Hi there, I planted a Paperbark Maple in my front yard in Victoria in early March (before bud). The tree was burlapped and about 5 feet tall. The tree started budding at the end of April, and as you can see in the linked photo below, buds appeared on the branches on the right side of the tree but later shriveled and died. The tree is generally healthy, but I'm concerned that the symmetry isn't what I will want in a feature tree in the front yard (though this is the worst angle): http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3794/8795468276_68bd42199c_b.jpg If the buds died on those branches, can I attribute it to transplant shock and hope that it'll bud out next year? Or am I out of luck? I have no experience growing these. I'm willing to wait a few years until the tree gets established and balances itself but it's not looking good as I see it. Any insight here? Thanks.
Hi James, Like most maples, this one puts out one (and only one) set of "emergency buds" if the initial buds have died. It may take until later in the year for that to happen, but shouldn't be too long. If there are no buds or if the emergency buds fail, the branch will die back to the main trunk. You can test to see if the branches are alive by scratching down into the cambium. If it's still green, you still have a chance. The tree will eventually replace the branches with buds from the main trunk, and find its symmetry, but this is likely to take a long time since A. griseum is a relatively slow grower. It's hard to guess if it was transplant shock, or something like freezing wind if the tree was transported in a flatbed truck. The nursery might replace it, the could still sell it on after a couple of years. I would recommend clearing a larger area of grass for the first few years. Good luck, -E
