30ish+ year old Japanese maple, possibly Bloodgood cultivar – red leaves in spring and autumn, dark green red late summer. Full afternoon sun, zone 7b/8a southeast USA. It has been in decline for the last 5 or more years since I moved here. It never put out many leaves in spring – this is not bare because of fall. It did start putting out a few new leaves in late summer, which are the brighter red leaves, and many of the extended branch tips I thought were dead showed some minor activity at that time. But as you can see, there are also many larger branches that have died and broke off. I never provided irrigation or fertilizer to it which may have been the problem, which I'm not sure is reconcileable now.
Is it worth trying to save it or rejuvenate it? Or should I chop it down and start over? I would plant a Moonfire cultivar in its place.
by Captainkirk05
4 Comments
It needs some love from Kylie
Could be an issue of verticillium wilt, looks like some of the leaves it did push out are stunted and wilted. Dieback that continues to coalesce to larger sections of the canopy over multiple growing seasons is also a verti sign. I’d take a limb cutting and look for darkening in the sapwood. If you’re seeing that, then that’s probably the answer. In which case, yeah it’s best to just remove it.
It’s a soilborne pathogen, so you’d want to replace it with something resistant or the same thing may just happen to whatever goes in its place.
The overall additional of too much calcium from the decomposing bones of the skeleton can be detrimental to the tree, raising the pH level past where it is comfortable. (Same goes for Limestone and other lawn treatments that affect pH level).
r/derailedbydetails