Please help diagnosing my bloodgood Japanese maple trees. - Ask Extension
Hello. We bought 4 bloodgood Japanese maples late fall 2023. Two trees are doing ok (even though I see some dead leaves on them as well ) but the othe...
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Please help diagnosing my bloodgood Japanese maple trees. #867437
Asked May 07, 2024, 2:07 PM EDT
Hello. We bought 4 bloodgood Japanese maples late fall 2023. Two trees are doing ok (even though I see some dead leaves on them as well ) but the other two attempted to bloom in spring but then all the leaves died off. Can you please help me to understand what this could be and have to treat it? Thank you in advance.
Dauphin County Pennsylvania
Expert Response
Hi Mary,
Is it possible you had a hard frost in your area after those trees started leafing out?
I would appreciate seeing pictures of the bases of the trees, where they go into the ground - I might be able to tell more if I could see that.
I hope you can appreciate how hard it is to diagnose what may have happened to those trees from the pictures. It would be best if I could see them in person, but that is not possible.
Sandy
Is it possible you had a hard frost in your area after those trees started leafing out?
I would appreciate seeing pictures of the bases of the trees, where they go into the ground - I might be able to tell more if I could see that.
I hope you can appreciate how hard it is to diagnose what may have happened to those trees from the pictures. It would be best if I could see them in person, but that is not possible.
Sandy
Hello. Of course. I have attached the pictures for your review. I appreciate any feedback.
Adding more pictures. I was thinking about frost as well but we have 28 fruit frees that were not affected and the other two Japanese maple trees also were not affected this severely. Is it possible trees were sick already at the time of purchase?
Hi Mary,
I appreciate you taking more pictures!
The trees look like they were planted correctly, and I cannot say if they had a problem when you purchased them. You are right; your fruit trees would have been affected if frost had been the culprit. I also would expect them to make an effort to leaf out again if frost was to blame.
I talked to a colleague who lives and works in your area. I can't promise he can visit, but I will send him your email address to put you in touch with him. He may see something in the photos that I am missing.
Best regards,
Sandy
I appreciate you taking more pictures!
The trees look like they were planted correctly, and I cannot say if they had a problem when you purchased them. You are right; your fruit trees would have been affected if frost had been the culprit. I also would expect them to make an effort to leaf out again if frost was to blame.
I talked to a colleague who lives and works in your area. I can't promise he can visit, but I will send him your email address to put you in touch with him. He may see something in the photos that I am missing.
Best regards,
Sandy
