Dear friends of the Forum, I live in South London and have nearly 20 japanese maples of differing sizes, mostly in pots. 2 have become very sick, with very much the same symptoms... All the new buds have died off and the life from the tree seems to have gone away from all the trunk apart from a little area at the bottom of the trunk, where new shoots are growing. I have attached few pictures, what is most evident is how the trunk is discoloring and patterns unseen before are now appearing all over the tree. I kept my maple in a pot, I gave it good compost and food. It might have been sick when I bought it or maybe the problem is that it got in contact with contaminated soil. I was just wondering if anybody else is having the same problem and if any of the affected trees have survived or if anybody has good tips for this disease. Many thanks
hi :) your maple is under fungi attack this fungi is the vertciullum,in Faq page there are some thread about this..i'm afraid for your maple,but have a little % of survivor..try whit copper and change the soil, use one with good dreinage .and good luck!
I think the two pictured plants are lost causes; even if they can be saved they will either never again become well shaped trees, or it will take many, many years for them to recover their former glory. Whatever the pathogen involved, the ultimate cause is likely to be connected to drainage issues, especially considering the sodden UK weather over the last couple of years. I have seen similar dieback in Japanese maples where the soil in the rootzone becomes too wet during the winter.
