[Reefland]

Anyone here any good with trees?

[wozza]

that depends on what you mean by good with trees, im quite handy with a saw if thats what you mean!!!!

[Reefland]

No I meant good with tree care and problem identification.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by wozza

that depends on what you mean by good with trees, im quite handy with a saw if thats what you mean!!!!

Darn, you beat me to the punch!!!:slap::slap::slap:

[wozza]

Darn, you beat me to the punch!!!

Hehe some one had to say it.

No I meant good with tree care and problem identification.

LOL, no sorry scott cant help you there mate!

[charlie]

Scott, have you tried your local nursery? I know we have a couple around here that have helped me out a bunch.

[Reefland]

Should have expected that response from this group.

Here is the funny thing...I got advice from someone that fish is the best food source for this tree type, to place the chopped fish on the ground around the tree and water like crazy.

[wozza]

here is the funny thing...I got advice from someone that fish is the best food source for this tree type, to place the chopped fish on the ground around the tree and water like crazy.

errrgggg......gross, have you ever smelt rotting fish?
it smells like you have been murderd and sent to HELL.......

[schrocat]

Not so sure I'd use diced up fish.

Fish Emulsion though...it shouldn't hurt for a Spring boost.
My grandfather put that stuff on just about every plant in the garden.

I use a 10-10-10 near our J. Maple with no complaints.

Bird guano maybe?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Here is the funny thing...I got advice from someone that fish is the best food source for this tree type, to place the chopped fish on the ground around the tree and water like crazy.

I've never heard of placing chopped fish "on" the ground. Are you sure they didn't say "in" the ground? That's what Native Americans used to fertilize just about any crops.

Are you in Zone 5 or Zone 6? These trees (Acer palmatum) do best in Zones 6, 7 and 8. They do great in San Francisco, which is Zone 10a but that's because San Francisco doesn't get hot in the summer.

They're sort of like dogwoods (Cornus florida) in that they do better as understory trees. And like dogwoods and magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora), they do better in slightly acidic soil but they can adapt to just about any soil conditions.

If you have any azaleas or camellias or magnolias, the fertilizer that they sold you for those would be the same stuff to use for your Japanese maple -- or just plant some dead fish around it. I don't think I would scatter the dead fish on top of the ground but that's up to you.

It should be having it's spring growth spurt right about now, assuming you're in Zone 5 or 6.

P.S. -- I probably should have said that dogwoods and Japanese maples do better as understory trees down here in the coastal south. You can probably grow them just about anywhere, even in full sun, if you live way up north in Kentucky.

[Reefland]

I'm not really sure what zone we are in but...

The tree was bought and planted last September; it is a small one about 3' tall. it did well for the fall and winter and this spring started to bud, but then we had 4 nights in a row of hard front...need I say more?

This is where the tree was at on Wednesday:




After lots of water it started to get all these new branches at the bottom but nothing on the top. Yesterday, I pruned the dead branches, adding some fertilzer and will continue watering in hopes it will recover.

What are your thoughts?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I'm not really sure what zone we are in but...

The tree was bought and planted last September; it is a small one about 3' tall. it did well for the fall and winter and this spring started to bud, but then we had 4 nights in a row of hard front...need I say more?

This is where the tree was at on Wednesday:




After lots of water it started to get all these new branches at the bottom but nothing on the top. Yesterday, I pruned the dead branches, adding some fertilzer and will continue watering in hopes it will recover.

What are your thoughts?

It doesn't look good at all. It looks like most of the tree is dead. To tell you the truth, I don't think you should have purchased that tree in the first place. It has absolutely horrible structure for a Japanese maple. You could have worked with it but it would have taken a lot of effort and years of pruning and shaping to get it halfway decent. I hope that's not too brutally honest?

Here's what I would do if I were you. I would cut off the tree all the way down to the best looking new shoot that looks like it has a chance of being shaped into a new trunk. In other words, one that is capable of being tied upright against a stake. Then, a few weeks later, I would take off any side branches below that so that all of the tree's energy is directed through this new lead.

Or, simply give up on this tree and get a new one.

The one you have has the same leaf shape and coloration as the one in front of my dining area window. The owners of this apartment complex have no idea how to prune Japanese maples. They whack the top one-third of the tree off every spring. They must think it's a crepe myrtle or something. They did that to the one in front of my apartment in March. It has filled out quite a bit since then but this is Zone 9a. You're definitely in either Zone 5b or 6a Zone 6a. Check other Japanese maples in your area to see if they aren't leafing out by now. I'll bet they are. I'll bet you will see at least 4" to 6" of new growth by now. Which would pretty much prove that your tree is kaput.

Wikipedia entry for Acer palmatum.

Photo gallery with 2,000 pictures of Japanese maples.

[Reefland]

I spoke with a gentleman last night at the local homecenter who has 3 Japanese Maples himself and he said that he is currently experiencing the same thing. He said he has had his for about 3 years and the frost has all three in the same shape as I described mine. He said he was going to give his through this year to see what happens and I think we are going to try the same.

On another note, last night when we were trimming branches we did see plenty of green in the core of the branches (where we stopped nibbling back at), which is supposed to be a good sign?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

On another note, last night when we were trimming branches we did see plenty of green in the core of the branches (where we stopped nibbling back at), which is supposed to be a good sign?

It's a sign that the branch is not yet dead at that spot. It may or may not leaf out there and survive. You could always prune off all of those low branches, the ones that have leaves right now, and see if that forces the top to recover but that would be a drastic approach.

You're really at the northern limit for this species and young trees like this would be more susceptible to winter damage. Take out any of those thin branches that are dead. Add some fertilizer to the ground in a circle about 3-ft away from the trunk. You don't want to position the fertilizer too close to the trunk because you want to encourage the roots to grow away from the tree, not towards the tree.

It may recover but I doubt it. Any branches that don't leaf out within the next couple of weeks, probably won't survive. Even though they aren't completely dead yet, they soon will be unless you can force them to sprout.

[Reefland]

Thanks for the advice Ninong, I will keep you guys updated.

We did trim out those longer, lower dead branches last night. I am really hopeful for a recovery, although we did get a 1 year warranty so if worse comes to worse I'll yank it up.

[Ninong]

So what's up? Did the top branches leaf out yet? If not, they won't.

[Reefland]

No they haven't, but there are a few buds. We ride around in the evening often and have seen probably 20 different Japanese Maples around town and every one of them look exactly like ours. Bare at the top and full of branches at the bottom.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

No they haven't, but there are a few buds.

Well, at least that's a hopeful sign. Usually when young trees are damaged like this and they don't leaf out at the top by late spring, it usually means that all of the branches that haven't sprouted by then, won't.

[Ninong]

OK, that was three weeks ago, did the buds do anything?