help!

I rescued a very sad weeping Japanese Maple yesterday. I'm not sure of the cultivar, but it looks like Inabe Shidare. I customer from the garden center bought it a few months ago and has not been watering. When it showed the inevitable leaf drop and withering, they ripped it out of the ground, left it in their car for 4 days (yes, it has been over 90 degrees every day) and then returned it for a replacement yesterday. The crown is thick, sturdy, full and beautiful but the tree has very few leaves and looks near death. I put it in a pot with a mixture of good garden soil and a tree/shrub soil amender and let it soak in the pond for a few hours. Can I get some advice on how to nurse this potentially gorgeous specimen back to health? I'm wondering if I shouldn't pack it tight in burlap to avoid air pockets in what's left of the rootball. I'd welcome any suggestions on how to care for this foster tree and give it a fighting chance.
Thanks
Cleo

Jm's a really hardy and if the roots didn't dry out it will likely make it...but then you didn't post a pic so it's impossible to know how "far gone" it is ...for you it may be totally gone for me possibly hopeful... I'd say DON'T overwater!!! DON'T fertilize AT ALL!!!!!...pinch off any dried upped leaves... keep in mostly shade...make sure the pot has adequate drainage..and keep your fingers crossed ..I'd bet it will make it but then I have not seen it post a few jpegs ..it's easy on this site just keep 'em a bit small or they won't load ..David

Thanks David. Advice heard and heeded. I already cut off the dead with clean sharp pruners, the pot and soil are correct for the job, I'd never fertilize a sick plant, and a few hours of morning sun was exactly what I had in mind for it. Will keep evenly moist but will not over water. As far as your comment " for you it may be totally gone for me possibly hopeful." were you being condescending or just having little faith? I'm a master gardener and have the confidence of the general manager which is why she made a gift of this plant to me and entrusted me with it's care and rescue. I don't have much personal experience with JM and do appreciate your guidance and expertise. Let's think healthy plant thoughts. :-)

photos as requested

up close and showing hope
(how about that BLASTED ground ivy?? Been trying to get Charlie to Creep out of here for 20 years!)

I was not condescending ..just thought you didn't have much hope and I did.It looks like it will make it to me the new growth looks good ..I don't know about having trimmed it as you (or they) did I would have left it and seen whether the branches grew new leaves ..but I did'nt see it so maybe they were dead ...all I know is often Jm's loose all their leaves or they dry up and if ya pinch 'em off they grow back when the tree is put in the right area under the right conditions in about three weeks ..but as I said I didn't see it ..just seems a bit extreeme . I would haver left 'em. I can't see all those large branches just kaputting ...but what is done is done ..end result isn't purdy but I think it has a good chance of making it ..it will most likely take a couple years to regain it's form...David

So sorry that you had this experience. Not sure why you took the plant back. You are more generous than I would be. Be sure when you put it back in the sun to do it very gradually.

I've bought a couple of trees that were on special at this time of year that had almost no green leaves but they've come back just fine.

I don't think that it's an Inabe Shidare since it's clearly not red.
http://www.mountainmaples.com/WS4D_Cookie=9.21.03_14,46,01_21/*ws4d-db-query-Class_Quicksearch.ws4d?ClassNo=161

And all of the stems are very peculiar. The tree looks as if it's suckering from the ground. That's quite distinctive. At best, I think that you will have a bush at this point rather than a tree. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different. If you don't keep it a bush, the deformed trunk structure will show and I'm afraid that it won't be attractive.

Doss as I read it it wasn't hers to start with but she is trying to recessitate it and was given to her by the nursery to TRY to save it.... the bush/tree itself was returned to that nusery by an idiot that virtually destroyed it!! ... I agree It will be deformed and if not kept a bush in structure will look really foolish...but there's nothing wrong with bush as long as it will cover that gastly base..which hopefully in a couple of years WILL if it is more of an upright it will most likely look ghastly IMHO ...David

I got the nursery part - but I guess I meant I don't know why the nursery brought it back. Sorry for not being clearer. What a plant guarantee your nursery must have Cleo.

I agree, a bush is just fine. Hopefully the plant will be a weeper and cover itself.

Have you ever seen a maple with that many trunk/stems, David? And do you have any idea what it might be? I'm so curious.

I was so appalled at the obvious abuse (neglect) this tree received and the insolent attitude of the customer demanding a replacement that I just walked away and turned it over to the fearless manager. It ends up that this tree was already a replacement for a glorious Silberlocke Fir they had previously slaughtered. Deal done, obligations met, no ding dang replacement or credit for the murderers. The GM gave me the tree as a gift.

Now I'm wondering if we didn't get snookered despite her refusal to replace. I don't remember any stock that was pruned like this. Now that it's cleaned up and I took a better look at it, it looks like no Jap maple I ever saw. The leaves are deeply serrated alernate lobes not single deeply cut leaves. Although the receipt was for a JM (Inabe Shidare) , I think this plant may be an elderberry.
Hmmm?

GOOD observations ..yes it is ODD I really didn't look at the pics very close and just assumed what was stated by Lady was correct a JM..and yes it really doesn't look like a jm now that i peered at it a bit closer but I can't see the leaves try to get a better leaf shot ..I have seen multi limbed jm trees but you both are right it just doesn't seem right to me either maybe it is an elderberry..looks like it was a total cluster snooker to me bait and switch return..I would definitly NOT deal with these bozos again if I were that nursery...David

Do elderberry plants grow into bushes? I've seen multi-trunked JM's but never one that was a forest all by itself!

This lady seems as if she has a kill-a-plant and return it for a different one addiction.

yes elderberries are multi stemed but most are broadleafed a few new varieties are advertized as JM like... Jm's that i have seen can be multi stemed or trunked but not from the root ball rather a bit above the graft or if not grafted above the ground 1-2feet.... it actually looks a bit like a sumack but I have not seen those as multi stemed either but i would assume it is possible..David

Like this? Both seedlings.

yah exactly not lake lady's..david

Sumac, huh? Well, one man's neglect is this woman's challenge. It'll be fun seeing how this plant progresses and whatever the heck it is, I got a free plant to nurture.
Shall I change forums now? LOL
Thanks for all the input to help solve this mystery.
Cleo

close up

It looks more like a type of sumac than a JM thats for sure but not like any I have ...the suckering is a sumac trait NOT a jm one that I know of ,,,the knobby bark is also sumacish.... sumacs will sucker out 20 feet an are a pain but just clip em off and they DON'T grow back ...at that spot ;>) just other places .... see 'em and clip ...see 'em and clip. As I said none of mine are multi stemed out of the root clump but there are MANY differnt varieties... it may be one but one things for sure I am 80% sure it aint a JM ..hows that for hedging my "definitive" "guess"...David

Cleo - you should take your photos to the identification forum. Let us know what you find! If it is sumac, it doesn't sound like it's a good idea to put this one in the ground though unless you have LOTS of room.
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/wildflower/1997wi_sumac.html

OK, the Japanese Maple turned sumac turned elderberry finally has a positive ID. It's thriving and full and sitting in a growers pot at the end of my driveway. A friend was over last night and said to me, "Gosh, you'd better move your Ming Aralia inside soon. The nights are getting pretty chilly." My response-WHAT Ming Aralia?!? Yep yep, that's what it is. It's a mystery how a tender tropical made it out of the interior plantscape division and onto a cart in the nursery, but so it is. Now I have yet another hefty houseplant to find a spot for inside.
Aint life grand? and funny!

That is funny. Glad that you found out what it was while it was still warm enough to save it!

I would love to see a pic of this plant now that we know what it is, and now that it is thriving!!

Please :-)
Jamie

Here ya go Jamie! It's not at full form yet, but definitely recovered nicely from it's original state.

closer

Well, you certainly did save it. It's looking good!

Well Good Job!! for saving that poor plant - it definitely got to the right home eventually, huh?? :-) It looks so, soo much better, and that new growth just screams good health!!

Thanks for showing us the improvement!!
Jamie