Help!?! An older branch on this variegated JM is orange and dead. Orange looks alarming. I plant to cut off where wood looks healthier....but does anyone have a diagnosis? Is tree doomed?
This is the start of that branch failing, it happens I'm afraid. I would remove it down to about two inches above the main trunk to allow for any die back. As Spring progresses, look for any new budding that you can encourage to take over from the branch that you removed. It will, take a couple of years to replace, but this can be achieved.
Make sure to clean your secateurs and to cut beyond the dieback to where the wood is live and there is no black streaking in the wood. Remember, if your first cut is into diseased wood, you’ve infected your secateurs and likely will infect at the next cut. Maples have an amazing power to recover and form their own shape, a major branch loss happens, but the tree will regain a nice shape and can be helped with some judicious training of the new growth.
Yes, I also use rubbing alcohol: over the years, I have gotten increasingly cautious. Glad to hear the orange is not a death warrant: haven't seen it before.... Thanks for all the encouragement! Debviolet
No not for the tree, but those branches will fail and have to be removed. Very glad to hear you use rubbing alcohol on your secateurs. It really does help in not transferring infections. Very much like we are all using hand gel these days !!
