Crimson Queen browning leaves

[Ryan Carmichael]

About 10 days ago I bought an Acer palmatum var. dissectum Crimson Queen. I'm not sure how old it is but it was about 4 feet tall and gorgeously red. When I was planting it I used some root grower and then watered throroughly. About 2 days later I noticed that the leaves on the top were not only losing their brightness but turning brown to grey. Since then it's seemed to get worse.

I know these are supposed to get partial sun to shade, preferably afternoon shade. The best I can do is shade almost all morning long, until about noon. I'm in Alabama where it is normally rather hot but in the past 2 weeks it hasn't been too bad, 80 max. A couple of days ago it rained a lot here, pretty heavily, and a lot of the leaves ended up just falling off totally.

Yesterday I started misting it before I went to work in the morning, I'll try doing it every day before work - I've read this can help. But I really want to know if there's anything else I can do, if it's likely it won't make it, or if it should come back next year after it gets its roots set in deeper. I'm willing to try anything.

Thanks, Ryan

[Pam - gardengal]

throroughly.

There could be a number of reasons why your tree is acting in this manner. Transplant shock is likely the culprit - did you disturb the root ball at all when planting? Another concern given your location would be soil conditions. I know parts of the south can have some pretty heavy soils and rich, loose soil with exceptional drainage is a fundamental requirement to growing Japanese maples. Heavy soils combined with too much watering can be the kiss of death. And, if the tree was grown in the nursery in more sheltered (i.e. shady) conditions, change of light conditions can also account for the leaf discoloration and drying.

At this time of year, misting or spraying the foliage is not going to help - the tree is preparing to shed its leaves anyway, the recent planting has just hastened that process. And whatever you do, DO NOT spray the foliage next season to avoid sunburn, scorch, etc. - you will only exacerbate the situation. Japanese maples have extremely delicate foliage, resent foliar spraying of fertilizers and pesticides and misting the foliage intensifies the sun's rays and increases scorching.

pam - gardengal

[gregpresley]