I've had a Bloodgood Japanese Maple in the same spot for 4 or 5 years, and it's always done well; except for this year. The only part of the tree showing leaves is the bottom quarter.

I have two juvenile Fringe trees. One is superb; the other is leafing just at the bottom -like the JM. I've looked for rabbit damage, but I don't see much of anything. There's no pin-holes or dust, so borers shouldn't be an issue. What else could cause these trees to behave this way?

Have you had any late frosts or freezes since warm weather began this year, which could have killed swelling buds or tissues?

You might also post a series of pictures of the plants in question, to aid contributors here in making some kind of diagnosis.

We had one very mild late frost, John, but nothing close to what we normally experience. We usually get several hard, late freeze/frost events. Plus, I noticed this before that happened.

I'll run out there today and see if the mosquitoes will leave me alone long enough to focus in on a couple of pictures. One of the areas in question is quite a bit shadier now than it used to be. I wonder if that could be a contributing factor?

Ah! Dual mysteries solved, I think.

Here's the JM


Once I pulled the mulch and weeds away I found this. So this one is likely due to digging critter problems and summer drought last year.

Last year I'd placed the log over a filled-in hole that was too close to a rose -so, the critter just moved it over. Now it's too close to the JM.

I did do a scratch test on an area above these buds and the wood appears to be alive yet, so maybe most of these limbs will recover now that the hole is filled in again.






Here's the little Fringe Tree


It looks like it was originally planted too shallow.



What's your take on the Fringe tree? Should I risk digging and replanting, or berm it up? Right now I just have it covered to a place between the swelling above the top roots and the first set of leaves.

I don't think you need to do anything else to the Fringe tree. Since it has a number of new sprouts occurring along the trunk, it appears to wants to grow just as it is.

It could very well have had some kind of damage above the point of the new sprouts that caused this condition. At this point, that doesn't matter since it will rapidly replace that structure with entirely new branching. After the new growth hardens off, I'd simply prune away the dead wood and proceed with the plant's new stems. Mulch to retain moisture, and employ some rodent-be-gone methods.

Thanks, John.