5-year-old Japanese Maple never grows!!! Please help!! (photo!)

whis4ey - I took a quick look at the area he lives and he is in a USDA climate zone 5b which is the same weather we have here (more or less) in New England. In general the weather in the hottest part of the year is in the 80s hitting 90 and up occasionally.

The location seems quite reasonable from a climate standpoint.

That said, I have my Bloodgood growing in (nearly) full sun in similar conditions. However, since this tree appears to be sending up shoots from the original rootstock and not the Bloodgood graft, it could be anything, so it is difficult to know.

BK, the point is the tree should see some shade during the day - ideally during the hottest hours of the day. Only you can answer if this tree is somewhat protected during that time.

Pay attention to your yard, and try to understand where the spots are that offer you some morning and evening sun, but can provide you cover around the high noon hours. I would watch the shadow of the large tree to see if a spot can be selected to that it can cover you small Acer.

Regards,
-CSL-

 

Seems a bit too hot to me :)

 

Yes, we had similar weather that was above norm in July (worse actually nearly 20 degrees above the norm), my Orange Dream dropped out 65% of its leaves and it is in a heavily shaded spot - take a look at the graph for average and daily where he is; the days it got hot were about 10 degrees above the norm.

Hot yes, but death valley it isn't ;^)

Cheers,
-CSL-

http://www.accuweather.com/us/ks/overland%2Dpark/66213/forecast-month.asp?mnyr=8-01-2010

 

Thanks so much for the continued help! I don't know what I would do without all of you to support me in getting this tree to grow!

I **THINK** that some new buds are starting to show up that weren't there before. I say "Think" because if they WERE there before I didn't notice them. (i've attached a few photos).

The strange thing about the leaves and leaf color...is that in May the leaves were BRIGHT red...it was quite beautiful to look at...and even from far away you could see this big bright patch of red in our yard....but then by July and now...the red has all turned pale green and the leaves don't look too great. These little buds that I see are red...

 

Hey all, it's me again!

So over the last couple of days I have noticed some new growth on my tree...but I'm not honestly sure if it's healthy, good growth or not...

Basically, early in the week I noticed a lot of little red buds which I posted pics of above, in my previous post right before this one. Well, now, at the end of the week I am noticing all these white stick-like growths from the tree...I don't really know how to better describe it. It just seems like there are all these white stick type things sticking out all over from the branches...are they supposed to be white and stick-like? I don't know..having no experience watching my tree grow I'm not sure if this is a natural part of the growth process or not but it looks sorta weird to me. I've posted a few pics but unfortunately it doesn't look as clear in the pictures as in real life. Can anyone tell me what this is/if this is ok??

 

They are just normal twig die back which occurs on some maples.
I saw them in your earliest pictures as I did the many red buds.
Give your tree some time for the miracle of growth to manifest.

 

Bkhappyfriday
How is your Maple? I was wondering....

 

I ended up trying to transplant it to a different area of the yard but sadly it didn’t make it. It never grew after that and ended up dying and it is no longer with us. :/ sorry for the sad news!

 

Certain Japanese maple cultivars can persist in USDA 5 but most are on the margin in USDA 6. Kansas is in the middle of the US where summers are dry and grasslands prevalent. And a humid climate tree like a Japanese maple might need to be planted in a special situation such as an island in the center of a pool that is enclosed by architecture. As was the case with a Cornus florida on the campus of Washington State University when I was a student there in the 1970s. With the surrounding original ecosystem in Pullman being shortgrass prairie. And the dominant occupied landscape around the town having become wheat fields.