Japanese Maple dying??

joseph brand

This tree was bought 2 yrs ago. I had it planted beside my shed, but it started to loose leaves. The ground where it was planted was shaded and damp, never dried. So I put it in a bucket with compost, manure and soil. It has been looking the same, like it's frozen in time.

Any help appreciated.

Here's a pic.

looksee

Many of the Japanese maples are easy enough to grow, but they do need a bit of tlc. I'd say it did not get a decent root system going where you had it originally, and now it is just sulking.

I doubt it will do much in the pot, sometimes they are ok but eventually you need to plant them out as they can get to quite a decent size. The size depends on what variety it is, yours looks like a reasonably big one. Your best hope is to put it into the garden in a decent, sheltered spot, feed it and hope for the best, but it may be past saving.

mrgaa1

OP - unreal mine is doing exactly the same. It was fine 10 days ago and now its just the same as your picture. I've had mine planted for about 5 years now and it did this last year (so i'm told). I haven't watered it as much this summer but it has been raining recently.

Meelich

These trees do best when they get some sunshine and don't like waterlogged roots. I have one which I had in a pot for a couple of years, it was failing badly, replanted it in the ground in a sunnier spot with some chicken manure and now it's doing fine. i would say it doesn't like the soil conditions so try putting it somewhere else and giving it some kind of a feed.....best of luck, when they do thrive they really are gorgeous trees.

garethcnmjones

Like these trees...



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Redwood77

Hey guys,

From the pic this maple has got a bit of a doing. Difficult to be certain without testing but I'd bet my lunch that it is suffering from a Verticillium wilt. This is a fungal disease that attacks the roots and causes stem diebacck. Symptoms exactly like your pic.
The frost this year probably caused root and shoot death, this then allowed the disease to penetrate.
To cure - difficult, but the manure added propably won't help. Dig up, shke off a little of soil around roots and pot up with good quality peat compost. Do not overwater. Trim back all the dead bits on the stems as this will carry disease spores. A fungicide may help, however you may need a nursery friend to acquire this. Octave(Prochloraz) drenched onto the compost may help. Apart from that cultural growing conditions are the most important in disease prevention with Verticillium.
Best advice - buy another plant and try again in good soil!