Winter damage on Japanese Maple, anything I can do?
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
10 months ago
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Comments (6)
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
10 months agoRelated Discussions
Japanese Maples in containers - I have no idea what I'm doing...
Comments (4)They have as much potential as you have patience. For example, next spring, you could simply sacrifice the top of the maple in the last picture by chopping off the top just above that little branch that comes off the main a few inches above the soil and just start over. The wound will heal completely in a year or two if you chop it correctly - something I can help with when the time comes. You could also layer off the top if you wanted to ..... lots of options. All the trees could stand a good shortening, but let them grow wild until after leaves fall & then do your pruning. Your tree has the same potential - all that's lacking is a little time & experience, which fortunately often seem to arrive coincidentally: ;-) Al...See MoreDamage to Japanese Maple
Comments (5)I've had two dwarf maples,, one green and one red in the front of my home for twelve years. the branches were perfectly since they were small. The winter of 2014 was brutal along the east coast. This spring only some of the leaves at the very ends of some of the branches have returned, but all of the branches survived even without leaves. They tree is barren. Will it regenerate next season? Help!!!...See MoreRabbit damage to Japanese maple bark
Comments (1)I had some gnawing damage on my bloodgood similar to yours and the bark is closing up pretty nicely, took a few months, thoguh....See MoreStorm damage to Japanese Maple tree
Comments (15)Thyme2dig, don't take my comments personally. They are only meant to address your proposal. And, IMO, using hose clamps to attempt to "fix" a broken branch or trunk is completely misguided and has a near-zero chance of working long-term. I hope it works (continues to work) for your tree, but the procedure flies in the face of reason if you consider how trees grow. The wood inside woody plants is dead. It will never every grow back together no matter how you clamp the split together. The ONLY way that the tree has to bind itself back together is if new wood is used to encapsulate the break. For this to have any chance of working on Lyssa's tree, it would require years and years of growth and a significant increase in trunk diameter. As the trunk grows in diameter, the crown of the tree would get larger and heavier. Even in an ideal situation, the area of the break will ALWAYS be much weaker than the rest of the trunk. As the crown grows, more and more stress will be placed on the broken area and chances of failure will increase. When we consider the fact that the trunk will have to put on a significant amount of girth, the deficiency of the hose clamp becomes apparent. If the clamp is tight enough to support the break, circulation in the trees trunk will be cut off and further growth will be impossible. If the clamp is loosened enough to allow growth to occur, it will not sufficiently lock the two sides in place for the outer most (not wood) layers of the trunk to fuse. Also, a loose clamp will likely cause further damage as the tree is moved by wind, rain, pets, etc. Like everyone else above, I think pruning or replacement are the best solutions. I STRONGLY do not suggest trying to save the top of this tree, but, if one was determined to try, there are MUCH better ways to go about it than using hose clamps....See Moregardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 months ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)