Help identifying a maple

Discussion in 'Maples' started by ejrayner, Jul 27, 2016.

  1. ejrayner

    ejrayner New Member

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    When I moved into my house four years ago, there were five maple trees planted along the side of my house in full sun. They were planted by the builder and had no labels so I have no idea what variety they are. They were small, bushy trees which have grown well and are now about six feet tall. They are a spectacular red when they first leaf and then turn a dusky green with red highlights during the summer. Unfortunately, I had to remove one tree because it was badly infected with scale and I didn't want the scale to infect the other trees. However, two other trees are showing signs of scale.

    I have two questions:
    1) What variety are the trees? I wanted to replace the tree I removed because they are lovely sight in the spring. A horticulturist friend recently told me they might be 'Shindeshojo' and, indeed, pictures on the web do look very similar.
    2) If they are 'Shindeshojo', is the variety susceptible to scale? I would hate to replace it and find that it also gets infected. I would rather remove all the trees and replace them with a pest-resistant variety.

    Any advice is much appreciated. I have included a few photos - two from April when the trees were just leafing and one from July.

    Jonathan Rayner
     

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  2. maplesandpaws

    maplesandpaws Active Member

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    I can't say for certain if it/they are Shindeshojo, but the coloration certainly looks right; at minimum, it is part of that group of trees (there are several with the hot pink/red new spring growth). What is the fall colour? How big are the leaves? All the trees are the same?

    Looking at the first picture, it looks like the tree is in a box planter; is this correct? Or was it truly planted in the ground with the wood edging put around the top to keep the mulch in? Either way, the tree is planted too deep into the soil; this will cause problems down the road, if it hasn't started already. Maples should be planted high, on a slight mound, with the root flare at the base of the trunk slightly showing; mulch should also never be piled directly up against the trunk as this encourages rot and infection (see the attached picture). If it is still in the pot, with the pot 'planted' in the ground, what is the soil composition inside? If regular potting soil, this is too water retentive for maples and will help encourage root rot; a good potting soil amended with some sort of grit (turface, haydite, calcined clay, chicken grit) and soil conditioner/fine pine bark mulch, is recommended. While maples like to remain moist, they do not like wet feed, and good drainage is necessary. Also, when you pulled out the infected one, did you check the root ball at all? Was it in a burlap bag packed in clay? This needs to be removed and the roots gently loosened and teased apart; unfortunately, this is too often not done (and just about guaranteed the builder did not do this) and as a result, the roots will often end up girdling the trunk and/or other roots, contributing to a slow decline of the tree as the roots grow and the tree ages.
     

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  3. ejrayner

    ejrayner New Member

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    Thanks for your response, Andrea. To answer your questions about my trees. The four trees are all the same and the largest leaves are about 2.5 inches long ... so quite small. Fall colour is burgundy. Yes, the trees are planted in the ground not in planter boxes and the wooden frames are simply to contain the soil. We are on a sand and gravel pit here so soil is very poor but at least it provides good drainage! The roots of the tree I removed were not in a burlap bag packed in clay and they appeared to be healthy and spreading. I'll take your advice and remove the soil around the trunks and use your recommended soil conditioner/fine pine bark mulch. Do you think the way they were planted and have been growing has stressed them out and made them susceptible to scale?

    I should also mention that there are two other maples of a different variety planted along the same curb. They are also bushy but are somewhat bigger, taller trees that are vigourous growers and are flourishing. They also have smallish leaves but the leaves start off green and, as the new branch tips begin to grow in July, they come in with a reddish tinge.

    Jonathan
     

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