PLEASE help us with our Red Sunset Maple......I'm afraid it's dying!

[lynk]

I found this site last night and already it's been very helpful.

We need some help with a Red Sunset Maple tree that we had moved onto our property last July. This was a big tree...7" diameter trunk and about 15' tall. We had seen the tree in May and it looked beautiful, but when they delivered/planted, we noticed that the leaves at the top third of the tree seemed sparse. The tree colored beautifully in the fall before dropping it's remaining leaves.

This tree seemed to take forever to 'leaf-out' this spring and when it finally did, the leaves are very sparse (throughout the entire tree) and not as deep green in color as we feel it should be. It does have some new growth, but very little. Some of the leaves are still not full size.

The tree had been previously been moved about 4 years ago from a nursery to the land that the tree spade operater owned . This land is out in the open and I doubt any water was given the trees except what 'Mother Nature' provided (and as I said, this tree looked beautiful just a couple of months prior to being moved to our property). We went back to this land where our tree came from and found that all his trees (about 50) seem to be in the same condition.

We are afraid this tree is dying! We did give it a little 'root starter' this spring and of course plenty of water. Just to let you know....we had purchased another Red Sunset from this same batch 2 years ago at our previous home and that one is doing great!

Thank- you for any advice you may have for us.

Lynda

 

[Treebeard]

Hopefully the tree person gave you some instructions on care & you've followed them. Transplanting a tree is stressful to the tree...you just wacked over 75% of its roots. Some trees recover from this, others don't. Adequate care & patience is vital. Water that tree, don't over-fertilize, mulch around it to reduce competition from grasses. Be patient before writing it off. It will take several years to regrow the same root volume the tree had & until it does, it may react to the stress by dying back to match what the roots can support. Prune off dead wood as needed, try to keep every green sprig to pump energy to the roots.

 

[Jay Banks]

Lynda,
Unfortunately, each tree is an individual, they each react differently to stress. You will have to monitor your tree closely.

Look for signs of stress, wilted leaves, smaller leaves, a change in coloration from dark green to light green. This fall your tree may color up early as well.

Don't fertilize your tree yet. You are pushing your tree to grow more leaves without the root mass to support them. Be patient.

Jay Banks
Certified Arborist
Urban Forester

 

[lynk]

PLEASE...help us with our RedSunset Maple.....I'm aafraid it's dying!

Thank-you Treebeard and Jay for responding. I think we will continue to water and hope for the best.

We expected some stress to the tree, but since it was moved with one of those HUGE 'spade diggers', we thought it would be alright and as I said before, the one we purchased the previous year had done so well.

We were worried about disease to the tree, but can find nothing wrong (holes in leaves or bugs of any kind). This tree just looks half dead with it's much smaller leaves, lighter green color, and it's very sparse.

Oh...and we had been told by one nursery we called 'to feed the tree' and another told us to wait until fall.

Well, thanks again for replying. We appreciate it.

Lynda

 

[didgeridoo]

tree saving

Once again (laugh), i recommend a mychorrizae root treatment

 

[lynk]

PLEASE...help us with our Red Sunset Maple....

Thank-you didgeridoo.....

This is the kind of information we were looking for (although, at first I wasn't quite sure how to interpret your post).

We consulted a local arborist and he came out yesterday and said that the tree was 'stressed' and that we should have it 'thinned' and then fertilized in the fall. I know he is the expert, but again I was hoping to find some answer to aid the tree now.

It is hard to know what to do as I have now read many posts on this site which recommend NOT pruning (which seems to make more sense to us).

Anyway, didgerdoo, I have searched for information about this mychorrizae root treatment and we are going to consult some local nurseries again today to see what else we can learn about it.

Lynda

 

[Treebeard]

Pruning a transplanted tree is one of those topics ...ask 3 tree folks & get at least 4 different answers
The theory is that reducing the trees leaf surface or canopy reduces water needs by reducing the amount the tree can transpire to the air. With a reduced root systems the tree ends up sucking bottom, losing more water from above than can be restored from below, then the leaves wilt. Another option to pruning is spraying the tree with chemicals that reduce water transpiration..the site sponson, Sherril sells some of these. When you water this stressed tree it's important to make sure you water the root ball. Until the original soil & the root ball soil merge watering around the tree in the original soil just lets the water flow right by the rootball. Do you use a tree well around the tree? Mulch? Both help alot.

 

[lynk]

PLEASE....help with our Red Sunset Maple.....

Treebeard,

Thank-you again!

I responded to you with a 'new post' instead of 'reply'. Oops!

Lynda

 

[didgeridoo]

mychorrizae vs fertilizing & thinning

Just to give make life more complicated I must say that thinning a stressed tree may well stress it more, while it is a good thing for a tree I would wait until the tree shows signs of recovery.

fertilizing - the thing with standard NPK fertilizers is that they tend to cause a nutrient imbalance between the crown and root. i.e. a lot of the growth becomes concentrated in the crown. Mychorrizae is more of a holistic treatment, because a strong root is what is required. If a mychorrizae treatment is successful i would not fertilize at all, but i would then consider thinning at a later date. A stressed tree may be stressed more by thinning and fertilizer, and will be susceptible to diseases, and will have more areas where fungi can infect from pruning wounds.

 

[lynk]

PLEASE...help us with our Red Sunset Maple....

didgerido and Treebeard,

Thank-you both so much for your help. We have learned a lot! This site has been most useful.

We have been watering the rootball correctly and the mulching is fine. There was some 'wilting' last July when the tree was planted, but it seemed to quickly recover. We want to do some landscaping in the general area (shrubs, etc.), but we have purposely held off as not to 'compete' with the tree until well established.

As was said, there are differing opinions for pruning and fertilizing! We are taking your advice and NOT pruning. This seems to make more sense to us. I have also been investigating the mychorrrizae treatment and that sounds like something we are looking into. We are going today to some of the larger nurseries in the area to do some more investigating. (We had never heard of it before).

So,...just want to thank-you both again. I am much more hopeful about our beautiful tree!

Lynda