Question:
I have a beautiful ten-year-old red Japanese Maple that was gorgeous last year. But after the leaves turn brown, it only sheds two-thirds of its leaves. In the past, they all have fallen off. The balance of the brown and curly leaves just hung on the tree. Finally, I stripped the rest off by hand in January. The branches, stems, and limbs look healthy and show no shriveling signs. Do you have any idea what is happening or wrong with this Maple? I'm under the impression it may be sick.Answer:
- I wouldn't be overly concerned about your Japanese Maple. This is a lot to do about nothing. I can't think of a single problem with Japanese Maples associated with leaf shedding.
- The plant's genetic characteristics and climatic conditions influence the end-of-the-season leaf drop. You have no control over all of these.
- You can manually strip off the old leaves still on the branches without harming the plant. Sometimes, gardeners confuse the curly leaves with a problem called Verticillium Wilt.
- Verticillium Wilt is a vascular disease that plugs up ornamental plants' major arteries for food and water. When the flow of water is interrupted, sections of plants die.
- The decline usually occurs over several growing seasons. It is widespread in Bay Area soils; unfortunately, we have no chemical controls.
- Susceptible plants and the disease can coexist for many years before they become problematic. Camphor, Olive, Wisteria, Pistache, tomatoes, and other plants are susceptible to Verticillium Wilt. Curly or shriveled leaves are not an indicator of Vertillium Wilt.
- On ornamental plants, the primary outward sign is that the bark discolors or turns black and shows signs of shriveling.
- Based on your description, I seriously doubt that you have any problem.
Question:
I have a palm tree that is about five to ten years old. It has grown to between five and six feet tall. I want to cut this tree down to three feet. Is this possible, or will the palm die?Answer:
- Generally, you can control the height and width of evergreen plants by pruning. But this is not the case with palm trees without causing some adverse, negative effects.
- Palms grow vertically with few to no lateral branches. Their growth is centered in the top or terminal section of the plant. If you shorten the main stem or any stem, it will probably die, but you encourage the new shoots to develop from the base of the plant. This would not occur overnight so you would have an extended period where it would be visibly unattractive or odd-looking.
- Other than replacing it. You don't have any other options.