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| The last 2 hot drought stricken summers in Oklahoma took a serious hit on my Japanese maple on the N side of my house. We recently built a pergola which will give 50% more shade where it is planted. My tree has come back about 50% and looks great the other half appears to be dead. Do I trim off the dead brances now or wait till spring? My hubby wants to cut the whole thing out and replant another but this has been such a gorgeous tree I feel bad giving up. Additional details, there are large cracks on some of the brabches that are quite deep and these seem to be the areas that are dying. Thank you for any advice. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Sun, Oct 21, 12 at 20:12
| How unique have your last couple summers been? If pretty normal for Oklahoma I might plant a different type of tree. St Louis just had a HOT DRY summer that I guess would be normal for Oklahoma. Since it was record hot and dry I am going to see if my sick looking plants recover. If it were a once a decade type hot I would plant something better suited. Hopes that helps. Oh, I might wait for spring and if the dead looking branches have no leaves then remove them. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 22, 12 at 8:12
| let me get this straight.. hubby is willing to go buy you a NEW.. PRIME SPECIMEN ... and you want to fool around with a bunch of old dead sticks under your new pergola ... what you spend $1000 on a pergola.. to protect an ugly piece of carp .. crimminey .. snap some pix.. get an ID .. procure a new one of the same.. and get that piece of 'nure out of there .. and be done with it ... double crimminy ... lol ken ps: the other side of the coin is to post a pic.. and let us help you decide if it is salvageable thru pruning ... JM's are more free form than most trees.. and thru judicious pruning.. you can usually create a gorgeous specimen .. IF it is salvageable ... |
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| Ok, here are the pic. Tree has been here for almost 10 years and until last year was absolutely gorgeous, my favorite tree. Here are some pics with some close ups of the branch issue. Thanks guys! |
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| It lost all of its leaves about mid July, just now coming back. And for those that may think it could have been related to pergola construction, the tree was in this shape before that started, the cooler weather snapped it back to where it is now. |
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| Pitiful eh? |
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| Any way you can turn anti-gravity mode off on your camera? ;) Time for your baby to go. Take advantage of your husbands generosity and start over. This one is toast, sorry! John |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 22, 12 at 12:23
| OMG!!! and i thought the 90 degree pix were bad.. instant headache.. lol ... cut off EVERYTHING that has no leaves.. then spend 5 minutes pondering what is left .. will it live.. probably.. do you really want to look at it for 5 years?? .. bet not.. be done with it ... and i was right!! ... a very big investment.. in what looks like a very nice pergola ... this piece of carp is detracting from its gloriousness .... ken |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, Oct 23, 12 at 14:58
| Lots of problems can befall Japanese maples that will result in this sort of appearance - a tree species that is probably more sensitive to climatic or cultural stressors than just about any other. There is no point prolonging the inevitable - this tree is never going to regain any semblance of its former glory. But I would really like to know what's going on before suggesting you replace it with another JM. Some diseases will linger in the soil for extended periods of time and replanting with the same species just results in a similar grief down the road. And this amount of dieback does look like a pathogen rather than just a summer heat or water issue. Take photos and samples into your local extension service for an accurate diagnosis. They will be able to tell you if you are safe in replanting with another Japanese maple. |
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| That it grows completely upside down makes it a remarkable specimen. Seriously, if it was my money I was going to spend, I'd leave that tree and see if the pergola does enough to protect it from next summer. This would accomplish 2 things. #1. You'd know if the pergola is adequate to protect a new, expensive specimen, if you choose to replace the old one. #2. You'd be able to see if the old tree can recover enough to eventually be beautiful again. That's what I would do with my $$$. Damaged trees that survive can develop remarkable character and a unique beauty. If it was any other kind of tree, especially a large one that would have potentially dangerous structural issues with that kind of damage, I would simply replace, but JMs are very special trees. |
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| Well why don't you go in there and hack off all the dead limbs (brown under the surface bark is dead, green is alive), take a step back, and see the monstrosity that is still alive. It won't be pretty and THAT is exactly what you have now and will have to look at for a decade if/when it recovers. But as Gal suggested, a sample sent to be tested would be prudent. She is pretty much the resident expert in Japanese maples. (no offense bboy!) John |
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| Great ideas! Thank you for the recommendation to have testing done. Do not want a repeat of this same issue! We are getting ready to install a pool, so I want this area to look good, this are of my yard will be a disater till spring with the "de"struction going on so I will wait and see and go from there come spring. Still not sure how to solve the anti-gravity issue :o)~ |
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