Japanese Maple

[jmaple]

Can I save my Japanese maple?

 

[lone wolf]

View attachment 1193332
Can I save my Japanese maple?

You can try, cut all the dead out all the way down and look close to see what might be killing it and see if you can treat.

 

[capetrees]

You can try, cut all the dead out all the way down and look close to see what might be killing it and see if you can treat.

yup, I've done that to a few of those and they've come back. One was buried in a mess of overgrowth of poison ivy and honeysuckle and once exposed, trimmed of the deads and pretty much back to a stump. 5 years later it looks pretty respectable.

 

[lone wolf]

yup, I've done that to a few of those and they've come back. One was buried in a mess of overgrowth of poison ivy and honeysuckle and once exposed, trimmed of the deads and pretty much back to a stump. 5 years later it looks pretty respectable.

I hate PI!

 

[ChuckMI]

Somebody may have overdone it with herbicide. It will probably eventually recover since it isn't dead.

 

[Del_]

Somebody may have overdone it with herbicide. It will probably eventually recover since it isn't dead.

Jap maples seem really sensitive to Round up vapors. I've damaged a few of mine over the years and they suffer damage when no other plants around it do.

 

[jmaple]

We have NEVER herbicide anything in that area. Only mulched it. My husband plans on cutting the dead branches in the fall. We called an arborist but he never came by. We are at a lose on why it happened.

 

[Bullseye T&L]

We have NEVER herbicide anything in that area. Only mulched it. My husband plans on cutting the dead branches in the fall. We called an arborist but he never came by. We are at a lose on why it happened

Any more info on what has been done and when. Some more background on the tree would be helpful. How long have you been mulching? Has it been mulched that deep for very long? Have you treated with any insecticide, and which ones? Have you checked for insects? Have you treated with any fungicide, and which ones? When did it start dying back? Did it die back quickly or over a long period of time? Have you checked it for girdling roots? Does the soil stay wet in that area? These are all the questions a good arborist will ask or things they should check.

Personally, I think you need to pull the mulch back from around base of tree. The idea is to form a donut ring and keep the mulch from piling up and contacting the lower bark. The latter will cause the lower bark tissue to decline, effectively girdling the tree. But, with dieback that extensive, I'd be willing to bet the tree is planted too deep - meaning the bark problem is even deeper - or that there is significant girdling in the root area. Another possibility would be root rot. Call that arborist again, or find another one that does a lot of PHC (plant health care). Some arborists only focus on the bigger projects. Find one that likes the smaller jobs like yours.