Hi, My 15 ft Red maple (transplanted from the nursery last october)is has been showing buds and a little red flowers on the upper section of the tree only. The lower branches do not show anything. Is this a sign the tree is going to die? I checked the soil, it is moist. I do not know what to do. Please help. Thank you very much. Andrzej
work the ground around the trunk probaly insect or more moist (if you planted the maple too much deep)you fertilize in this seasons?
Don't do any digging that would involve hitting the roots. If the soil around the tree has been compacted by feet during planting or aftercare scratching this to loosen it back up would be good. Follow-up with protective mulch (like wood chips), kept away from trunk but covering ground beyond.
Maple was planted by nursery crew. I remember they had a hard time to dig. They dig the hole about 3 ft in diameter. They put some ferilizer and I add half of top soil around. The tree is planted on the grass area. There is a layer of 4 in of new soil, but going deeper there is a something like a clay and a lot of small rocks. I saw two small roots of the maple coming out. Maybe I should take the tree out and remove the hard soil?
Pit planting (planting hole backfilled with topsoil or planting mix, instead of soil that came out of the hole) is not a good method. If the topsoil backfill was their idea you didn't get good service employing sound methods (obsolete practices are widespread, it seems bad ideas like mulch volcanoes and maintenance shearing are becoming MORE popular rather than viable techniques becoming dominant), but this is not unusual. If it was your idea, it's not an improvement for the backfill to be a different texture than the surrounding soil - in fact it can make conditions worse for the new plant by making the planting hole a collection point for water - or resulting in the planting hole becoming dry due to the unmodified, finer-textured original soil around the hole having a greater attraction for water. Poke around in planting hole near tree to check soil moisture situation, red maple is a damp-tolerant species but a newly planted specimen grown originally on well-drained soil will not be likely to appreciate sitting in a puddle.
If possible call the nursery for a check if no (for me)remove the maple and check the roots ,if the roots are roll ,you streach the roots and planted again the maple whit the suggestions of Ron ;this ,not a central hours of the day and no wind presance
I think the nursery did a good job. The crew back filled the hole with the same soil that came out of the hole. Few days later I put half a small bag of organic top soil around the tree so it looks like a landscape. Sorry I did not explained well. I check the soil again. It is moist. I contacted the nursery. They are against taking the tree out. The tree weights quite a few lbs. I guess I wait a little for the leafs... Thanks again.
