Last year 2 Japanese maples (Bloodgood and small Laceleaf) produced buds, but failed to leaf out. I posted about it and the consensus was they were dead. This spring the Laceleaf leafed out and has put out a bunch of new growth. Unfortunately the Bloodgood is in the same situation as last year. It put out a bunch of buds, but only a couple leafed out completely. Sent pics to a local arborist and was told it’s dead, but I keep reading if you get green from a scratch test it’s still alive. So yeah, I’m really confused as to if it’s alive or dead. I guess the correct answer would be is that it’s actively dying. It looks really cool for Halloween, but I’m ready to cut and down and plant something new. I would like to preserve some semblance of it, so my question is can I prop from these small buds in the pics? If so, what’s the best method? Thanks
by IIIRIVERIII
2 Comments
She’s fighting to survive 🙂 when trees, plants, flowers get stressed, they do their best to reproduce before they’re gone for good. I’ve seen pics of people putting moss around the base of a sprout (bigger than a a few inches). Poke a couple shallow holes with a thumb tac at baby base, cover with a handful of moss. Wrap the moss-covered base in some saran wrap, just tight enough to keep the moss touching the mama bark and baby trunk in contact with the moss/pin holes. Keep a spot at the baby trunk base and a spot of moss open to water. Keep the moss damp, water every day or 2. Just an eighth of a cup of water should do. Check for roots in a couple of weeks. If u see some, let it be for few more weeks.
I would probably just try a chop n prop 🙂 but I’ve seen the moss thing work for others online. Good luck 🙂
If you don’t try it will definitely not work.
If you do try it might.
Your call.