago
thanks for the replies. I know the tree is quite close to that corner but I am a bit limited for space there. my plan is to begin training it more upright and tall as opposed to having it wide. (if that's possible)

there isn't any standing water there at all but the ground has been staying quite moist as we have been having some substantial rain storms nearly every day.

thanks again for the input!
Jean
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
To test for staining from verticillium, branch must be finger diameter.

How far is the tree from the fence and the building? It looks like it will be a very tight fit in several years. Or before.
Alex
Original Author
4 years ago
the tree is approximately 4' out from the one fence, and about 3' from the other.

if this seems too close I could always move it another foot or so in each direction but I may wait until the fall or spring.

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