Autumn Blaze done for?

[walleye vision]

Hey guys, I need some help.

I have two AB maples that I had planted 2 years ago. Both are about 4inch diameter trees. Both had smallish leaves last year, but the leaf size has increased this year. My main problem is the apical leader on one of the trees. The leader appears to be dead and hasn't had any growth on the top 3-4ft for the past 2 years. Is this tree doomed? Should I prune off the dead leader? My main concern is that there are no good branches to take its place (the candidates appear as if the would Y too much leading to a weak tree in the future.

What do you guys think?

[Powerstroke]

Transplant shock coupled with other stress sources, but I think it will be fine.

The rule for transplanting is one year of recovery for each inch of diameter. This seems to be fairly typical with these trees that only the central leader dies. I wish I knew the reason.

Its up to you to decide if you want a tree without a central leader. If the rest of the tree seems to be recovering and growing well, I would say prune out the dead and maintain the rest. If there is a leader that seems to be "taking over" as the central, let it grow. You can do some extra pruning this winter to encourage that growth. There is nothing that says the tree will not survive if it loses that central leader. It may have an atypical shape, but the tree will continue to grow like normal.

Do these trees have a warranty? That's a pretty big tree to transplant. If not, then you need to decide how you want it to look. The tree has another 2yrs till its fully recovered so try to limit any trimming during the growing season, but you can cut out the dead stuff if you want. Do as little as possible to add stress. Continue to water as needed and maybe mulch and fert around it if you don't already.

[Steve Foss]

I agree with Andy. Since every single living brach is feeding the tree through its leaves, I would not prune any of them for a couple years. That'll also give you a chance to watch for one of the branches that seems to be developing leadership capabilities.

In a couple years when the tree is settled and growing really well, that's the time to prune to encourage that new leader. I haven't pruned that variety of maple before, but lots of times a tree like yours will find a new leader on its own. There also are ways to take a mostly horizontal branch and get it growing vertically. For this reason, I'd think about leaving the dead leader in place. One way I've turned a living branch into a new leader is to bend it as vertically as possible just before it buds out and rope it to the old leader. Even a single growing season like that will coach the branch into more vertical growth. Whether that's feasible or not in this case I can't tell without pics.

If the trees are short enough, you can drive in a long pipe next to it and tie off the branch to the pipe. I've also strung a longer line a time or two from the new leader and lashed it to a nearby tree that was in the right direction. It's also possible to take a wooden pole or dowel or pole and lash it to the main trunk/shaft of the tree (lash it loosely) so that it sticks up parallel to the dead leader and lash your new leader to the pole. I like this method best when possible because it keeps the trunk of the tree from bending.

Most recently, I've got a couple wild red maples I moved from the woods onto our cabin property/yard near Bemidji. They were about four feet tall. Deer browsed the leaders, and now several years later both have chosen new leaders on their own and are doing well. The fact that they'll always be a bit kinked or crooked in that part of the trunk isn't important in a woodland setting such as a lake cabin. Well, not important to me, anyway. In a city landscape, it might be more important.

[RumRiverRat]

Classic symptom of not getting enough water.

The last few years have been dry, and this has stressed many trees, even large mature trees.

Take a five gallon bucket and drill a dozen or so 1/4" holes in the bottom.

Place the bucket near the base of the tree, make sure it is within the drip line.

Fill the bucket with water, the holes allow a slow trickle that will soak the top foot of soil where most of the feeder roots are.

A general rule is 5 gallons of water twice a week per inch of diameter.

Move the bucket slightly each time when refilling.

[DTro]

Great idea RRR.

My wife always slow trickles the hose at the base of our Maples. Then she forgets that the water is on