Japanese Maple Suddenly Shrivels?

[nellie923]

I planted a sango kaku coral bark Japanese maple last fall and it has done well all year. Just as it was beginning to nicely leaf out last week, we had a record-breaking hot streak, which followed a very heavy rain. Two or three days later, the leaves on the tree were all shriveled up. My local nursery, where I bought the tree, said it should not have been exposed to afternoon sun, only morning sun, and some do better in shade. They suggested I try moving the tree (it's about 6' high now) to a shadier spot, or morning sun spot. (Online sources says they can do well in sun or shade, which is what my gardener and I both thought as well, and in fact, it has done well all year, including a very warm fall of 2019). I figure it can't hurt to try to move it, as it might survive, since it is early enough in the season. Any advice appreciated!

 

[cpp gardener]

Welcome!
If it did well there last year it should be okay this year. Where are you? Different climates take different solutions.

 

[nellie923]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm in Arkansas, Zone 7b, to be precise.

 

[oneeye]

The sango kaku coral bark Japanese maple is a full sun Acer and can take the sun. What it doesn't like, is slightly alkaline soil that doesn't drain well. If you put it in a heavy clay soil then it will surely give you problems with leaf drop. Keep the top 2 inches of soil aerated after each watering or rain so the roots can get oxygen. Before you water use your finger and stick it down a couple of inches and let it get good and dry before watering again. Sounds like your Acer is holding on to too much water.

 

[nellie923]

Oh my, and we just had about another 2-3" of rain. Is there anything that can be done? I have always thought the soil at my house to be fairly loamy and not overly clay-ish, but I could be wrong about way down. The top part is ok, I think. Would iron help? Any remedy?

 

[oneeye]

Iron won't help, all you can do is keep the top 2 inches aerated and loose after each rain or watering. The reason for aeration, is to get a lot of oxygen down to the roots between waterings.

 

[nellie923]

I have had two more opinions saying that too much water is the issue. One from my gardener, and another confirmation from a tree guy who was here looking to thin out a large elm tree in the back of the house. They also said that the tree looked like it was a goner, based on the fact that the bark is now shriveling. I do not have heavy clay soil at all, unless it is way down. Not on the top 2" however. Could it have been a combination of 1. heavy rain followed by 2. sudden HIGh temp (well into the 90s)? I really would like to find a true cause, because I don't want it to happen again to this or any other plant. All the other ones that I have planted in the past year are thriving.

 

[nellie923]

For those still interested, we dug up the Jap maple today and discovered the root ball very much intact; it came right out of the ground, and looked like there had been no root growth at all in 9 months. The soil was not severely heavy clay, not enough to prevent roots from growing. Odd that it had survived well all these months and even started to leaf out when, whammo. Dead within days. I have never seen this before, and neither had my tree guy. Any thoughts? Thanks. Nellie

 

[oneeye]

Sounds like your Acer liked the pot soil better than your soil. The term is called rootbound or bathtubbing. Anytime in the past many years, I ran into a problems like yours, in landscaping and I just couldn't get an answer, I would have a soil test done. Every soil test I have gotten done, has given me an answer to the problem with a solution.

 

[nellie923]

Thanks. It did not look potbound at all, by the way. No roots visible on the outer part of the rootball. A soil test is an excellent idea. Thanks.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Hi! We are losing a japanese maple of a different type, and I have learned they are sensitive to fungus and bacterial attack. In our case, individual branch dieback indicating particular roots have worked their way through the tree. This is often the symptom of the fungal attack. I have it air layered in hopes of moving the tree later. I intend to try establishing trichoderma for biological protection if the air layers work. Grow tabs and tricho powders are available as well as cornmeal as a fertilizer for the tricho, not necessarily the tree. The bacterial attack is more systemic with overall dieback not just one branch at the time. I have heavy acidic clay, and the tree has sat for years at a location where water runoff from the driveway meets the lawn. I have watered heavily in the area during dry spells the previous 2 years and may well have contributed to conditions but have no way to really know due to the proximity of forested area which has proven to produce any variety of insect borne or fungal pathogens at one time or another.