2006 summer update: conditions and effected cultivars

Since it's been so quiet on this forum ..lets post how our trees are surviving the brutal summer most of us have been having ...be sure to put the type of summer you have had and how it has effected your cultivars and which ones faired the best and worst and ages of such..I will do the same as we go along ..David

The only Japanese Maple I have is an Red Dragon - a baby that was grafted about 18" and grown to about 24". It arrived late this spring in a 4" pot and is now in a 10" pot. It has a healthy leaf structior but has grown very little in height. It lives under a Big Leaf Maple with my other potted shade plants. It has not wilted and has held it's deep red color in spite of the temperatures that are in the higher 90's for a week or so at a time and even l00's for several days at a time. No sign of leaf burn so far. It's been watered almost daily. I suspect I'll see a growth spurt when it cools, especially as we'll have warm temperatures well into October and probably into early November. Dotti

I always have some leaf burn - never fails but with the 100 degree weather we had it's a little more. Germaine's Gyration has very little, Butterfly as always has what I'd call moderate leaf burn. No leaf burn on Bloodgood, Sherwood Flame, Suminagashi, three seedling maples or crimson queen, Villa Taranto, or Koto no Ito. Very mild on Tsukushi gata which was put in this year. Beni Fushigi has trouble with mildew on new season growth (always). It's going to go into a sunnier spot next year. And one of the two Sango Kaku's has mild leaf burn. The one in afternoon sun usually has a little trouble.

I am moving out one sango kaku and the suminagashi this year. :-( I love the suminagashi and would keep it but it's in the wrong place. It keeps beautiful color through the summer, unlike the sherwood flame. Wish I had a forest where I could install a few more.

ok here's a start... both my tamakuyama and my emporer 1 turned green the E1 more so ...although neither had leaf burn at all... My fireglow had leaf schorch but still has a reddish brionze to red color. My crimson queeens had some leaf schorch as well as my orangeola ( more) the cq's held their color better. My Beni Otaki has some color left ..it was spectacular this spring!!! it has a bit of leaf tip burn ..not much. Red spider web lost it's color but suprisingly little leaf burn and the best was the abagail rose ..again lost it's red tint but it took full sun like a trouper....seireu, sclopendaflorium , japanese sunrise germains giration all are perfect ...this is less than a 1/4 of my JM's will report mote ltr and thers were all of these listed in FULL SUN!!! David

Results from TX, after 40+ days of 100+ temperatures and extreme drought this year. All maples in containers getting about 3-4 hours afternoon sun but regular watering.

Red dragon, Crimson queen, Garnet, Fireglow, Viridis, Tamukeyama all repotted in feb this year in well draining soil mix showing 25%-30% leaf scorching. They are putting out new buds and growth, but the new leaves are scorched to a crisp in a couple of days.

Auruem Golden fullmoon, Orange dream, Autumn Moon, Inabe shidare, another tamukeyama all in soil mix that holds more moisture, have less than 5% scorch, putting out decent new growth and the new leaves are doing fine.

A new Tsukushigata that I got this year, leaves burnt to a crisp in a month, I repotted this into a 2 gallon with a lot of peat in the mix, it has put out all new leaves and has no scorch.

Based on this, I am probably going to add a little more peat to my previous soil mix recipe (4 parts 1/4" pine bark,1 part peat, 1 part turface, 1 part granite grit, 1 part expanded shale).

Looks like the maples in hot locations do well with a soil mix that holds some water. All said the maples seem to be doing a lot better than last year considering that we had only 1 day above 100+ last year.

xman

I live in an area (just south of San Francisco) where heat is never an issue (it's cold foggy and windy as we speak) but my Tsukushi gata also burned up. I also have a very unhappy Viridis that I can't seem to get to respond to anything I do this year. It has looked weak all year long and lost that nice green a few months ago. Now, with this latest cold, sunless streak we've had it has gone into an intense bright orange-red fall coloration.

Pretty, but not in August, in a mild temp place like this!

Well my summer was not too hot, not too cold...just right. All the planted JM are perfectly happy this year...not even any insect problems. Only change that has taken place recently is the Omure Yama is starting to take on the first hints of the fall colours, with a slight bronzing of the green foliage. Most will not colour up until mid-late October.

Those in pots were a little stressed since I had them in too much shade but once I moved them to a sunnier spot, they flushed with normal foliage I have to grow them in full sun in my area....any shade it seems and the plants start to go downhill.

Todd it sounds like your area is about perfect in the summer...at least this summer unlike most of us... but I assume??? your summers are most often pretty optimal for JM's correct?? ...obviously your winters are more problematic...although the snows insulating your plants helps there too.. David

The problenm with our snow is if too much falls then when it melts, it can strip the branches from the trees. The taller cultivars, once they reach 6 feet or so, are reasonably safe but low cultivars always have a risk and need extra protection in winter, just in case. My Red Dragon was completely stripped of branches one winter..only the main truck was left. I was going to throw it out but has to work out of town for 2 months in May and June. When I returned home to deal with the JM, there were little tufts of leaves arising directly from the main stem. By the end of that summer, the new stems had reached nearly 2 feet essentially creating a brand new network of lateral branches. That winter, and ever since, I built a frame around it and the plant has never looked back. Here it is today, 5 years after being stripped.

Here in Texas ...

My little Bloodgood was THRIVING until about 13 days ago, when after 10 days of 104+ degree heat and hot wind, it got bad leaf scorch. Didn't drop the leaves (yet), but scorched badly.

After my grandmother died, someone gave me another JM ... I'm forgetting the name now ... different kind of leaf; this one's "feathery" and green and in a big, big pot. It arrived with a little bit of scorch but then seems so far to have done beautifully. No additional scorch and quite happy in the big, big pot at the corner of the house in the shade.

The JM in the front (type unknown, installed by landscapers prior to our move here) got bad scorch about 6 weeks ago, but now has pulled out of it.

So we seem to have survived the worst of the summer heat. Now to autumn and continued TLC.

I love my little JMs!

From hot and humid Louisiana,
Even though we've had a really dry summer this year, my JM's are doing fairly well. They are all under irrigation, though, and I'm sure that's made a difference (and all in at least 1/2 day shade). I have a Yuri Hemi in a 3 gallon pot, that I up potted from a 1 gallon last fall, and it looks great. Not one little bit of leaf burn, and I was sure it would. The Inabe shidare I planted 3 years ago has never looked better. I did prune back the ligustrum that are around it, and Hurricane Katrina pruned my river birch for me, so it is getting a little more sun that usual also. All in all, most are doing well.