Golden Full Moon Maple

Discussion in 'Maples' started by Elle Cee, Jun 29, 2014.

  1. Elle Cee

    Elle Cee New Member

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    I received this Golden Full Moon Maple as a gift this past May. I live in Victoria, BC. The tree is planted in my front yard facing North East. Because there is not much around it, the tree does not receive any shelter from either the sun or wind. The leaves have stared to turn brown. I was hoping for some advice as to what to do to help save my tree. I was considering planting it in a pot and moving it closer to my house, in hopes of giving it better shelter. Thanks in advance.
     

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  2. maplesandpaws

    maplesandpaws Active Member

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    So you have to fence off your trees too, huh? :) What's your scourge?

    I don't have any experience with the cultivar, but if memory serves me correctly, it prefers more shade than sun, so that *could* be part of the problem. How much rain have you had? Temps? How often do you water? Did you do anything with the rootball when you planted it? The area that it's planted in, does water tend to pool here or drain off nicely? Any further you detail you could provide would be helpful.
     
  3. Elle Cee

    Elle Cee New Member

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    Deer :( I have hopes of the tree being big enough one day the it can live 'cage free' lol

    We haven't had a lot of rain, with temps in the mid to high 60s. I water the plant once every evening. I did not do anything to the root ball when we put it in the ground. The drainage seems to be good, water never pools around the tree.

    I'm new to gardening, and can't really think of any other detail that may help. I tend to agree that the amount of sun light it is receiving is probably too much. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of options in my yard that could provide a much better spot. I was trying to consider a way to bring shelter to it without creating much more of an eye sore than the deer fencing already has.

    I really appreciate any advice you have to offer. :)
     
  4. maplesandpaws

    maplesandpaws Active Member

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    Oh dear (pardon the pun, lol). My bane is rabbits, the $*%^#&@ tree rats (ie, squirrels) and my two 50lb dogs.

    Since it's hard to tell from the picture in your initial post, roughly how big is the tree? What size pot was it in?

    Temps sound good, so that shouldn't be an issue. Um, how close are you to the ocean? Watering in the evening is not the greatest idea, especially for Japanese maples, which can be prone to fungal infections. When you water in the evening, the water doesn't have time to evaporate prior to it cooling down at night, so you could have more issues with root rot, and moisture that is allowed to sit on the tree (leaves, branches, etc) overnight on a repetitive basis can make the plant more prone to disease. Not that you have to be paranoid about this, but constant moisture in this fashion is not great. If you can, water in the morning or mid-day at the latest. This gives the plant time to absorb the moisture it needs going in to the heat of the day, and for any excess moisture to properly dissipate/evaporate. So, that could be a possible contributor to the browning leaves. Maples like to be moist, but not water-logged.

    When you planted it, did you plant it flush with the ground or on a slight mound by a few inches? Since plants - trees, perennials, etc - settle over time, for trees, it is advisable to plant slightly high, even if you have good drainage. If you have so-so or poor drainage, you have to plant even higher. Where it's planted, is the ground flat, sloped, in a dip? This too will affect drainage.

    When you took the tree out of the pot, how did the root ball look? Did it look very congested with lots of curling roots? Or was it nice and loose? Good visual examples can be found here:
    http://fusionbonsai.com/2012/04/12/repotting-a-cascade-japanese-maple/

    Scroll down the page roughly a third. You should see the tree that they are talking about after it's been removed from the pot. Do you see how the root ball looks? How tightly packed the roots are, and how they curl around? Did yours look like this when you took it out of the pot and planted it?

    Now look at the same root ball three pictures down. See how nice and loose the roots are? This is what you want. Tightly packed roots, as they grow, end up strangling each other. Also, if the root ball is so tightly packed and congested, you could completely submerge the root ball and moisture may still not get to the inner roots. If this happens, the tree essentially suffocates and dries out.

    Typically, you don't want to mess with the roots during the dead of summer as it stressed the tree, and combined with the higher summer temperatures, this can sometimes be too much for it. However, given that your temps are still quite nice (I'm a transplanted Canuck, so you're having temps in the 20-25C range now?), it is safer to do so. And if it means better chances of saving the tree, then it should be done, though gently and carefully.

