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Coral Bark Maple dying?

13 years ago

I planted a Coral Bark maple about one year ago. It never really took off, and seems to be going downhill. It is kind of sparse (both branches and leaves) and the leaves that are coming in seem to be small and droopy. We have had a ridiculous amount of rain this spring and I am sure that isn't helping things.

When I planted it, I think I may have dug too big of a hole. I amended it with some compost and top soil because I have pretty bad clay soil. My guess is that it is holding too much water.

Are JM's pretty slow to establish, or should it have had a lot of new growth by this point? I really hope it can pull through because it is a beautiful tree (not to mention expensive). If this is a drainage issue is there anything I can do?

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Comments (2)

Embothrium
13 years ago
They often are, this cultivar being even more prone to disease problems than many other Japanese maples. And, yes, digging a hole out of a clay soil and then replacing the soil with compost and top soil is an excellent way to collect water around a tree and kill it. This is about the main reason to never amend planting hole back-fill soil.

All Japanese maples must have excellent soil drainage at all times.
houstontexas123
13 years ago
i would suggest digging it out and letting it dry a little. if its not too large, repot it in dry potting mix w/ 50% perlite.

if it recovers, find an elevated area, or create an elevated area to plant it. you can create a raised bed with either lumber, stones, bricks, etc.
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