I'd never before noticed any
Japanese maple with dried out leaves that never fell off.


Last fall I read an article in our local newspaper about this subject. It
said not to worry if the trees hold on to their leaves this year (2003). It
happens because the cold weather in the fall came on too fast and the trees
didn't have time to respond by their leaves changing colors and falling.
They went into dormancy right away to protect themselves, and this was a
result. They will eventually lose their leaves, but it definitely wasn't in
time to rake them before the snows. Over the winter, the trees have slowly
been dropping their leaves, but some still hang on.