Is my Tamukeyama Japanese Maple dead?

RFA2010

11 years ago

I've pretty much followed the care and maintenance provided for this maple. It gets some morning sun and was great up until about November. The leaves started browning and its been like this ever since. Is this maple supposed to have red leaves the whole year or is it normal for them to shed in the fall/winter? The trunk is still green as you can see so I'm not sure if that helps. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Comments (4)

Mike Larkin
11 years ago
All maples are deciduous. They loose their leaves in fall/winter.
The dead leaves still hanging on, may be caused from stress, like under watering.
It look like it is still alive. Gently scratch the bark and if there is green it is still alive.
How long has this been in this pot. The soil does not look to good. Did it come potted in this container?
Also what zone are you in, and when was this photo taken ?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Well.......MOST maples are deciduous :-) And that includes any Japanese maples like Tamukeyama.

It is not all that unusual for some JM's (especially laceleafs) to hold the old foliage through winter, especially if sheltered out of the wind as yours appears to be. Personally, I would not be all that concerned about it and you can reassure yourself by looking closely at the buds - they should be plump and somewhat pliable and should start swelling up in the next few weeks.
Related Professionals
East Patchogue Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Blue Springs Landscape Contractors · Cudahy Landscape Contractors · Lees Summit Landscape Contractors · Pleasant Hill Landscape Contractors · Seymour Landscape Contractors · Cartersville Fence Contractors · Charleston Fence Contractors · Englewood Fence Contractors · Kuna Fence Contractors · Monroe Fence Contractors · Ponte Vedra Beach Fence Contractors · Summit Fence Contractors · Wauconda Fence Contractors · West Bend Fence Contractors
RFA2010
Original Author
11 years ago
Hi Plantman56. Thanks for your response. Im in an 8B climate zone. Its been in this pot for about 7-8 months now. I planted it in the pot myself and the photo was taken the same day I posted the picture. Can you be more specific about whats wrong with the soil. How can you tell it doesnt look good. Any suggestions on how to improve it?

Gardengal48. Thanks for the response as well.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
The soil looks a little fine grained for my taste. JM's like very good drainage and fine grained potting soils (or those that have too small/too uniform a texture) tend to impede good drainage rather than enhance it. A larger textured, barkier potting soil would be my preference. There have been numerous discussions on this forum regarding containerized JM's and recommended potting soils......suggest you stroll through the archives to get some details.

This all assumes the soil really isn't as great as one would like :-) It's a bit hard to arrive at those conclusions based on just this photo but IME, bad potting soil is far more common than not!

And I still doubt you have anything to worry about with the leaf retention.....it is not all that uncommon, as I've stated.