New Updated Thread -- Please Help -- Weeping Japanese Maple - White/Grayish patches Please Help. This thread has been updated with better quality photos. Tree is on top of deceased beloved dogs so I hope the tree won't die so I don't have to disturb them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I planted a weeping Japanese Maple a few years ago. Around 3-4 months ago, I started noticing some white/grayish patches appearing at the topside of the grafted branches and also on the stock trunk. If I scratch a patch on a japanese maple grafted branch, it becomes dark close to the orginal branch colour. The white/grayish marks are not flaky or powdery. Leaves have not fallen off. I don't know what to do to help the tree. I've always had issues with the leaves drying out at tips towards fall/autumn. It is now early Winter in Australia and leaves have not fallen yet due to weird weather experienced lately. 2287: Overall picture of the tree. You can see some branches with the light coloured patches at the topside. 2297: Picture of a grafted branch from above. 2298: Same picture as 2297 but after a bit of scratching with fingernail. 2295: Picture of stock trunk. 2291: Another picture of stock trunk from different angle. 2288: Picture of stock trunk and some branches. 2293: Another picture of grafted branch.
use a natural anti funghicide ,only in start sring is possible see if maple is in good health ,or send pics again 002 is out of focus .alex
Hi Alex66, with the new pictures, do you still think it is a fungus? Do I use anti fungicide at the beginning of spring?
I see the soil dry probabily the maple is in a stress state ,However in this forum there is a thread interesting about bark ,you read (if not read again!)this tittle:"Japanese maple bark related Issues". alex
Question for everyone, if it is sunburn/sun scald, is there anything I can do to treat it? Or is it just a matter of fertilizing so that cells can regrow?
Since you do not hav the option of moving the tree to a shadier spot, there is not much you can do to treat it. However you can do some prevention to help the tree thrive with that bark condition. This means giving the best conditions possible for good health: adequate watering, insuring it gets all the nutrients, improving soil condition with, for instance, mulching. There are many threads on this in this forum and I encourage you to browse through them. Gomero
is possible use more water 40/50 liters two time for week and pine bark around the trunk whit a stick test your PH soil if high use sequestrene one time for year maples lovely a acid soil however after 2/3 year this care finish because the maple is naturalized for your land ..I live in central Italy and whith this advice and another that i read in this forum my aceretum have good health!!°(^_^)°alex
I hope that this doesn't come to you as an unpleasant suggestion, but have you considered that the decomposing bodies of your pets are in fact causing the problems for the tree?
Thanks for your suggestions. I've always been catious of 'wet feet'. My soil isn't great as there is clay so the water doesn't drain too readily. So 40 to 50 litres twice a week isn't going to make the roots rot? whis4ey, my dogs were cremated and ashes put in mahogany box. =)
hehehe One of the difficulties with not getting the whole story ...... Japanese maples need free draining soil If you soil is clay you should plant on top of the ground and build up around the root ball
Thanks for all the help everyone!!! Whis4ey, considering it's been planted for around 3 years, is it ok for me to dig it up and plant higher in the ground? It is Winter here so the tree being dormant may make it ok?
Do you know I really do think that that is what I would do. If planted in heavy clay the roots may not have ventured all that far and provided you take a large enough rootball you may well succeed Prepare the alternative planting hole in advance so that the tree is out of the ground as short a time as possible. I take it (you say it is winter with you) that there is no chance of the ground freezing anyway deeply? Over here we would transplant in late autumn to give a tree time to settle in before the new growth of spring. Our winters do not freeze the ground too deeply if at all Lets see what others think of the suggestion .......
The clay starts around 30cm below the surface. When I planted the tree, I dug a very wide and deep hole, probably 60cm across and 50cm deep. If I do move the tree, it would be at the same spot. I'd take it out, fill the hole with good soil and then put the maple on top. Does that sound ok? We are coming to the end of the first month of Winter over here (exactly the opposite to the northern hemisphere) and due to the weird warm weather experienced, the trees haven't lost all their leaves yet. So to the tree, it's probably late autumn to them. =) And no, it doesn't get that cold here to freeze, we're lucky to hit 0 degrees centigrade.
Hi, I am referring to the grey/white patches on your maple bark. It is a problem I try to get answers out of this group for years now and there is a thread 'bark related issues' which relates to that. I think there are more question than answers. Is it TB (tight bark) or sunburn, fungal, environmental? Here is what I found out so far: It is ugly to look at but has not killed any of my maples yet.- It seems to occur in all parts off the world regardless if it it a cold or hot country.- It affects certain bark but not all maples are affected.- When I used affected bark as a scion I transfered the problem to the new plant.- Sun, light or environmental influences definately play a part in the development of TB.- The growth on TB affected branches is deminished but not stopped completely.- The picture shows one of the maples where the understock is affected but not the scion and I have another weeping dissectum where the understock is healthy and green und the top shows TB. So far I have not heard off or found any cure. Someone suggested a severe pruning can help and I have not tried that yet. regards Wolfgang
Noisuf Just be aware that if you dig a deep hole in clay and fill it with good soil all you are doing is creating a 'sump' which will be too wet for your maple The only way to get any form of drainage in clay is to either make a raised bed or plant on top of the soil and build up around the roots. That way your tree's roots will be spreading out into the 30 cm or so of decent soil and will not be sitting in waterlogged soil I see what Webwolf says about the whitish marks etc but maybe they are a result of wet soil? Maybe not .....
Webwolf, thanks for your background on this problem. Your pictures look very similar to my issue. It just shows up more on my darker bark. It's encouraging to hear it doesn't kill the tree. Whis4key, I found out what I had done (create a sink) after I planted it for 1 year (2 years ago). If I did it up, I'm concerned I will be cutting through some parallel roots that have moved out of the original hole (ie. Roots Outside Original Hole in my basic drawing)? I'll draw a picture to explain what I mean, hope you don't laugh.
I see what you mean, but if you take a little wider than the original hole you will be able to cause as little damage as possible. Don't forget that these trees are originally grown in the open and then dug up and sold bare root Just make sure that you don't re-plant too deeply Also remember that there are no guarantees that the tree will survive .......
Whis4ey, to maximise the chance of a successful transplant (in reality, elevation in the same spot), do I try to keep as much soil on the roots or it doesn't matter (bare root)?
I notice that the affected branches and trunk of your maple are specifically the exposed areas to direct sun, while TB ussually can develop in different areas of the trunk and branches on sunny o shadow areas. It looks to me that the tree have been exposed to several conditions (clay soil, direct sun, high temperatures). All together probably caused stress to the plant, even after three years in this site. I have same conditions than you, all my garden area is heavy clay with compacted soil, that means poor drainage, so I opted to plant my JMs on "rasied beds" (mounded areas) so the trees have all its roots system slighty above the sorrounding soil (install a good pipe drain system helps also). Then I used a good soil mix to cover the roots and create a monded area surrounding each tree about 15" to 20" (40 cm - 50 cm) high. Then I covered the soil with 2" of mulch (pine bark -fir is very good). probably you will need to stake it for 1-2 years until the tree fix the root system to the soil again. Here are some pics take some time ago when I started my garden and planted some of my maples in heavy clay. Now they are doing very well even with some of them in full sun (some inprovised sun shelter during the hotest months of the year helps with adaptation process and avoid more stress). Good luck! Nelran
