Hello! My 5 year old Moon Maple has 2 branches on one side where the leaves have not opened up.The rest of the tree has got only healthy looking beautiful leaves.If anyone knows what it could be.Pls.post. I am quite worried about the tree. Thanx. Sandra
First thing I'd is step about the trunk to insure rodent damage is not occurring. I lost a few this way and it is now my second nature to step about any plant looking frail. Moon maples are beautiful. Good luck!
Bill
Above url has some bad links.
I had a beautiful lace leaf maple for 12 years that started doing that. The first year two branches didn't open their leaves I was only mildly concerned. The leaf buds dried up and crumbled off so I just pruned the two dead branches thinking they'd somehow gotten damaged during the winter. By fall leaves on about a third of the branches were not looking too good. The following spring it hardly had any leaves opening at all. I took a branch, with unopened leaves to plant guru at my nursery and was told it was either Verticillium or Fusarium Wilt. It's a soil born fungus. Most likely it was there when you planted the tree. The fungus can lie dormant for many years until it gets optimal conditions to grow. Unfortunately there is no cure and nothing you can do to save the tree. You might want to check with a good nursery to see if this is what you have. Watering and fertilizing only will make things worse. Acers are particularly susceptible to demise from this soil fungus.
If, by chance this is what you have, and if your tree dies no matter what you do, be very careful what you plant in that area and make sure it (and others besides maples) is resistant to this nasty stuff.
Val
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