Thanks to both of you for the pictures. About what I would expect. Can I
defoliate Acer rubrum the same year it was potted? I have cut off some of the
largest leaves & it didn't mind.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)