Hello, I am new to board and worried about my Lace Leaf Crimson Queen, she is easily about 12+ yrs. old. Can you explain to me what dieback is. 85% of tree has leaves that are opening and of course my concern are the other 15% that are not. It looks like the tree has bald spots. The leaves that are not opening seem to have buds that are dying but on those same branches there is also new growth. Please help me if you can this is one of my pride and joys and is quite expensive. Respectfully submitted, LRS 13.
Die back refers to a part of the twig that dies right back and becomes brittle (it is then easily snapped off) You can expect a certain amount of this each year (some years more than others, as I have discovered).. It in fact helps the tree and opens up the centre to allow air in around the branches and leaves As Alex says ... we would need to see a pic to have any sort of opportunity to understand whether or not this is what has happened to your plant.
Japanese maple cultivars prone to blighting off, from various causes. If you do a little looking around you will find that dying back or sudden total or nearly total death of Japanese maples is repeatedly asked about on internet gardening forums.
Off topic, but could it just be proportionate to the amount of Japanese maples being grown due to their popularity ? Pot culture of maples seems to be ever increasing with young apartment dwellers. Recently spoke with a young woman who just had to try one in her bedroom, although advised otherwise, at the Van Duesen plant sale where about half of the ornamental trees offered were various Japanese maple cultivars.
Most of my older Japanese maples lose a few limbs every winter. They just don't leaf out in the spring and eventually become brittle and die. I just prune them off. Usually it is lower branches that are more shaded. It is natural for any tree to lose lower branches as they grow taller and older. Ever noticed how most trees in a forest have few lower branches.
Dawgie, yes, some natural dieback, especially with dissectums due to the lower branches becoming shaded.
The Japanese maple is sensitive to soil drainage and cultivars in particular are subject to various pathogens. Multiple pages are devoted to diseases of Japanese maples in Vertrees (Gregory), Japanese Maples (Timber Press, Portland). One contributer to this web site says that some nurseries are sending out grafted stock pre-infected with pseudomonas which then manifests after planting out on the customer's site and causes the specimen to die back. This has been my experience with all recent plantings of Japanese maples. Normal-looking plants fail after planting, so consistently that I will not be purchasing any others anytime soon. "Verticillium wilt is becoming too common. If it were not for this sad fact, I would likely rank this a five-star tree. It is unparalled in its diversity of form, color, leaf shape, and role in the landscape. Many dozens of different kinds are sold in nurseries. But I am tired of hearing from people whose prized specimens are on the decline. For whatever reason, this ugly disease has become more prevalent in the last decade" http://www.arthurleej.com/a-overplanted.html
