What's up with my autumn blaze?
splaker
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
I planted this tree late last summer. The tree seemed to wake up fine from a long winter. over the last few days ive noticed this..droppy leaves.. tree seems to be stressed
the site is pretty wet at times. i had a blackfum omanted inbthe exact same spot and it did very poorly. whats going on?
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splaker
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Autumn Blaze maples - do you think they will survive?
Comments (17)Thank you very much for all of the helpful replies. I guess I will wait till fall and see how things go, and be prepared to replace them if they don't survive another summer. First of all, here are a couple of photos of the trunk of the one in the yard (the worst one). You can see where I recently dug out the excess soil piled around the tree and attempted to get it at the level it probably should have been at when they planted the trees. Dwrecktor, it sounds like your experience was very close to mine. Do the pictures above look like your trees did? How long was it between the time your trees were planted and when you removed the excess soil? Mine will have been in the ground for 3 years in September. I sure wish I had known to do that right away. Arktrees, great suggestion on the perc test - I will do that. I do know that the soil is heavy red clay and there isn't much topsoil since they took that away when they built the homes. As a rule, our soil tends to be slightly alkaline from what I've heard. It gets very hot and dry here in the summers. Any suggestions as to what might be a good replacement tree? Since my house faces south, a shade tree is a priority. Other considerations are something that will be less likely to blow over or lose big limbs in our storms, won't overwhelm my small lot, and if it produces something edible (like pecans or fruit) that would always be a plus. Drought and heat tolerance would be pretty high on the list and it would be in full sun pretty much all day on that side of the house. Of course I don't want anything that will mess with the driveway/sidewalk/foundation or plumbing, though maybe that last one isn't a big deal with new construction. I welcome any and all suggestions. My personal favorites are maples and birches and blue spruce, but that's probably the Canadian in me :) I'm guessing none of those would do well down here? I'm guessing the burr oak comment was a joke? What is a chinquapin? Are there any small pecan cultivars that would make a good yard tree, or are they all huge? Also, I was reading about Caddo maples that are native to SW Oklahoma - has anyone had any experience with them? Thanks again everyone for all the helpful replies and for not making me feel more like a total idiot than I already do lol...See MoreAutumn Blaze maple rescued from WalMart
Comments (7)the tree was struggling and I figured it needed all the leaves it had ==>> pure genius.. if i say so myself ... i have quoted you a hundred times .. in the last few years ..... lol ... at this size ... age ... etc... i think you ought to go find something else to worry about ... this thing is bulletproof ... i see the clay cracking in the hole... but some peeps say a root mass can be twice as big as the tree ... though in a different form ... so even if the disturbed soil at the trunk is dry ... who cares... its roots are 20 feet in every direction by now.. and it is not suffering for water ... and the pic shows that ... and i think i see some fine lawn out there.. if you fert the lawn.. this will get any and all fert it ever needs.. no need to ever fert this tree again.. in any manner .... and finally.. nice to see a planting ... with a tree planted far enough from the house.. that it wont crush it ... in the decades to come... its like you really thought this all out.. and acted accordingly .. in other words .. great job all around ... it so refreshing to see someone who did not plant it 15 inches from the house.. and now wants to know.. if it will effect the foundation .. or on top of the septic field.. etc ... two thumbs up ... just dont worry about it any more ... ken...See MoreIs my new Autumn Blaze maple in trouble? (Getting orange leaves)
Comments (6)I agree the tree looks fine. Normally any transplant problem will result in severe wilting, not some color change. Should you pull the tree out to add more dirt to make it higher? At this point I would say no--doing that will really stress the tree and maybe kill it. But what you should do is make sure the tree is not planted too deep. To do that, push some of the soil away from the base of the tree until you get down to where the roots flare out from the base of the tree. There should never be any soil above the point where the trunk begins to flare out to the roots. The main risk associated with this is the development of extra roots above the root flare which can eventually strangle the trunk of the tree, killing it. These are called "girdling roots." It is possible that some girdling roots have already formed in the pot you got the tree in. What you should do when you remove the soil from above the root flare of the trunk is to take some kind of tool and scrape away from the trunk in all directions to make sure there are not any roots near the surface above the main roots that go out from the root flare that could circle the trunk of this tree. These roots can already have developed if the tree was planted too deep in the pot by the nursery. Sometimes roots that will eventually strangle a tree are not real close to the trunk when the tree is planted, but as the tree grows in diameter, and as the potentially girdling roots grow, the strangling can occur much later. If you find that you have planted your tree a bit too deep, I think you should not pull out the tree to replant it, but just remove the extra soil from the base of the tree for a distance of about two feet. But you should not remove so much soil that the main roots that come out from the root flare are actually on the surface of the soil. If the tree as a result of this soil removal sits in a small depression, this should not be a problem for the tree. In fact, a small depression like this could make watering easier--the water will not run away from the tree as soon as you water it. --Spruce...See MoreWhat is wrong with my Autumn Blaze maple?
Comments (2)It's a little tough to see, but I had some similar damage on a red maple cultivar last year. Turns out it was a borer that had penetrated the bark the previous year. It got smushy and then eventually I could peel the outer layer off. The tree did not grow much last year, but it did wall off a good portion of the damage by the end of the season. Maybe you'll have similar success. Just make sure it stays watered. I did not do any extra fertilization....See Moresplaker
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