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Reviving a "Waterfall" Japanese maple

Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC

last year

I bought this Waterfall at least 15 years ago! Gah, times flies the older you get :-O

I kept it in a large container, in large part because I didn't really have a good place for it. It looked good for several years, until something clogged the drains and it sat in water for a long time without my knowledge! I fixed that and it came back.

The last year (or the year before? Again... time flies) we had cicadas, and I guess they dug in to the roots because I thought they'd killed it! But this year it came back again with new growth.

I finally put it in the ground today:

First question: since this is a mature tree in a new location, should I just use water, or is it time for fertilizer yet?

Second question: I snapped all of the dead limbs off if they snapped easily, but stopped when the apparent dead limb started to flex instead of snap. Is that right, or should I cut it off closer to the new growth?

Third question: the roots and trunk do NOT look great! It had a lot of pine needles and leaves in the container, could they be the source of the black color and cracked bark? Or am I dealing with something more major?

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Comments (6)

Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
last year
A fourth important question:

Do you think it will return to its waterfall shape? The nursery I bought it from is long gone, so I have no way of knowing whether it was grafted from something else.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
I don't think I have very good news for you. I can't see that you have much, if any, 'Waterfall' left. I believe what you are seeing is all understock. All named forms of Japanese maples are propagated vegetatively, typically by grafting (rarely by cuttings) and it is not uncommon for the top growth to be lost due to some event and the rootstock take over. The rootstock used is typically just straight Acer palmatum species but sometimes weeping forms are used for grafting with other weeping varieties

The reason I doubt there is much of the original 'Waterfall' left is the leaf shape. 'Waterfall' is actually named for its leaves, rather than its form. They are highly dissected, very fine and deeply lobed (7-9 lobes) that are held tightly together, giving a cascading, flowing appearance.

Compare this leaf to what you have.

btw, any bare, dead wood can be cut away as you discover it. Retaining deadwood unnecessarily can introduce pests and diseases that can harm the tree. But use pruners and cut lt off properly and cleanly. Don't snap it off.
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Is the pot black? Black pots tend to heat the roots too much. A container in a container could help with mulch, etc packed between them and moving back into the shade will help. Now is not the time to repot or fertilize it or could cause further stress. Keep it watered and in a few weeks the leaves will probably drop but should recover either later this summer or next spring.
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LOL!! Mike and I tend to disagree on JM pruning :-) Personally, I wouldn't touch it - I think it looks fine. I also disagree about the narrow crotch angle. This is a very common feature of many varieties of JM's and I have yet to see one "fail". I also have no concerns about making one "leader" more dominant than another - maples (and almost all other shade trees) are considered to have a decurrent growth habit in that they do not develop a true leader and the trees, especially if container grown, do not develop enough height or size to have issues with co-dominance. Nor do they require the early structural training of larger growing shade trees. But this is just my opinion. Mike grows some gorgeous Japanese maples so his pruning techniques are not to be dismissed out of hand :-)) YMMV
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Sorry, that photo is not as illustrative as I'd like at that small scale. Try this one:
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
last year
I see. That IS disappointing, but not exactly a surprise. I assumed that it had been grafted, and after that much damage it would revert back to its original cellular structure.

Any guess on what a straight Acer palmatum might look like when it's all grown up? I'm going to keep it no matter what, but if it's not going to complement the Bloodgood and I need to move it then now would be the time :-O
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
The species is extremely variable - that's where all those many cultivars originate from - but typically it will become a large, upright tree with biggish, simple leaves as are showing in your photo.

Since yours seems to be sprouting from the rootstock and so with no defined leader, you will probably just have a shrubby looking, multi-stemmed, generic maple. I'd move it somewhere inconspicuous and try again with the Waterfall.
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
last year
Blah, that's disappointing :-( But it's better to know now than in 10 years! LOL I'll order a new Waterfall tomorrow.

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