I have a beautiful red maple tree but the last 3 springs the leaves turn from bright red to almost green by June. The tree is approx. 13+ years and as last year, has already started to turn green again. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?? PS. I transplanted this tree 10 years ago when it was about 8 feet in height from the shady front of our house to the sunny backyard, but only started turning green 2 years ago
When red Japanese Maples are in too much shade, they typically turn green. It sounds like you are saying you moved your maple to a sunny spot. Has that spot become more shady in the last 10 years? Even in shady spots, my red Japanese Maples will hold their color into June.
That is a fine healthy tree and is just showing you how wonderful and exciting Japanese maples are in the real world. Enjoy the variations :) Even deep red leaves can be green on the underside on many occasions. Marvellous and beautiful.
The leaves look more red at the top of the tree than the lower part. Maybe it is just shading itself as it has grown in size.
Thank you for the replies. @ Saskwatch..thank you for the info and no the spot has not become more shady, more likey the opposite. @ Maf what is shading itself mean?? @ Whis4ey....I'm still loving the tree, just confused the the new colors.
I meant maybe the top part of the tree is shading the lower part and causing the lower leaves to green out. From the overall shot of the tree the top still looks red.
@ Maf, thank you for your reply. All of the new leaves came in red, and are now starting to turning green, if it does the same as the two previous years it will likely lose all of it's red color by June...I keep you posted with new pics if you are interested?
My dwarf Acer Palmatum did the same change about 4 years ago and has not changed back despite being moved to a much sunnier location (it's in a pot). I've repotted, fertilized, moved to "better" locations all to no avail. What was once a brilliant red is still a beautiful tree but no longer something that draws the eye and creates a sparkle. It was in a fairly shady place the year the change happened. There are tinges of red around the outside of the leaves but that's all. It is not growing from below the graft; these are the same branches that were once red. I've asked my local garden shops but they don't have an answer for "WHY?"
I've read that over-fertilizing can "green" a red maple, and also that hot weather contributes to greening. Has anyone else read this, or know more about it?
Thanks for the suggestion. Knowing how little and rarely I have fertilized (nothing this season), that may not be the problem in this case.
Here is one of mine, it's potted and in full sun from 10:00 to 18:00. It retained its red colour until the end of July. This year was the driest, hottest summer in decades I can remember. I watered it (almost) every morning, but some days, it was so hot (20° at night, 35°+ during the day, we had even 38° here) that when back from work, I could see that some had suffered. I repotted it two years ago, threw in a handful of slow-release "pearls" of fertilizer (like 6-6-6) and never added anything else since. 16 August 2016: Today:
