Question
Hi

We moved into this house last year so I am not sure how old the Japanese maple tree is. We saw some green moss like thing developing last year and now the bark is peeling of every where.

Images
https://picasaweb.google.com/vandana.masand/MapleTree?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Can you please advise how to take care of this tree. It is a beautiful tree and we would not like to lose it.

thanks for help !!

Answer
Dear Vandana, I am not sure if I can help you save your tree, but it looks like you have sooty bark disease, a fungus caused by stress due to drought.  In addition you have a lot of lichen under the bark.  If the bark falls off all the way around the tree, then there is likely little you can do to save it.  Make sure the tree is getting adequate water; water deeply for over half an hour at least once or twice a week, but don't keep the soil saturated.  Make sure you don't have other plants in the same bed as the maple, especially grasses, as they will compete with the tree for water.  Make sure it has good drainage, and when watered the soil will drain quickly.  Then on to some sprays you can try.  If it were not summer, I would advise you to spray the trunk with a horticultural oil, but in the heat it will probably cook it more.  You can spray with a permethrin based insecticide or malathion and that will help remove the lichen or moss.  In addition, it may kill other bugs that are taking advantage of the exposed bark.  Unfortunately, there may not be much more that you can do.  Just adding more water and spraying the bark with insecticide is about the best you can do at this point, but if the bark comes off all the way around (called girdling), then the tree will probably die.  Try to baby it through the rest of the summer, and if you see signs of improvement on the bark then it may be recovering; if not then the tree may not make it.  While some Japanese maples turn out to be long-lived, in most countries where it is not native it often only lives to about 60-75 years.  Good luck, Melissa