Help!!! As you can see from the image, the red maple tree has hardly any leaves - is it a goner?
The builders planted a red maple in front of every house, about 3-4yrs ago. Last yr, the leaves on our tree turned red & fell off before the others. Now this yr, there is hardly any leaves but tons of suckers (last yr there were suckers too that I chopped off)? Anything I can still do to help this tree?
I don't know alot about trees, but I think as long as it has leaves, you ought to give it a chance. Maybe try to fertilize the soil around it? Or purchase some kind of tree food from your local feed store.
Take your fingernail and scrape one of the leafless branches. If you see green it's still alive, if it's brown, it's a dead branch.
Trees need a leader, usually the trunk is at the base of the leader but not always. If the top branches are dead, you might be able to train a side branch as the new leader but not likely given the shape of Maples, in general. Start with Pastime's suggestion of checking the branches to determine what is dead and what is not. Also, call your local extension agent and ask if their background is in horticulture/plant sciences and if not, who they might recommend. If you're interested in free help, state that. Your tree is on the way out but an accurate diagnosis could save it. The keyword here is accurate. If you decided you just want to buy a new tree and start over, remember, whatever is killing your tree will probably still be hanging around after you plant the new tree. Hence, start with the extension agent. Good luck.
If the tree is sending up suckers, it's probably not getting enough water.
Cubee867, I've also found that builders sometimes don't remove string, metal cages etc from the root ball, which has killed a number of our shrubs in our courtyard. (Burlap is fine.) They just lost their leaves in year two and died fully in three. If you really want to keep it, you could dig around the root ball and see what's going on. The large roots are for stabilization only. It's the fine hair roots that you are interested in. Are they spreading, healthy, wet, dead, diseased? If it's not doing well, they probably haven't even spread past the original root ball so it should not be too hard to find where to dig. If you do it, just do it in one spot, not too wide. It's not bad for the tree in a small area, so don't worry about that.
The local extension is also a good suggestion.
If you are impatient, you can always start over. Sometimes trees just don't take especially if the builder skimped on using a good local nursery. Good luck.
For a start, remove all the vegetation around the bottom of the tree, to remove suckers, you need to scrape away the top soil and run you finger down the sucker to reach the point where it is attached to the parent tree under the soil then instead of cutting them away, you actually have to yank them off by pulling them in the opposite way it is growing, once you have cleared all your sucker away, dig the tree out from the planting hole, it wont have a lot of growth as it is so poorly, look for any obstruction to the root-ball like plastic or sacking, remove anything you find, even stones can restrict the roots getting out into the good soil, by the way the suckers getting cut off is like pruning, it tells the plant at the point of cut to throw up new branches, so cutting them is making new unwanted growth in the wrong area of the plant, at the bottom instead of the top where you need the growth. once you have the root-ball cleared, dig a wider hole and deeper, then add as much good compost/manure compost mix to the planting hole, this will help retain moisture and feed the roots, as stated above, the thicker roots are the trees way of stabilising the tree in wind etc, but the finer roots are the ones that go searching for the food and water to help the plant grow tall and good foliage. once you have done all this, make sure the root area is free from grass growing or weeds etc, as this is competition for the roots, weeds/grass etc take the first lot of moisture before it gets down to the roots, a mulch of bark chippings etc is best for helping to hold moisture into the soil and keeps the weeds etc at bay, it also protects the roots from winter frosts. if you have to, I would recommend you add an upturned clear plastic juice bottle to the planting hole at the roots, you cut the bottom of the carton before you insert it, narrow neck end down into the soil, then as you water your tree, you fill the juice carton up a few times with water, this way, you know the roots are getting enough water instead of it running off the surface and not reaching the roots, every spring, add a handful of feed around the root area for the first few years too as this will help boost the tree roots and energise the soil. by the way, dont replant the tree any deeper than the soil mark on the trunk as this too can help to send out suckers. hope all this also helps you out. Good luck. WeeNel.
Thanks to all who responded.
Just a quick update - I was watering the tree yesterday & I noticed what I think is mold/fungus (small tiny flecks of black) on the main trunk alonwith a tniy patches of moss. Does this change the diagnosis at all?
