tamukeyama maple

I noticed this year my Japanese T-maple turning green is there something wrong or is this normal? see pics. Thanks

Its a beautiful tree. From this distance, I don't see any problems with it. How long have you owned it? If its a new tree, then you are seeing its yearly leaf color. If this has never happened before, post closer photos.

Daisy

If the green upright growth above the main body of Tamuke foliage is what you're referring to, it's because your plant is a scion grafted to another type of Acer p understock and the green expression is that of the understock. You'll need to keep all branching below the graft union pruned off to prevent the unwanted growth. Don't let it go. If the understock is more vigorous than the scion, it can cause decline and the loss of your tree - at a minimum it won't be a pretty sight in a couple of years.

Al

I planted that tree about 7 years ago it never started to turn green from what I recall. The growth above recently happened, and I thought maybe it was normal. I started to wonder when the leaves below where turning green. Tapla if I'm understanding you correctly your saying I should prune off that green upshoot at the top? I had no clue it was a grafted tree.



This message was edited Sep 3, 2015 12:37 PM

After researching what Tapla was saying I took some more pictures and I think that is exactly is what happened over some time I guess I never noticed. My next question is should I wait till fall and the leaves fall off before cutting that branch growing out of the trunk?
Daisy, I added closer pic of the leaves.
thanks

Where the trunk changes color is the graft line. Whoever originally grafted your tree did a great job. Notice the leaves on the green branch? They are quite different then the leaves on your maple. That is the rootstock trying its best to take the tree back. Cut that branch off immediately - it is stealing nutrients from the grafted part of the tree and eventually the graft will die. Monitor the graft and don't let anymore branches grow from at or below that point. When the interlopers are smaller, you can rub them off. Cutting only encourages more branches to grow from that point but its too late to rub that green branch off so just keep an eye out.

The greenish leaves at the top that look like the other leaves from your tree (except for color) are from your tree. Leave those branches alone. I suspect removing that one branch will fix your problem.

All Japanese maples that stay small like this one are grafted.

Daisy

Remove the branch growing from below the graft union at your earliest convenience & keep an eye out for any others that might occur subsequent to removing the large branch and remove them asap as well. You can see a branch collar starting to develop at the base of the branch now. Make sure your final pruning cut is slightly distal to the branch collar or the tree might not be able to effectively wall off the injury properly, with decay setting in as the result, especially since Acer isn't a particularly good compartmentalizer to begin with.You can get a visual on what I just said here: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/612.html If you have any questions about the pruning cuts, it's better to ask before you do the pruning than after it's completed.

Al