Amber Ghost giving up ghost?

Discussion in 'Maples' started by Geezer840, May 8, 2012.

  1. Geezer840

    Geezer840 Active Member 10 Years

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    I planted a 2" caliper Amber Ghost last fall. The area where planted was an old construction road of compressed gravel and debris. I dug out a hole 2X the size of the root ball and about as deep. I filled in half of the hole with a mixture of good soil and compost and also created a trench to provide drainage for the hole and filled it with mulch and rock. The root ball was placed in the hole and amply watered. A combination of good dirt, and some compost was used to mound around the root ball.
    This winter was extremely wet.
    This spring the Amber Ghost started to leaf out but the majority of leaves seemed to wilt after beginning to form, never reaching full size. Most of the tree has not had leaves form yet and many of those small leaves have begun to dry. There are a few leaves that have not dried, but are only about half normal size.
    Any suggestions? Dig out and give up or wait and hope?
     
  2. maf

    maf Generous Contributor Maple Society 10 Years

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    It doesn't sound good. I would wait a couple more weeks yet, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.
    The symptoms you describe seem to indicate total, or near total, root fatality during the winter. This spring the plant has used up its remaining energy reserves trying to leaf out and simply ran out of steam. The roots could have been killed by drowning, or, less likely, a pathogen.

    With the planting method you described, and the unusual subsurface, a bathtub effect may have been created. Even though the rootball was partially above ground it could still have drowned if the soil was totally waterlogged. If planting in the same area again it might be better to place the rootball on the substrate surface and mound soil around to create the planting area as a gently sloping berm or mound.
     
  3. SFyffe

    SFyffe Active Member

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    Hi,

    You may want to dig the tree up and put it back into a container. A tree will literally do everything it can to survive. Including throwing off its leaves and going back into total dormancy.

    It is hard to tell what happened on a description alone. Maybe somthng in the construction debris, maybe the compost was too hot. What we can safely say is that it is not happy were it is at. Move it out and take care of it for another year and see what happens.

    Stephen
     
  4. Geezer840

    Geezer840 Active Member 10 Years

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    My thanks for the feedback. I believe I will wait a few weeks and see if any of the branches that have leaves will survive.
     

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