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wndr1mn

Yellow maple leaves

wndr1mn
11 years ago

Hello everyone! New to this and hoping to get some help. I have planted a tatarian hot wings maple and a red maple in my back yard fall 2011. I am from ottawa ontario. Summer 2012 the trees grew beautifully and fast, but both in the fall started with a few red tips on the leaves and quickly changed to all canary yellow leaves. The trees look healthy with loads of buds on the trees for next years growth. The summer leaves were dark green so i dont think it is chlorosis ? The one twist.... I burried the cremated ashes of my dogs under each tree. Could this be the cause of the both guaranteed red fall foliage being yellow? Please if anyone has a comment, please advis. I would love to have the red fall foliage I wanted. Help please?

Comments (12)

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    pics of my tree

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    pics of my tree

  • alley_cat_gw_7b
    11 years ago

    Hi wndr, Well...were they chihuahuas or st,bernards? It seems to me youve thrown the ph levels off at the base of your trees. Outdoor grill ashes will do the same. You might want to do a ph level test and adjust with lime or other garden chems as needed.It should be around the 5-6.5 range...give or take. The other option is to wait it out and hope the trees adjust on there own.Given time they very well may.
    ~AL

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    They where 50lb Dalmatians....lots of ashes. Oh dear!
    Crap! Is it hard to adjust the ph of your soil? Thank you so much for your help Ally cat! Appreciate it!

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Can I just add the make it blue hydrangea stuff? I have some of this I used on my hydrangeas last year to make them blue!

  • alley_cat_gw_7b
    11 years ago

    If its really bothering you,I think the safest way to be accurate is to buy a test kit or to fish around for a freebe from a county exstension office or maybe a local college...not really sure.That would give you a start point to make your adjustments with out the guess work.
    AL

  • tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
    11 years ago

    Planted fall of '11.
    How was the summer of '12?
    Any of the heat or drought that a lot of North America saw?
    Even if it was a good summer it could be it simply isn't fully established yet.

    Before addressing the pH issue I'd need a bit more info. Were the ashes put all over the planting hole? The very bottom of the hole? Mixed with the dirt you dug? And define "lots of ashes". Was that 2 liters each, 20 liters each?

    tj

    This post was edited by tsugajunkie on Wed, Feb 6, 13 at 20:00

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    The ashes I put in the bottom of the hole and mixed with soil about one liter of ashes each tree. The tree did great all summer ! Gave lots of water, drought was not an issue for me. In the Summer the leaves were dark green, lots of new growth.

  • tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
    11 years ago

    The potash of the ashes will cause the leaves to be a deep green, what effect it would have on fall color I don't know. Calcium carbonate in the ashes would raise the pH but testing your pH would be tough as the ashes were at the bottom of the hole. Extra irrigation may mitigate the effects...or just time.

    Did you see the fall color of your plants before you planted them?

    tj

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    The tatarian maple (hot wings) was cherry red the first year, now yellow. The reducer rubrum wad leafless when I planted it.

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    That would be acer rubrum .....was leafless(sorry, dang auto correct!)

  • wndr1mn
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you! Any other advise?

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