Can you take a photo?
Here's a photo of the mold/fungus that I spoke about ...
I'm not sure I see any mold there, I think some of that stuff may be lichen. Lichen on its own doesn't harm plants, but it often shows up on plants that are having problems caused by something else. So although they're not a problem in and of themselves and there's no need to remove them, they often signal that there is a problem there. I'm not too familiar with them though so hopefully someone else can confirm that's what is on your plant.
Yep, lichen.
Ecrane is right about the moss/lichen on the trunk of your tree, if you clear away all the growth from the root area of the tree, you will let much more light in/onto the trunk of your tree, it will allow air to circulate and light, then the lichen will not want to grow there so much, your tree is definitely stressed by something and I feel it is either something under the soil or something harming the tree bark close to the soil, do you trim the grass around it with one of those grass strimmer that has a long cord to cut the grass at the roots, these things nick the bark and can cause wounds and buds to break causing shoots to come from the root area, or maybe your tree has been planted too deep from when the level was when it was in the pot, another clue might be too much grass weeds or other plants competing at the roots, until you dig down at the root area, you are only guessing at what the real trouble is and it could end up too late to save the tree anyway, this is the time of year where all the trees are sending out lovely fresh new growth and foliage, so if you leave it too late to investigate, the tree will be getting more weaker and stressed, good luck. WeeNel.
Thanks again for all the help/suggestions/advice - and I meant to say moss but landed up typing mold ;-)
Just a few more questions since I am intimidated by the tought of digging into the root-balls ... if there is a problem w/the roots, etc - why is it that the suckers have such lush growth? Would the application of some generic pesticide do more harm than help? Is it OK to go ahead & throw in some fertilizers?
if it was a ball and burlap tree, they remove much of the roots and it takes a few years for the roots to get big enough to supply the whole tree. I've learned my lesson on b&b. i've lost a couple, because sometimes they just can't recover.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fid/may97/transhck.html
You now, that is a good question. Why are suckers so vigorous? I assume it's because the tree, thinking it is under attack, sends all of its energy into a sucker, which is why you remove them, but that might not be the case. Let me consult with a hortie and get back to you.
Don't worry about attacking the roots. At this point, there is little to lose. The more frightened that tree is, the better chance it has of surviving. And if it can't survive that, it probably wasn't going to make it anyway. Personally, I love a tough plant, and in my experience, lots of plants are tougher than you think.
Here is the answer from an ask extensio.
Most hardwood tree species under severe stress (drought & heat) or that have been injured by fire or mechanical means "may" send up basal sprouts, typically from the root collar. Certain species are much more prolific in the "sprouting" abilities.
Are these basal sprouts stealing all the water and nutrients? Well, not really since the roots of the sprouts and the roots of the main stem come from the same tree. However, the allocation of the water and nutrients to support these sprouts is coming from the same root system that supports the main stem. I think it's more correct to say that the tree is merely reallocating its resources to maintain these sprouts.
trees are like roses, if you damage the stems just under the soil, they send up suckers that is called manual damage, if an animal etc eats into the root/bark at ground level the same thing happens, cut the suckers of UNDER the soil level as they actually do take goodness from the main plant as they are young and tender and fight more for water, nutrients and light, but I agree, there is nothing to loose as you have said, your tree is dying anyway, your tree has meant to have a good root system, one main trunk and a lush canopy of branches and foliage, so to correct the problem, you need to bite the bullet and get to the roots of the tree to find out what is killing it, weed killers should never be used close to trees shrubs or any plants that you dont want to kill especially on a day when a slight breeze is blowing as it lands everywhere, but weed killer would not cause the tree to send up new shoots, it should have killed off the new suckers, these are damage signs to the outer bark of the tree at the base and you need to try remember how it happened to correct it, once you cut off the suckers, you can buy a paint from the garden store to seal the wound made at the cuts, you really need to look around under the soil at the main roots to find if you have garden rubble, something attacking the roots or what ever it is to be able to correct this problem, WeeNel.
