Current Tree Grower’s Diary Letters
Post your letters about trees here and I’ll do my best to help you find an answer! Keep in mind that I do not reply via email. I post my responses HERE in the hopes of SHARING with people who might have similar questions.
Disclaimer: I am not a tree expert, just a novice who has been studying trees for quite some time now. If you require an expert opinion, I suggest the forums over at TreeHelp.com or the tree forum at GardenWeb.
If you leave a letter, please state in the letter where you’re writing from so that we have a general idea of your climate zone. THANKS for all your encouragement and support!
Don’t forget to let us know where you’re writing from! City, town, or even a climate zone number will help! Thanks!
Their innocence and simplicity really get... on 
My family calls me "the mamarazzi."
Reply for BARB DEAN:
Hi Barb,
Thanks for your kind words about my tree site! The thing about Japanese red maples is that they are often green in spring/summer. Mine turns kind of a rusty greenish/brownish in the last part of summer.
The color depends on many things — the specific cultivar being the most important. We need to know what the cultivar is to really answer your question. But, knowing it was red the first year, then green the next, is interesting.
Where is the tree planted? If was originally grown in shade, then transplanted into your yard that spring, it probably was just taking a while to establish roots. If it is now growing in a lot of sun, that can often cause a Japanese red maple to have green leaves in summer. But usually they’ll start out red in spring, then TURN green later.
It can also depend on the soil, climate and other growing conditions, but the two most telling answers are going to be the answer to the cultivar question and the answer to the amount of sun the tree is getting.
Hope this helps!
~jules
Reply for Jeff from Linden:
SO glad you like your serviceberry. I’m so jealous!
I haven’t seen an October Glory with clinging winter leaves. Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if it will do that again this year. Let us know!
~jules
Reply for Paul,
Nice site! Thanks for the heads up about my tree email. That email address gets TONS of spam so it fills up really fast. Good luck with your trees!
~jules
Reply for AMOS:
Hi Amos,
Yes, you can put your bloodgood in a pot in the ground for a year. Just make sure the tree is in a big enough pot already — that the roots won’t get root bound this year. Dig the hole so that the pot is 3/4 underground or so. Or, just put the pot in a protected place with lots of shade and mulch around the base of it so the pot doesn’t get hot in the sun. (Best to dig though.) Good luck!
Any sign of growth on that Japanese maple? I’d be betting that one’s a goner. Dang dogs. Next time put a little fence around the new tree to keep the dogs away. (Make it big enough so the doggies won’t use the fence as a fire hydrant if you know what I mean.)
Hope this helps.
~jules
Julie: Ran into your website by accident. What a great accident it has been. Here is my problem… I purcased a red ( weeping?) Japanese Maple 2 years ago in the spring. It was small with a few red leaves on it and about 18″ high. It took real well and I was really excited to see it the following spring but to my surprise, it grew quite well but my leaves are green. I threw away my tags from it but I am positive it is a red maple, how can the leaves be red the first year when I planted it and green the next? the only time the leaves gor remotely red was last fall. Help.. got any reason or ideas on why this would happen? It is getting little itty – bitty buds on it already. Anxiously awaiting your response. Thank you , Barb Dean Howell, Michigan
Jules,
Flowers are finally showing up on the serviceberry tree. I think it looks great, with a gentle kind of demeanor
Thanks again for the suggestion.
Jeff
hello julie,
just been checking out your site.
my, you’ve got some great stuff on there. nice one!
i thought you might also be interested in my new tree site too – http://www.thewoodenbranch.co.uk
.
all the best,
paul
ps. your email account is bouncing mail!
Love this site
I have a question well maybe a couple
The first… I just moved into a new home I bought my Japanese maple(not sure which type fringe looking) with me. I put it in in April it was great all season. Winter came and in Michigan up north we had so much snow that I piled it up around the tree and my dogs broke all the branches off and it is just a stick now in the spring…. Will it come back from the base of the tree or did the darn dogs kill it?
Also just brought a Japanese maple (bloodgood) today at meijers. It is in a one gallon pot.
I understand that they need some shade to keep their color. I am not sure of which location to put it for the afternoon shade. Can I just put it in another larger pot in the ground unill the fall so I can see what would be the best spot to put her?
