I have Japanese maple tree that is approx. 7 feet tall, not sure how old it is. The trunk is approx. 3" in diameter. I've noticed that the buds are out but not blooming into leaves. The tunk has a patch of bark falling off approx. 6 " up from the ground and 4" wide. The bark is brittle and came off at a touch. I have very sandy soil, but have made an attemp to add in triple-mix and peat moss. I did a light ferilization in the earyl spring. Tree gets full sun for the majority of the day. There is a light green moss/fungus on the bark surrounding the fallen bark. Any ideas what tis might be ? I'm willing to try anything to save it. It was very healthly last summer with no signs of distress.
It may be getting overwatered - too often. There's a species of maple 'Paperbark maple" (Acer griseum) that normally sheds pieces of bark, but not just one large chunk like that, nor so deep. Maples like dry, gritty locations, and if you have yours in the 'garden' area of your yard where it's always wet keeping other plants happy, it's not going to do well.
Hi, As far as the bark peeling it doesn't look like it was caused by disease. It could be that an animal either scratched or bit away the bark, like a cat. I'm thinking your tree should've leafed out by now. Do the buds and smaller branches look healthy? How are the other maples in your area doing? Japanese maples down here in Los Angeles leaf out rather late compared to maples that are in more northern parts of the state. The majority of my maples didn't start leafing out till the beginning of this month. Layne
Buds are soft and have not fallen off, so not sure if that means thay are healthy. There are several smaller branch's that are dead, have snipped those off.
