Problem with Coral Bark Japanese Maple - Ask Extension
The branches on my Sango-Kaku show damage from something. I have removed most of the branches that have show damage.
Can you tell what happening to ...
Knowledgebase
Problem with Coral Bark Japanese Maple #782548
Asked February 24, 2022, 11:05 AM EST
The branches on my Sango-Kaku show damage from something. I have removed most of the branches that have show damage.
Can you tell what happening to the tree and best way to treat it. I have attached a picture
Thank you
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
The damage you are seeing is left over from the egg-laying of the 17-year cicada emergence of last season. They were inserted into the branch tips, hatched and fell to the ground to start their incredible lifecycle, not to be seen again until 2038!
We look at it as kind of "nature's pruning" as many of the branch tips 'flag' or hang down and then fall. Your clean, sharp pruning of rough branch tips can be helpful, though most trees do just fine without it.
Christine
We look at it as kind of "nature's pruning" as many of the branch tips 'flag' or hang down and then fall. Your clean, sharp pruning of rough branch tips can be helpful, though most trees do just fine without it.
Christine
