I have an 'Autumn Flame' maple in my backyard that I planted 2 years ago. It thrived the first 2 summers, and this year it hasn't come back in the branches at all, I can snap them off easily and there is no sign of life in any of the branches.
...I thought it went capoot but now it has started coming back about 2 feet off the ground from the trunk. Ack!
Do I cut the rest of the tree off and let it grow from the new growth or should I wait longer to see if it comes to life further up?
If the upper growth is dead it's not coming back. If it was mine I would cut out all the dead wood right above the new the new growth and probably give it a year to grow and maybe start shaping it next year. You might have a really pretty tree as a result.
It looks as if it has been girdled by borers to me.
This message was edited Jun 6, 2010 10:31 AM
Thank you so much for your reply. No scraping, probably not too dry, it is mulched....but I was worried about winter dessication and did water it through the winter. I wonder if I overdid it.
It's weird because it did grow buds in very early spring - but then they never did anything. Is it possible that it put out buds too early and then our freakishly cold, long winter did it in?
I edited my message after I took a closer look at the photo.
Aha! I wouldn't have seen that you had edited :) Borers..yikes. Where do you see the girdling?
I'll have to come back for you for help on shaping...I'm thinking it's definitely going to look different than I had originally expected. I'm intrigued though!
I'm not absolutely sure if it's borers but I'm pretty sure it is. But do you see the bands that go horizontally around the trunk where the new foliage starts?
I would cut right above the new growth. You don't have to put anything on it or do anything to the cut. It is very possible that later this summer you might a beautiful tree and since it's so close to your house you might want to prune it ever so many years and keep it smaller than normal with a nice shape to it.
Someone else may have a better answer.
This message was edited Jun 6, 2010 11:41 AM
Oh ok, I see what you're talking about. I think those are growth nodes, although not positive. I took a closer picture.
I'm excited to see what happens now...thanks for your help!
I meant the bumps right at the same height as the iris flower in your pic. See those?
Oh well, yes I do now! I didn't see anything weird in person...I wonder if it's a trick the camera is making? I'll go out and look when it stops raining.
Isn't that tree planted a little too close to the stone wall? Maples are notorious for their far-reaching roots. They could start causing some problems in the future with the wall's integrity. Or am I seeing things?
It's planted about 3 feet from a retaining wall that is part of my terracing. I hope it's not too close...I tried to get it as far away from the house as I could, hadn't thought about the wall really.
The wall has already had it's share of problems- if you look close, you can see a stump of a cottonwood tree that the former owners planted (or let grow) and it has started to move the top stones of the wall. We cut it down and are slowly in the process of removing the stump. You can see the terracing and cottonwood stump better in this picture.
Did you want a really tall tree there? Some Japanese Maples can reach 20 or more feet in time. Not to tell you what to do at all. Only what I would do:
I would care for the Autumn Flame and move it this fall and replace it with a tall growing Japanese Maple with the kind of fall collor I wanted. I don't think you would have near as much of a root problem with a JM. Someone else may correct me.
OTOH, you may not experience root problems with the Autumn Flame with it being 3 ft. away.
If the retaining wall doesn't extend far below the soil line,
I wouldn't think roots would be a problem...
Sounds like the RootStock (lower part of the Maple trunk survived), but above the RootStock (middle and upper part of the Maple died). Never plant a young maple too deep into the soil.
Hmmm, still looks like some skinny branches near the top are still alive but just haven't budded leaves yet.
I think you should start over. Even if your tree sprouts new growth below the top that's dead, you're going to have a funny looking tree. You'll have all these side branches and no main leader unless you tie a side shoot up and try to train it to take over as the leader. You may even end up with a multi-stemmed tree. That's okay for birches, but not for a maple. Sorry, I think it' a goner.
I like multi-stemmed trees. Sometimes they turn out prettier than ones with a central leader. You could at least give it a shot if you like. Further pruning in later years could result in a very fine tree. It will still reach it's ultimate size only it will be bushier. I think it's a personal preference but definitely an option.
But I agree with pastime. If you want a central leader it would be best to start over with a new tree.
There's a lot of reading to be had regarding your tree. Here's just one of the sites I went to;
http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Autumn_Flame_Maple
This tree does have surface roots and it isn't a small tree by any stretch of the imagination. Being 3 ft. from the rock wall, is way too close. I don't know, maybe you want to post another question giving how large your backyard is, the sunlight or lack thereof, soil conditions, etc. I think you'd get a lot of answers. Good luck!!
