Hi,

I seem to have problems with a Japanese maple on the partly shady southern
side of my house. I live in Michigan. It seems to have very few leaves and
the branches that look very dry. Can I use an acid fertilizer for Japanese
maple though it is not listed on the bag?

TIA for any advice.

In article ,
"R. Kannan" wrote:

Hi,

I seem to have problems with a Japanese maple on the partly shady southern
side of my house. I live in Michigan. It seems to have very few leaves and
the branches that look very dry. Can I use an acid fertilizer for Japanese
maple though it is not listed on the bag?

TIA for any advice.

Can you bend the branches? If yes give it time. If no I'd start low
and remove on your way up. They can come back. I've cut off whole
tree tops and encouraged suckers sort of like coppice instead not for
wood btu's but beauty. How old is you tree +-5 years ? Flexibility
is a good indication of vitality even in people ).


Bill

--
S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational
and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit.

When did you first notice the sparse leaf pattern & dry branches? If it was
early in spring -- depending on your zone -- you may have lost some growth
due to cold temps. Here in zone 5 Wisconsin, Japanese maple aren't reliably
hardy.

Am not sure why you would want to use an acid fertilizer, except that maples
prefer acid soils. Again, in this part of Wisconsin, where our soil tends
to be quite alkaline, many maples struggle along. It's not for lack of
acidity, however, but that the lack of maganese that is unavailable (tied up
in the soil) because of the alkalinity. The usual recommendation here is to
acidify the soil to make the maganese available. And no, adding maganese to
the soil doesn't work -- it's already there, just not available.

Hope this helps.

Suzy O, zone 5, Wisconsin


"R. Kannan" wrote in message
. com...
Hi,

I seem to have problems with a Japanese maple on the partly shady southern
side of my house. I live in Michigan. It seems to have very few leaves and
the branches that look very dry. Can I use an acid fertilizer for Japanese
maple though it is not listed on the bag?

TIA for any advice.

Japanese maples dont seem to do well in southern exposure. Mine is thriving are on
the north side of a shed. they want moist but not wet conditions. sounds like the
leaves and twigs are desiccating. you might try "cloud cover" or other antidessicant
to prevent so much water loss. Ingrid

"R. Kannan" wrote:

Hi,

I seem to have problems with a Japanese maple on the partly shady southern
side of my house. I live in Michigan. It seems to have very few leaves and
the branches that look very dry. Can I use an acid fertilizer for Japanese
maple though it is not listed on the bag?

TIA for any advice.



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Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

Some more info is needed to give a us a better idea. Was the tree
recently planted? How is the weather? How often are you watering it
and for how long? Did the drying up of the leaves happen quickly, like
almost overnight, or slowly over a period of days?

Japanese maples need a bit of shade in the southern climates but I'm
quite sure in Michigan they'd be okay in full sun or southern/western
exposure depending on the cultivar. I've seen many maples in full sun
on a recent trip to Long Island, NY.

The main causes of maple leaves/branches dying on us are under or over
watering, or a period of really hot dry winds. Here in So. Cal. we can
get hot, dry desert winds called Santa Ana winds. Our maples can look
just fine one day and the next day the winds can dessicate the leaves
a little or a lot.

Layne

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 13:15:04 GMT, "R. Kannan"
wrote:

Hi,

I seem to have problems with a Japanese maple on the partly shady southern
side of my house. I live in Michigan. It seems to have very few leaves and
the branches that look very dry. Can I use an acid fertilizer for Japanese
maple though it is not listed on the bag?

TIA for any advice.

Layne wrote:

Some more info is needed to give a us a better idea. Was the tree
recently planted? How is the weather? How often are you watering it
and for how long? Did the drying up of the leaves happen quickly, like
almost overnight, or slowly over a period of days?

Japanese maples need a bit of shade in the southern climates but I'm
quite sure in Michigan they'd be okay in full sun or southern/western
exposure depending on the cultivar. I've seen many maples in full sun
on a recent trip to Long Island, NY.

The main causes of maple leaves/branches dying on us are under or over
watering, or a period of really hot dry winds. Here in So. Cal. we can
get hot, dry desert winds called Santa Ana winds. Our maples can look
just fine one day and the next day the winds can dessicate the leaves
a little or a lot.

Layne


1 The tree was not recrntly plotted. It has been there for 7 years.

2 It has not been very hot here this year so far. It reached 90 on 2-3 days.
Otherwise it has been mid70s-low 80s.

3. Leaves look OK and I can see some new leaves (light pink/red). But some
branches are devoid of leaves and look very dry. This did not happen over
night. I noticed it only this spring.

4. The tree is on the southeastern and gets moning sunshine but afternoon
shade.

5. It is in a flower bed and gets watered 4 times a week for about 10 mins.

TIA for any help.