Hi All, See photos below, please... My beloved and previously stalwart maple has an extremely sparse leaf--out, after a warm and wet winter in western Massachusetts. Any ideas on what happened and suggestions for possible remedies greatly appreciated. I hope you all are having as good a spring as possible in these difficult days on earth. Best wishes! Deb
Hi Deb, I think you said what the problem is in your question. A 'warm damp' winter. I have found that when this happens the dormancy is not as deep as the maple requires to be strong for the next season. So I think your tree is just going to be sparce for this year, but the second push in a couple of months should see more leaves. They maybe smaller though. As the climate changes then so will our trees and plants. Hopefully you will get a colder winter in 24/25.
Hi Deb, what is the variety of your maple? Is it ‘Tsuri nishiki’? Its bark color, branching structure, uptight habit and what I can see of the leaves remind me very much of a tree I am trying to identify in Connecticut. https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/acer-palmatum-‘tsuri-nishiki’.104375/ My tree has been growing very well this spring. The only branches not leafing out are in the middle of the tree, heavily shaded by branches above, even though they are definitely not dead. My tree is in a very well drained, full sun, south western exposure spot and it seems to like it. In addition to D’s comments, I suspect more light can benefit your tree. It seems to be located between much larger other trees in a forest setting, which could be too much shade for it…
Hi Nik! Great ID :-) That's it! Thanks for your thoughts! Last year the tree did very well. This year the sparse leaf output seems rather evenly spread throughout the tree, unlike what might be expected from asymetrical shading due to the sun's path. I agree more sun would be better for it. Thanks again! Deb
Hi Acerholic! Your idea makes so much sense to me. The surrounding perennials and proximate trees are doing about as well as usual, so something very particular to this tree might explain that. Also, the leaves, and lack thereof, seem randomly distributed, not restricted to one section of the tree, like I've seen on trees over the years. Thanks for teaching me something new about dormancy :-) Best wishes in these difficult times. Deb
Hi Deb, that’s so cool! I have been looking for someone who can share pictures of their ‘Tsuri nishiki’ … Do you happen to have any close up photos of the leaves? It will be awesome if you can post them to the forum! I really hope your tree recovers quickly, this variety is such a magnificent, yet so elegant and serene Japanese maple. Good luck!
