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| Planted a commemoration maple (3" caliper) in October of 2010. Good for last summer. Very pale green w/small leaves and sparse foliage this year. Now turning red. Very hot and dry in Chicago suburbs this summer. I worried about overwatering (2x week from hose around trunk.) earlier this summer, but I have not watered in a few weeks and the tree looks worse than ever. Help! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Jul 31, 12 at 7:40
| dig a hole near the edge of the root ball that was planted .... and find out how moist at 3 to 6 inches .. and then water properly ken |
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| There are all sorts of known procedural issues with planting larger caliper trees that unfortunately are not given due consideration. 1. Removing any rope or cutting away the steel basket larger trees come in. As the tree grows, they cut into the tree eventually stunting or killing it. 2. Checking for roots that wrap around the trunk. They will eventually strangle the tree. 3. Soaking the rootball fairly frequently until established. The rootball can be bone dry even when the surrounding area is moist. 4. Caution with the string trimmer. Young maples have thin bark and are vulnerable to careless lawn care. |
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- Posted by pscott1455 none (My Page) on Tue, Jul 31, 12 at 11:43
| Smivies, thanks for your thoughts. Here is what I have done to date: 1. Removed rope and cut back, but did not remove the steel basket from the B&B rootball. 2. Did not see any girdling roots. 3. Soaked the rootball frequently and deeply the first year. 4. No string trimmer problem. This is cleared of turf and mulched to the drip line. |
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| Put up some pics if you can. That can go a long ways toward helping determine what the possible problems are. Have you done a peculation test? Digg a hole 12-18" deep nearby. Fill to overflowing with water daily for 1 week. At the end of 1 week, fill again. Wait 24 hrs and measure how much the water level has dropped. This should give you a good ideal of how well the soil drains, and also if there s rock/severely compacted soil to that depth. Been any activity around the tree? Equipment, cars, spills, spraying, anything at all? Has there been dry wind? Are you in drought (like were are)? Have you had the soil analysed for nutrients and pH? Do you know your soil type (this can often be found on your local county GIS site)? Anything growing on the trunk? Any trunk damage? Discolorations? Sunken cankers? Signs of borer's? Just trying to think of anything that might be possible problems that could easily be missed. BTW, we also have a Commemoration Sugar Maple here in north Arkansas, and it is one of my favorite trees. Arktrees |
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- Posted by pscott1455 Chicagoland (My Page) on Wed, Aug 1, 12 at 0:27
| Well, I have pics, but cannot figure how to upload them. I am not fully convinced that overwatering is the issue. Perhaps just stress from heat and hot winds. No work nearby. Trunk looks good. No tatter on leaves. Just sparse, small, and turning red. Like October in July. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, Aug 1, 12 at 21:59
| pscott, given the abnormally hot and dry conditions, I too doubt you were ever overwatering it. On the other hand, it does seem possible that more recently, you may have been underwatering it. Do as Ken et all say......make certain through direct physical inspection that the original soil ball is moist. I really doubt you could have been overwatering this tree. But checking is the only way to be certain. +oM |
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