I planted suminagashi Japanese Maple in August of 2007, has done very well for me the past 3 years, this spring my maple has not leafed out at all. It is planted on a southeastern corner of my house, receives ample water and I fertilizer it each spring. Last fall we had alot of rain in September and then an early killing frost in mid October. I noticed a lesion in the bark this spring but it was calcified over and did not leak any sap. The bark on the main trunk and stems is still smooth and looks good but all the smaller branches are brittle and have no spring at all in them and are a paler color. should I wait and see if it will grow or call it a day and replant? I did notice it did not change to a full red last fall but stayed partially green, leaves dried on the tree instead of falling off. Please advise if anyone else has this problem. We have had an unusually cold spring however I have noticed other peoples suminagashi's are leafing out. thank you
I have two, a small one (under a meter) and large one (over 2 meters). Both are in dry areas. Maybe it got too wet over winter. Mine are both fully leafed out. As for digging it out, unless it is really bothering you there's no harm in waiting awhile. Eventually you will know. Kay
Thank you Kaydye, have a feeling the "too wet" was the problem as our September and early Oct. were quite wet and with early killing frost in late Oct, tree would not have had time to acclimatize nor get rid of wet feet. I will wait a little longer have nothing to lose and everything to gain if it does decide to leaf out. Our lot is dryscaped with barrier cloth and crushed rock so does tend to hold moisture rather well.
