I live in Charlotte NC. I planted a Japanese Maple about six weeks ago. It was to replace a Japanese Maple that was killed by last years late winter freeze. Today I noticed the leaves are shriveling. It gets watered about once a week and the soil- like most of the Charlotte area is primarily clay. I've attached pictures to help identify the issue. Is it simply not getting enough water, or is the problem more complicated than that? Any help is appreciated, I don't want to replace another tree! EDIT: Can't find photos! I've uploaded them, but can't see them attached to my post! Don't know why...
I can't find the reference right now, but Christopher Lloyd, the great English garden writer, discusses somewhere a syndrome that afflicts young woody plants that are put in the ground to replace an older plant of the same species. According to Lloyd, such plants often fail to thrive. They don't die right off, but they suffer from a variety of ailments or simply display weak growth and general lack of vigor and hardiness. This phenomenon seems to afflict some species more than others -- roses evidently are especially vulnerable. The likely explanation would seem to be that the soil is populated by a multitude of hostile micro-beasties that formerly laid siege to the original plant -- which, however, had time to mount a vigorous defense, building up its store of anti-beasties and otherwise steeling itself for the onslaught. An innocent young plant, freshly weaned from the nursery, will not be equipped to deal with these grizzled and angry combatants, and so -- if not killed outright -- will face a desperate battle for which it was never properly prepared. There are two solutions: plant an unrelated species in the same spot, or plant the same species a safe distance away.
A very intelligent summary Kaspian ...... I like it :) Roses, as you say, are especially vulnerable The theory also exists, in regard to Japanese maples, that diseases that killed the first tree continue to live in the soil and will eventuially kill the second one too I had a Senkaki die many years ago, which i replaced with another one, again many years ago It has succumbed this year and will have to be disposed of I will NOT be planting any other maple in the same spot or anywhere near ....
Lloyd lived in a period where the understanding of the complex soil web was somewhat incomplete. Today's knowledge of the mechanisms at play in the Microbiology of the soil allow for targeted intervention to promote beneficial bacteria and fungi, effectively squeezing out the pathogenic elements. This is for exemple the basis of EM based cultivation which so successfully used now worldwide (see other threads where this is discussed). I, for one, do not follow Lloyd's advice. Gomero
Is he referring to allelopathy? I don't follow this advice either, but perhaps I'm just stubborn. I won't report any great success in replacing dead maples with others of the species. -E
EM is being promoted as an exciting new development but is still very much in its infancy You can read something about it here, and in associated links http://www.em-maple.com/index-en.html
