I planted this maple late last summer (zone 5/6) This is the first spring since its been planted and it's starting to leaf out but I'm not sure why it's leafing out only towards the bottom? Also, the lower bottom leaves seem darker in colour and less pert compared to the few up top (which are more red in colour and perky). Most if the other maples I've seen have leafed out a lot more than mine has...Any ideas? Should I just wait?
I'll be curious to hear what others say about this because I have had that problem with a few maples here, too. Also, spotty leaf sprout, not just at the bottom, but on other branches. One will be leafing out and next to it another looks almost dead. The only thing I wondered about here as far as our weather was the spring low temps. We had many nights pretty late in spring (mid to late April) when there were freezing temps and maybe a little lower. I kind of thought what finally started coming out may have been a second flush, maybe the first was damaged by the low night time temps. Plus, I moved the maples small enough to move last March, so this was their first winter after the move and I know I damaged some roots in the move. I thought maybe that be part of the problem. I have had the spotty leaf sprout before, though. Right now the maple that looks just like your picture is A. palmatum 'Rugosa' and I am thinking it might be in an area that is staying too moist. Like I said at the beginning, maybe others can offer suggestions.
While I cannot tell you exactly what is going on here, I can suggest a couple of possible scenarios that pretty much coincide with kaydye's suggestions above. The first (and less likely) possibility is that something is directly affecting the above ground part of the tree and has killed many of the buds, such as severe frost or bird predation. The upper branches may have been more affected as they are more exposed to the elements and more accessible to the birds. The more likely scenario is that the root system has been compromised and no longer has sufficient stored energy to fully leaf out the tree. There is enough left in the metaphorical gas tank to send some sap up to the lower branches and very little is going to the higher branches. The most likely cause of root problems is poor drainage leading to an oxygen deficient root zone and subsequent root death. I don't know your planting method Dscotto, but the surrounding earth looks very poor in quality and if you planted your maple in a hole filled with a better textured mix you may have inadvertantly created a bathtub effect and are slowly drowning your tree. If so, dig it up ASAP and plant it in a raised mound instead.
Thank you so much for replying. Both seem like it could be the issue. If I were to better prep the soil around the tree (which we plan to do in a week or so) would I still have to dig out the tree? It does look a bit better now but still looks to be struggling a bit as there are quite a few branches (one major one) that have not leafed out at all....and just to add another worry to the list - I have ants gathering on various parts of the trunk. Could anyone tell me why?
Just as a PS to the post earlier. I have noticed many of mine that have wilted, dead leaves, but behind them the stem looks healthy with new buds forming. So, I definitely had frost/freeze problems on some. The one I have that looks like yours doesn't look much better than before and I am concerned that the ground is staying too wet. I am deciding whether or not to pull it out and put it into a pot for a year or two to get the roots strong again. We have recently moved to a new house and it has some serious clay in places that I will have to be careful about.
When you see ants on a tree it's usually because they're 'farming' aphids....protecting them in return for the 'honeydew' they secrete.Not 100% sure but think I can see a scale insect in your photo which the ants are interested in.I believe some ants also 'farm' these.