    If the root ball was very compacted, this is what you'll want to do. If you can, on an overcast day or earlier in the morning (when it's cooler), carefully dig up your tree and examine the roots. Grab a chopstick or sturdy wooden dowel or other stick. Wood is gentler on roots than metal, and a chopstick - especially some of those thicker ones - with its pointed end is great for helping to loosen roots. You'll want to start at the outside and work your way in, gently pushing the chopstick in and teasing the roots loose. It takes time, and some can be very tangled. Inevitably, some smaller, finer roots will break, but do your best to minimize this. You don't necessarily have to go all the way to the center, but you should be able to tell when you're getting things loosened such that moisture can properly reach the center. You don't want the finer, outer roots to dry out while you're doing this, so if you have a spray bottle that you can fill with water, that is great for misting in between. Also, watering the tree well before you dig it up can be helpful too - wet soil is much easier to loosen than dried, compact soil. Once loosened, you can try re-planting the tree in the same location, mounded slightly, and see if it seems to do any better. Or, you can plant (or pot) it elsewhere. If the latter, make sure you have the new location ready to go before digging up the tree.

    When planting, you ideally want to slightly see the root flare at the top of the soil line (this is where the roots and trunk meet). Planting/potting a maple too deeply can cause issues too. When mulching (very advisable, as it helps keep the roots cooler - maples have shallow root systems - and keeps moisture in), mulch up to, but not against the trunk. Mulching right up to the trunk can be an invitation for disease/fungus/etc, especially in a more humid climate like yours. The trunk needs to breathe.

    I hope this has been helpful and I've been decently clear on things. If you have any further questions or need clarification, please don't hesitate to ask. Hopefully others with more knowledge and experience will chime in with their thoughts and opinions. :)
     
  5. DougieMapleSeed

    DougieMapleSeed Active Member

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    My experience with the Acer s. "Aureum" (aka "Golden Full Moon Maple") cultivar is that it is more prone to sunburn than most other palmatums / shirasawanums. It would probably do better in a shadier spot, ideally morning sun and afternoon shade. I have this cultivar in a pot and I have to move it into shade during the summer months to avoid sunburn; although, keep in mind that this is in the Southeastern U.S. so your summer sun/heat conditions will not be as severe. Based on your picture it looks like sun scald to me; it is mostly the outer edges of the leaves that burned which indicates sun scald. In my experience my maples get sun scald when they dry out too much during intense sun conditions; as long as they are watered consistently, most of my maples tolerate the sun reasonably well. You should replace it with something more sun tolerant; if you want to stay in the shirasawanum family I suggest Acer s. "Palmatifolium" (you won't get the golden color, but similar leaf shape and great fall colors). Considering my experience of growing maples in intense sun conditions, here are some suggestions for cultivars that have done well for me in an unprotected spot like that: Acer p. "Seiryu", Acer p. "Viridis", Acer p. "Bloodgood", Acer p. "Tamuke Yama", Acer p. "Orangeola", Acer p. "Mikawa Yatsubusa", Acer p."Okushimo", Acer. p "Glowing Embers". Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2014
  6. Houzi

    Houzi Active Member 10 Years

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    Some great advice already given here....I don't know if others agree but personally I'd be surprised if you didn't get some shrivelled leaves planting a maple just as summer begins,particularly this cultivar as others have pointed out,is not the most sun tolerant.
    I think the NE aspect is ideal,if not there already,as you say,you can move it to be in the shadow of the house from noon onwards....in this position,once it's settled in I think it stands every chance of succeeding unless it's frequently getting blasted by wind in which case it'll always struggle.(I'm assuming the sun's not too strong where you are)
     
  7. Elle Cee

    Elle Cee New Member

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    I apologize I haven't responded sooner, but thank you all very much for your advice. I find with early morning watering before I head to work, so the tree starts the day hydrated has helped to stop the tree from showing anymore sun scorch. I will monitor the tree closely to see how it fairs but may consider moving it to a pot in a more shelterd area if it continues to struggle. We have had an unusually dry and hot summer, so hopefully it may have more success in the future.

    Thank you again for all of your advice!
     

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