Japanese King Maple - Save?

[mesh2011]

Hello,

This is great site, the folks in-charge should be proud.

We have a Japanese King Maple that we purchased and planted ourselves about 3 years ago.

It has never done that well. It drops its leaves early and just does not "look" great.

This tree was one of our first tree purchases, reading this site I think we selected it poorly, but... maybe we can preserve it and improve it. We purchased 4 different trees at the time, and this is the only one that is doing poorly. It was also the largest and most expensive.

Pictures are attached.

Problems we would appreciate advice on:

1) Many of the tree's limbs are growing straight up. Some limbs from the bottom are now as tall as the tree. Where should I cut them? Should I?

2) The bark seems to be splitting on the trunk. Does this mean anything?

3) Except for a brief period in the spring, the leaves never look healthy. I've attached a close up, and they have looked like that for weeks. The small ginko tree we planted at the same time as this big tree, is still healthy and nice looking.

thanks in advance,

Matthew

 

[Sheshovel]

I hate to be the one to tell you this but that tree is in very bad shape,it is cracking like that because it has weight stress from misplaced branching and too much weight on one side.But I think the tree has borers also,.
My recommondation is to remove the tree and replace it and when you do,keep the lawn away from the tree in a much bigger area and prune properly so it does not get into the shape this one is in.I think it is past the point of saving.Another Ginko ? and buy a smaller tree to start they catch-up to larger planted trees quickly and are more able to adjust than a bigger tree.

 

[mesh2011]

thank you for the response. We pretty much have given up on the tree, but we were hoping against hope.

Is Fall or Spring the best time to plant trees? Fall ?

 

[Sheshovel]

Now,plant now before the soil gets too wet or frozen.And don't plant it in the exact same spot if possible.Just in case.

 

[treeseer]

cracking may be due to sunscald too. The trunk goes into the ground like a pole--bad sign taht it was probably planted deep. Dig away until you find the flare--see New Tree Planting in the link below. It may have correctable root defects that are the cause of the problems.

way too early to give up on that thing.

**No decision should be made about a lving tree until you have seen the trunk flare.**

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The tree was planted too deep. You need to be able to see the flare.
I'm only guessing here, but I'd say it's 10 to 12 inches too deep. This means digging it up and replanting it at the correct grade. Given that it's already stressed out, it may be better to just start over.
To eliminate the guess work, take a garden trowel and dig out around the trunk until you see a natural widening, the trunk flare. Be careful not to scrape up the bark. Take a picture and we will advise further.

 

[Sheshovel]

I can almost guarantee you those are stress cracks not sun scauld.And it is obvious the tree is in very bad shape.With badly spaced branching and on only one side of the tree.If I am correct I you can see borer entry areas about the center of the tree .

 

[Sheshovel]

And also it is a bit deep bbut I dont think that is the reason for this trees problems.Respectfully Sheshovel

 

[treeseer]

And also it is a bit deep but I dont think that is the reason for this trees problems.Respectfully Sheshovel

She, it may be different in CA than TN, but most city trees' problems originate below the ground here.

There may be scale on the tree but I see no borer holes. If there are, they are secondary scavengers.

The crown looks fairly symmetrical to me; easy to fix that part by pruning.

Re stress cracks/sunscald, I don't see enough crown to put enough strain on the stem to make cracks, but who knows, you may be right, it may be windy there. This also is a minor problem compared to the root/depth issue, which imvho must be seen before time is spent on other problems.

 

[Sheshovel]

Treeseer,No the tree problems are about the same here in Ca as they are in Ten,and if that tree's branching is fairly symmetrical to you then there must be something in the water there that makes you have the special ability to perform magic and make a tree become beutifull when there is no chance of that ever happining .Not with this tree anyway
Did you not notice the Lichen growing on that tree?
It does have a bug also though hard to tell it may not be borers ..but I see no scale at all on this tree either.
it was most likely attacked because it was planted too deep and that has weakened it and made it vunerable to pests,that is completely correct.
Sometimes it is best to cut your losses and plant a new tree that will be beutifull and enjoyable while you are still on this earth to enjoy it,rather than try and "fix" a tree in this shape and wait years and years to see any results ..that is IF there are any results.

