A health timeline? Or I’m silly?

[ConorDash]

Hi,

Been a while since I posted much here, busy with life, but the trees are simply growing and increasing in health and vigor, I hope.

I have seen good signs from my maple, and the pics below show a few branches of it.
What it seems like, and I could be wrong but it seems like the branch is showing a timeline of its health over the season.

Early on in the season, it’s branches and leaves got buffetted by winds and dry sun, ravaging leaves and making them look terrible, as you can see by the overall image:


This trees job this season is to simply grow. So it has very long leggy growth, and looks all in all, unsightly. But as long as it’s establishing (repotted this spring) and getting healthy, that’s all that matters.

So, later on in the season, the leaves were kept covered a bit more and weather improved. And now you can see nice, green, non-deformed leaves:


These are pics, trying to get the whole branch in.




Hopefully you can see what I’m trying to get at here.
I might be wrong, but the tree seems healthy and growing well, despite its ravaged and beaten appearance.

This maples day is code at hand. After having it for over a year, this autumn, I’ll finally do some drastic work to it. What exactly, is still undecided.

 

[sorce]

Not silly at all!

Read it like a .....eee...Web page!

Sorce

 

[ajm55555]

Seems pretty healthy to me Conor! See that it didn't have a pre-existing condition ;-)
JM leaves need a lot of care to stay like new. In my experience it's really hard to achieve... unless you defoliate ;-) which I'd rather not do only for aesthetical reasons. This year I did a progressive defoliation to get rid of the damage from some nasty spider mites.

 

[ysrgrathe]

Interesting trunk movement. Watch out for that wire; best to avoid wiring over the nebari but if you have to put some tubing on to avoid scarring.

 

[augustine]

I'm seeing the same thing here which I attribute to weather, cooler without hot winds.

 

[Paradox]

Don't forget that trees grow differently over a season. Strong and fast in the spring, slower or not at all in the heat.and a little push in the late summer/fall.

What you're seeing could also be a reflection of the seasonal difference.

The tree has healthy growth so yes, I think it is healthy.

Before you do any work, male sure your timing is right. It might be better to wait until late winter/early spring to do work on this.

I am not a maple expert. Hopefully someone that knows more can answer.

 

[GrimLore]

What type of Maple is it? For example my large Red Japanese Maple shoots new growth at very dark maroon which eventually lightens a bit and goes green or greenish end season. That is just normal late season before leaf drop...

Grimmy

 

[Victorim]

What type of Maple is it? For example my large Red Japanese Maple shoots new growth at very dark maroon which eventually lightens a bit and goes green or greenish end season. That is just normal late season before leaf drop...

Grimmy

plain palmatum grimmy. Looks happy coner. waiting for leaf drop and cut choices now bud

 

[ConorDash]

Seems pretty healthy to me Conor! See that it didn't have a pre-existing condition ;-)
JM leaves need a lot of care to stay like new. In my experience it's really hard to achieve... unless you defoliate ;-) which I'd rather not do only for aesthetical reasons. This year I did a progressive defoliation to get rid of the damage from some nasty spider mites.

Yeah, telling me! So delicate.. I’ll try harder next year but my debate about shelter is the sun. I could shelter from most wind and dry heat but it’d be mostly shaded and I’d worry about it not getting enough sun. Although maybe it’d thrive perfectly well in 70-80% shade, you think?
Progressive defoliation, sounds good. This tree is far from aesthetically pleasing and after work is done this winter, there won’t be so many leaves any way. It’ll have to grow anew! But defoliation definitely something for me to keep in mind... although it’ll have to be in top health. 1 thing I know about defoliation, has to be peak health.

Interesting trunk movement. Watch out for that wire; best to avoid wiring over the nebari but if you have to put some tubing on to avoid scarring.

Yeah it’s been pointed out before. When I repotted, I put the wire back where it was previously. I thought to myself, if Graham Potter did that then I can do it lol. But you are right, I shall certainly keep an eye and on future I’ll put some tube or raffia protection, thanks .

Don't forget that trees grow differently over a season. Strong and fast in the spring, slower or not at all in the heat.and a little push in the late summer/fall.

What you're seeing could also be a reflection of the seasonal difference.

The tree has healthy growth so yes, I think it is healthy.

Before you do any work, male sure your timing is right. It might be better to wait until late winter/early spring to do work on this.

I am not a maple expert. Hopefully someone that knows more can answer.

Thanks for your info. I don’t plan on work yet, it’ll be a few months at least, in to winter. I’ll research optimal time, closer to the time. But if it’s closer to next spring then I’ll wait till then.

 

[ConorDash]

What type of Maple is it? For example my large Red Japanese Maple shoots new growth at very dark maroon which eventually lightens a bit and goes green or greenish end season. That is just normal late season before leaf drop...

Grimmy

plain palmatum grimmy. Looks happy coner. waiting for leaf drop and cut choices now bud

@Victorim is right, just a Green Acer P, no cultivar as far as we know. It’s been debated on this forum, as it’s unknown, but that was the result.
It’ll be a while till work is done @Victorim , late winter, it would sound like. But I’ll research and see. One of the highly suggested plans, is a trunk chop. So it’ll be real major work.. I’ve yet to decide. It’s a different topic entirely, this trees suggested path for future.

 

[Slippery Pete]

Hey there,
Not sure if digging up old posts is frowned upon but I see this Acer P of yours and am just in love with the trunk line. I'm wondering, how is the tree looking these days?

It looks like it was chopped a top of that bend - if that's the case, did you choose to build another trunk section? Or have you moved toward branch selection or beyond?

To my novice eye, it seems that the biggest drawback of the tree is that fat root/lower trunk that didn't know when to quit. I've got a similar predicament with a green acer P of my own so I am especially curious to know if you've addressed that feature in any way, and if so, how? I've wondered if there is any saving these types of surface root difficulties, wherein [I think] what might be an untamed tap root just completely dominates the nebari. The Acer that I mention looks as if Herman Rorschach designed its surface roots. Good for my learning though, since its expendable anyway... But I am interested in the tree you posted here, so when you have a moment away from real life, please consider posting an update!
Thank you

 

[ConorDash]

Loved the tree and was by far the most work, most stress, worrying... had it 4 years, its finally given up now and is dead.
I have a thread on it with many more pics and more updated pics, showing the final blackness spreading through it, you can check that out.

Its still currently in a pot in my garden, just was curious to see if any bud pops from the base, as can happen with trees. If nothing pops then its dead and that is over. Which is kind of a relief in a way, I am over the upset of it. Took so much work and in the end, was too much.
Will be very cool if any of it survives, will make for such a cool looking tree but I dont think any of it is alive anymore.

I also loved the trunk, I think it had a lot of potential but I was/am not good enough to have worked it. it was one of my first trees. If I had another shot now, i would have done a lot, differently.

My 3rd killed tree.