maple tree trouble

One last problem in my yard is a red maple planted last year. The cold spell we had early this year killed the top of the tree and now it seems the heat is hurting the rest of it. HELP!!!

Another closer view. The leaves a crispy and the poor thing needs help badly. (Sorry. My camera won't get clearer pics until there is shade on it.)

This message was edited Jul 29, 2007 4:41 PM

is it a japanese maple? and if it is it probably needs to be in shade

Oops! Sorry. It is a Japanese maple. Bloodgood. My book says part shade but that full sun (which it gets after about 12:00pm until 5pm-ish.) is okay. But apparently it's not!?!? It's about 3-4 feet tall now and I don't have any where for it right now. What should I do?


Kwanjin

i think they have thinner leaves which subjects them to burn. hot winds can burn them also. you might ask in the jap maple forum for more expertise. i planted one earlier this year then we had a week of freeze and killed it.

In your climate full sun's not OK--someplace with cooler summers they can probably take full sun which is why the book lists that, but in a place like UT where your summers are hot, it needs to have shade at least during the hottest part of the day. So you ought to go for a place where it's got shade in the mid to late afternoon--the sun it's got right now is the worst part of the day to have it in sun unfortunately. Not sure if it's too late to save this particular tree or not, but if you decide to try again you'll have a better idea where to put it.

Thank you everyone. I'll see what I can do for it.

Hi Kwanjin, as you planted the tree just last year, is there any chance that you could dig it up and plant it into a really large pot or tub, till you find a better place for it, while in the pot, you could perhaps keep the pot in a more shaded area, seems a shame to loose such a wonderfull young tree, they really do need dapple shade in your climate, also the soil needs to be kept quite moist, they also like a slight acidic soil if this is a Japanese Maple, they give wonderfull Autumn colour to the foliage and should be enjoyed planted in among other acidic loving plants where the foliage will be even more striking, it wont enjoy being in the middle of a lawn on it's own and being burnt by the blazing sun, the foliage is just to delecate for these conditions. hope this helps you, good luck. WeeNel.

WeeNel, the only shade in my yard is a cherry tree to the east of me...

...and an apple tree to the west. The yard itself faces north. So the only other shade is along the back of the house that you can see in the pictures. I have one miniature laceleaf maple that I have in a large pot pushed up against the house. It is doing fine. And of course the front of the house gets sun ALL the time. So I really don't have a place for it in a pot. Is there another tree or two I SHOULD get that will help? I need something fast growing but not too much trouble. Also, a japanese garden is where we are going with this yard. We started three years ago with nothing but bad clay and bad dirt. Nothing but weeds. And one diseased peach tree I yanked out the first week. How would a redbud or something along those lines be there? I am going to widen the area where this maple (the sick one) is. Our budget allows only so many things a year so I need to be frugal.
This is turning into a novel, so I'll say goodbye for now and thanks for all your help and advice.

Kwanjin

The redbud is going to want shade during the hottest part of the day too, it's an understory tree so it's used to being in the shade of bigger trees. If you do try a redbud though, make sure you get one of the western redbuds rather than the eastern one, the eastern one will definitely fry in your heat but the western ones will tolerate it better. I still don't think they'll want to be in full sun all day.

I think you might want to invest in one large shade tree, it'll take a while to get big of course, but as it grows you'll get some shadier areas in your yard and then you can have places to plant some of these other things that you like. I don't know much about the bigger trees so I'm not sure which ones would do well in your climate. Here's a website on Utah natives that you could check out http://www.utahschoice.org/utahs-choice-native-plant.htm And hopefully someone else who knows big trees better will have some other ideas for you, I'm sure there are some non-native trees that would do fine for you too.

kwanjin,
Like you, I had a large yard with NO shade in the beginning (still don't have much as trees are still young). I can tell you which trees I have planted that are growing fast here but you will have to run a search to see if they will work in UT. I have two green ash trees that have grown considerably in the three years since I planted them. They were both from Arbor Day Foundation and were only about a foot tall when I got them. They are both now approx. 10-12 feet tall and filled out nicely. I also have 5 red maples I planted on the west side of my house to provide shade. They were purchased at Home Depot and were about 3-4 feet tall. They are now approximately 15 feet and also filled out nicely. I have one cypress that was only about a foot tall when it was given to me and is now about 15-16 feet tall. I have various types of oaks (mostly red oaks) that have grown pretty fast also and are filled out very nicely.

Thanks, Naturelover. I'll check those out and see what will work.

Kwanjin

Ok Kwanjin, got the picture now, but I am afraid to tell you that there is a strong posibility that you have planned your wonderful Japanees garden before you have the conditions right for it, these gardens are so wonderful, colourful and if done right, peaceful too, but I hate to say this, you really will waste a lot of your hard earned cash if you dont do the grownd work first, not to mention valuable time and hard work, If I were you, I would go along to your librery or book store to get a good look at how, where and what conditions you need for your garden so you spend this years budget on the right plants as a backdrop to the lovely tender trees and shrubs that you so like, they are the right plants for this sort of garden, just not yet without the shelter and shade needed for them to settle and flourish to give the effect you want, sometimes we want and admire a garden and all the plants within, but dont realise that they took years to grow and mature because we have to get the ballance correct first, I just love your idea of a Japanees garden, but then we have to read and remember the conditions that are in the Native habbitat for these gardens to gain the conditions they require and will allow us to copy the ideas, we then cant understand why it aint working for us, but if you read and see some pictures of how and where the trees/shrubs are growing, you will understand that you will need a lot of shade/backgrownd things planted and growing first before you introduce your finnal underplanting layer of colourfull foliage to intermingle with the shade trees/shrubs, sometimes it is stone/gravel mulches that are needed to help keep the moisture in the soil, other times it is the larger trees for the shade, you seem to know that, all the jappanees trees etc that you have got already in shaded areas are growing well, so that gives the idea of the right conditions for your garden plans, dont give up, it sounds wonderfull, but on the other hand, dont go spending good money on the plants that you cant give the right conditions to just yet till the other shade stuff has matured enough to give the conditions needed. hope all this makes some sence to you as you seem to have a gift for making a nice well layed out garden and would be a shame to loose sight or your dream just because you are setting the cart before the horse if you follow my meaning. good luck, hope you find some really good books to look at and understand the set up of the garden you plan. WeeNel.

Thanks again, WeeNel. When you get to hear from someone who has been doing this longer than you, you get a feel for what you DON'T know!!! LOL Anyway, thanks for the compliment, too. My husband and I spent our first two years getting rid of weeds and amending our clay soil. Whew! That was a trying time. I think we had more dirt IN the house than out. Anyway, the lawn was laid and a low wall to define one section were put in last year. We did put a hedgerow of buckthorn in the first year and just worked around it. Those are about seven feet tall now and doing nicely. My only real problems started this year when I tried to go too fast, like you said. I got tired of waiting and lost site of the fact that it will take years more to finish this if, in fact, I ever finish. I love being outside working in my own space. Well, I'll hit the books again and will do better this time.


Kwanjin

The other side.