 

[treeseer]

it was planted too deep and that has weakened it and made it vunerable to pests,that is completely correct. .

Agreed, we await pictures from the original poster to verify that....Hello mesh?

Lichens==several threads on this but overall I don't see them as a problem.
How is it in CA?

Re symmetrical crown, I was just noting that there were branches on all sides of the plant. If the root structure is good then the branch structure can be made good, over time; in a young tree like this anyway.

Re maple cultivars, I hate to see these things dominate the shade tree market when there are so many other potential choices. But it's such easy profit for the grower and an easy choice for the buyer. We may have to wait for an epidemic to change people's choices of shade trees.

 

[Sheshovel]

agreed!That's for sure..

 

[jimmyq]

.

 

[Sheshovel]

OK what I am saying is..the amount of tree you would have to prune off to make this tree right would most likely change the root to crown balance that the tree would become worse and not better.I at 1ST thought I saw sign of borer,but I was incorrect in that assessment of it's condition.
My opinion is truly that..a professional opinion.Take it or leave it but there it is.That is what the exact same advice I would have given for the tree had a client called me for an evaluation and it would have cost them and not been free.

 

[treeseer]

OK what I am saying is..the amount of tree you would have to prune off to make this tree right would most likely change the root to crown balance that the tree would become worse and not better.

Thanks for the explanation. Remember, I said " the branch structure can be made good, *over time*; in a young tree like this anyway." Acceptable dose on this tree may be up to 50%.
Regardless, I'd like to know more about this root/crown balance. How is it bad for the tree to have too many roots?

That is what the exact same advice I would have given for the tree had a client called me for an evaluation and it would have cost them and not been free.

Well, not exactly. When we're paid we are usually on site, and can be more comprehensive and responsible. Here, we are guessing a lot. If Matthew is still listening, I hope he checks the rest of the trees out. Even if their symptoms are not evident to him, those trees may have similar subterranean-based problems.

 

[mesh2011]

Wow! I finally re-checked the site tonight. Great discussion, sorry I didn't check sooner.

I'm pretty sure we didn't plant the tree too deep, I even remember my wife making sure about that when we planted it, she knew better ( I wouldn't have, but that is the great thing about marriage!). The ground cover is probably making it look too deep. The root ball was just a bit below the surface and the "flare" is there. I'll try to get a picture once the weather clears up here.

I'm all for trying to save it. I love Japanese maples. We bought this King Maple, the ginko in the background, a norway spruce fir, a blue spruce fir, and a lace leaf japanese maple, all from the same nursery at the same time. The other trees are all doing well/ok. But except for the ginko, the others are all in the front yard, which gets alot less sun.

The Maple in the picture gets full sun, pretty much all day.

I'll try to get another picture in the next couple of days.

thanks!

Matthew

PS. I almost cut it down today, but it started raining.... I guess I still might

 

[Elmore]

Japanese Maple???

Japanese King Maple???...never heard of that one before now...are you sure it is a Japanese Maple?
Perhaps it is an Acer platanoides 'Crimson King'
The bark doesn't look like any Japanese Maple that I know of.
When planting many young maples, with the exception of asian maples, I recommend wrapping the trunks for a season or two.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I agree it's a Norway Maple, not a Japanese Maple.
The tree is planted too deep. What you think is the flare is likely just the graft union, which can be easily confused with the flare. The graft union is often 7 to 11 inches above the flare.
After looking again at the tree, I think it's the second picture, the leaves look dead, and the bark on the trunk looks like it's not cracked, but falling off.
Can you scratch any small stems with your fingernail and see green just under the bark?

 

[mesh2011]

Sorry, yes, it is a "Crimson King Maple"(or at least that is what we were told.) For some reason I always want to add the Japanese to the name.

Here is a picture of where the tree meets the earth. All I did was remove the mulch with my bare hand.

Here is also a picture where I selected a random branch at eye level, and gently scrapped it with my nail.

thanks again!

Matthew

 

[Elmore]

It's still green. I would dig it up, observe the roots and plant it higher.