Dying Acer Advice

[mattyvx]

Hello I bought an Acer (Japanese maple) last from the garden center
which had two lead branches that weren't connected above the soil line.

This year the leaves have started to form and the plant is really
growing well on one of the two leaders (as you can see from the
pictures) however the second leader the leaves have shrivelled and are
dying.

What should I do to maximize growth from the plant?
Do I remove the recessive "upright" to allow the dominant to grow?
If so, when should I do this? Now during growing season or wait till
late summer

Thanks!


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: 20130519_135553 (Medium).jpg |
|Download: http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=15559|
|Filename: 20130519_135547 (Medium).jpg |
|Download: http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=15560|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+



--
mattyvx

[Brooklyn1]

Whatever you thought was the soil line wasn't... you planted it too
deep... you're lucky both trunks didn't die. Japanese maple is
typically multi trunked... the soil line would be well below where the
trunks are connected. I suggest repotting before you lose the other
trunk... actually it would do better planted in the ground.

[songbird]

mattyvx wrote:
>
> Hello I bought an Acer (Japanese maple) last from the garden center

...

i would inquire into getting a replacement if
you are unhappy with the plant.


songbird

[David E. Ross]

When you planted it, did you check to see if it was really one plant
with two leaders or possibly two plants each with one leader? I suspect
from the photos that the latter is true. Cut down the dead plant, and
keep the live one.

Actually, the live plant will not maintain a leader at all. It will
branch repeatedly without any dominant central trunk more than 2-3 feet
above the pot. This seems to be a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum),
possibly a 'Bloodgood'. These are rather small trees, 'Bloodgood' being
among the largest, eventually reaching 15 feet if planted in the ground.
It will never get that large in a pot.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html>
Gardening diary at <http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary>

[Jeff Layman]

I think that you are pretty much right, although I doubt the OP
replanted it yet - it looks like how it would come from the garden
centre. I wondered if the dead shoot was off the stock, but the bark
looks very similar to that on the live shoot.

I agree that the dead shoot needs to be removed, but if it is just one
plant and the graft is failing, the whole tree is on the way out anyway.
But he might be lucky, and that shoot has dieback which hasn't reached
the junction with the other stem. Radical pruning might just save the
Acer, but I wouldn't bet on it.

--

Jeff