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Expert help!! My japanese maple tree trunk is splitting. why?
This is a rather large maple tree (foliage is deep burgundy and 8ft tall) and we believe it is about 7yrs+ old. It is in full bloom however the top of the tree failed to produce the leaves this year. I noticed the splitting on the main trunk and one side trunk. The splitting is vertical and run about 9inches. The weather has but hot but usually foggy in the morning hours and the tree gets routine watering every 2-3 days with a drip system. ANy advice to help would be appreciate. I really LOVE this tree.
I live in the california-central coast. The weather is obviously not exteme however we did experience a day or two of extreme heat this year. The area where the trunk is splitting has a past sun scald wound. I am wondering if that has anything to do with it. I am just not sure why it started to detoriate.
2 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavourite answer
You don't say where you are - but where I live, we had one of the coldest winters in 15 years, and lots of established Japanese Maples showed the signs - often just what you describe - portions of the crown, or main branches, that died back and did not leaf out this spring.
As for the split - hard to say what the cause is without look at it. Get an arborist out there to have a look and give you some options.
An established tree should NOT need regular irrigation. I would not water it at all unless you have a drought. Then the best way is a long, slow soak, so that you are watering the whole root ball, and not just the top 8 to 12 inches...which is usually what a drip irrigation system accomplishes. An open-ended hose, turned on to a trickle, so the flow is about the size of a pencil, and let it go for about an hour. And if I was in a drought - I would not do this more than a couple times a month. However - if you are in a more hot and dry environment, that advice may not apply to you precisely.
- Anonymous5 years ago
It might simply be the special timber that you just occurred to buy, or wherein you are living. Maples particularly colour probably the most once they are living someplace that has a "real autumn" wherein the air dries out and cools down forcing the tree to give up giving the vitamins and minerals that include the golf green pigment to the leaves, making them crimson. Not all areas will do this. If you in no way have, it probably a well inspiration to fertilize it anyhow.