Acer leaves not fully opening

[Richard Borland]

Hello,I have a beautiful red acer,it's about two meters tall with a spread of about one and a half meters.Its been growing in the garden for about seven years now and has always had beautiful vibrant red leaves.Last year the leaves didn't seem to fully open and they looked rather dull,unfortunately they seem to be the same this year.Any advice please

 

[oneeye]

Can you post a photo of the whole plant in the ground?

 

[Richard Borland]

Photo as requested

 

[Richard Borland]

Try again

 

[Richard Borland]

And another

 

[Sean Regan]

Hi and welcome.


As an "acer fan," I'd say it might be suffering from a lack of water or suitable nutrients although given their size they shouldn't need much of the latter. I always fed mine (and our azaleas and rhodos) on the dregs from our koi pool pump sump as koi poo is slightly acidic. But we closed that down last summer. So that source is no longer available. Not that it was essential, but it was available (and free).

However, I decided that mine were looking a bit limp a few days ago the leaves were not fully opening. Never noticed that before in any year. But we'd had a few cold nights and it's been dry for a bit and they hadn't had a lot of water.

9th April

But a few days of hot sun and regular watering has made all the difference.
16th.

 

[Richard Borland]

Thanks for the advice .... have given lots of water and it's already looking better