Hi, I am very new to gardening and maintaining trees. My wife and I just purchased our first home and the house has a 5 to 6 foot Maple tree which seems to be doing well and another tree that is about 3 feet high. They are both in direct sun here in Southern California and I noticed the smaller tree seems to be struggling. Can anyone help identify what is going on with this tree based on the pictures of its leaves? I have the sprinkler system set to 5 minutes a day, everyday. This is also watering some zoysia grass and mondo grass. Thanks for the help!
This time of year, in a drought-affected area, in hot sun, it's the norm for a Japanese maple to be showing some signs of stress. I'm up north with plenty of moisture and some of my most sun-exposed trees have dry spots and leaf curling. As for watering, one long deep watering a week is much better for trees than a short watering. Five minutes might only be enough to evaporate some and get shallow roots or mulch damp-- the lower soil could still be quite dry. What time of day are you watering?
I am watering at 7am. I thought about maybe changing it to 10 minutes 4 times a week, do you think that might help? The sprinkler system has a drip sprinkler specifically dedicated to this tree, among other trees. It is about 4 - 6 inches from the base of the tree. I thought about buying some shade cloth, and setting it up next to the tree when it gets over 90 degrees, then taking it off when it dips back down. I was told that may ruin the chance of getting the beautiful bright colored leaves later on.
