Is my maple bonsai dead? :-(

[cathleenv]

Hi! Glad I've found this website. I got a maple bonsai from my dad back in April. Back then, the tree had nice new leaves, looked full of life. My dad told me to take care of watering it well, but there was a heatwave last spring and I missed watering it enough:-( it just lost the leaves but there was still a green layer when I scratched it. So I kept watering it throughout the summer. Now I scratched it again, and there is no green layer anymore :-( I am afraid I killed it

I read about two methods:
1. Letting it to sweat under a transparent plastic bag, inside
2. Taking it out of the pot, checking the root and radically cutting it back (if there are still good ones)

I don't know which one to try. On one hand, if it's dried out, method 1. won't help. On the other hand, I am afraid it's not the best time of the year for method 2. Please help! Ps: it has been and is kept outside, I just brought it in for the picture.

 

[gschup]

You wrote the tree shed the leaves in spring? Did they regrow over summer? If not, I fear if the tree did not have leaves since spring, it will probably be very dead.

 

[NeedlesAndLeaves]

Hi Cathleen,
judging from your description this maple will probably be dead.
Maples are outdoor trees and require frequent watering. If left to dry out for to long the roots will die.
The green layer mostly (but wrongly) called cambium is an indicator (not always) that a tree is alive.

It is possible for maples to loose leaves during summer after they are scorced by sun. If buds are formed it can flush out next year.
Unfortunately I do not think that is the case with your tree.

 

[Shibui]

Trees can occasionally survive for a few months without leaves. If they dry in autumn they occasionally go into early dormancy and then grow the following spring but you're telling us this one has had no leaves all summer. That's way too long.
Both the methods you describe are to resuscitate a sick tree. This one is well dead now and nothing can reverse death.

It may help that you are not the first and won't be the last to kill a bonsai. You have probably learned one of the first lessons in growing bonsai - water is essential, not when you feel like it, when the tree needs it. You can start again with new, live tree in the same pot