Thanks so much
Amos
Well, the serviceberry tree is loaded with buds, but no flowers yet. They say this is supposed to bloom in “early Spring”. Seems late, but starting to look promising.
They all were looking good today. I’m particularly fascinated by my new columnar European Hornbeam.
It has largely taken the place of the transplanted October Glory, although skewed off to the side and lining the driveway. It’s about
16 feet tall and only 3 feet wide in a formal kind of shape and interesting trunk. This one, (unlike a smaller hornbeam I bought last year for the opposite side) has a mixture now of new growth and clinging light brown leaves from last year. I believe the clinging leaves bit is known as “marscence”. I had wondered if that would bother me, but I’m kind of enjoying it at this stage, watching the remnant leaves blow in the wind. I haven’t found any photos of this sort of thing on the Internet, but think it’s real cool
I try to answer all the questions but I guess I miss some! Sorry! Japanese red maples don’t like to be moved, first of all, so the fact that it was done haphazardly is not good at all. Thing is, if half the tree is dead, it’s not as if it’s going to spring back to life. It is possible that you can train and prune it though. Just consider it a big experiment. Cut away all the dead wood, then do nothing for the next year. Next spring evaluate what you’ve got and decide if it’s worth the time and trouble to attempt the pruning experiment. It could end up being a super special tree. Sometimes nurturing a “special” tree is a beautiful thing to do. Think of it like this: let’s say you bought a ticket to Hawaii, but the airplane sent you to Norway instead. It wasn’t at all what you were expecting and hoping for, but it can be just as wonderful if you give it your best attitude.
Also, don’t be devastated if you lose that tree. Make up your mind now to NOT be devastated if you lose that tree. It’s not your fault. The diggers dug it wrong. If you love JRM trees, and this one doesn’t make it, get a new one! Make sure to plant it in the ONE spot where you’ll know it will stay!
Hi there, I have a question like one I saw in your comments but I did not find a reply to it. I have a beautiful japanese maple that I dug up and transplanted when I moved fall before last. Unfortunately the men who dug it up completely ignored my directions and they chopped off the roots , leaving a less than 2 foot diameter. (The tree is maybe 7 feet tall but skinny.) I was distraught but the damage was done. Last spring, only half the tree leafed out and that part had fewer leaves than normal. Now, it has just leafed out again and unfortunately, only half the tree leafing out- the other half appears dead. What should I do? I live in Northern Coastal California, and yes, you can call me also when you come to see the Redwoods. Thanks for your help- I need it- I will be devastated to lose this tree.
Hi Lin,
The fruit is edible if it’s a purple leaf plum tree. The fruit on mine is not very tasty — quite sour actually, but that was years ago when I tried it. Good news is, I’m not dead yet!
Julie,
I have a purple leaf plum tree in my back yard as well. It is so beautiful in the spring. I was told by the former owners of our house that the fruit is inedible. Do you know if this is true? Have your tried the fruit? I have been trying to find out if “inedible” means sour or something more sinister. Thanks!
Robert,
I’m not sure what to tell you because my linden doesn’t shower the place with sap every year. My sugar maple, however, lost it completely this year. It looked like it was RAINING one day — there was so much sap coming out of that tree! You should have seen the squirrels and birds that day. It was like there was a sugar maple festival in town and every little creature stopped by to have a taste. It was scary cool!
Ok, but that doesn’t answer YOUR question. Sounds to me like there might be something wrong with your linden. Borers perhaps? Or beetles? See any little holes in the tree? Any little bugs? Webs? Call a local nursery or certified arborist. Good luck!
Hi…I am hopeful that you may be able to offer a solution short of cutting down my neighbor’s linden tree in our adjoining front yard. I reside in Montreal, Canada…therefore Zone 4. The problem – for both my neighbor and myself – is that in the course of late spring/early summer the tree exudes a tremendous amount of sticky sap which virtually coats everything in its path including our front stoop, walkways, and any vehicle parked in the vicinity…creating quite a sticky mess. But most distressing, is that all our leafy, flowering garden plants (medium to shade variety) get coated and, in short order, dwindle and expire. Have you any solutions and suggestions as to any remedy…?
Thank you in advance for any ideas…