Question
QUESTION: Our autumn blaze maple was planted in our yard three summers ago.  The last summer and this one, the leaves have already started turning colors.  They are not green now and when they did this last year, they never regained their green color.  We asked our local nursery and they didn't know what it was.  Any ideas?  Thank you!

ANSWER: Dear Elizabeth, Please forgive my late response to you, but I do have good news in that I believe I know exactly what is wrong with your autumn blaze maple.  The problem is not enough water.  Now, you are probably watering the tree on a regular schedule, but with new trees, and especially with faster growing trees, the method to water this tree is absolutely crucial to growing a happy healthy tree.  I recommend watering the tree probably twice a week.  Turn on the hose at about half strength and let the water soak into the soil for perhaps half an hour.  The tree will be well watered when the ground all the way around the tree is saturated extending out as far as the branches reach.  The first time you start to do this, be extra careful to add plenty of water.  Then wait until the ground gets fairly dry, from about 4-7 days, then water thoroughly again.  The same thing happened to a pecan tree in my family years ago.  We went on vacation in the summer (this was Texas) and asked the neighbors to water the pecan tree as it had only been planted a few years earlier.  The neighbors did indeed water the tree, but they didn't know that it would require as much water as it did.  So when we came home just 10 days later, the tree dropped leaves like crazy until all the leaves had fallen.  The good news is that the tree will probably be fine once you start with the new watering schedule.  Incidentally, almost the only other things that could cause this condition would be a bad case of borers, which you would probably notice that there were many large horned looking insects on the tree, with numerous small holes in the trunk and probably a lot of woodpeckers around; a gaping wound on the tree which I'm sure you would notice; or the ground was ALWAYS wet and not drying out.  At any rate, please write back if you need more assistance, and good luck.  Melissa

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tree leaf   QUESTION: Dear Melissa:  Thank you for your thorough response.  I should have put into the question that the tree is in an area of the yard that gets the drainage from the rest of the yard.  Our yard also has a sprinkler system.  Could this happen with too much water as well?  We bought two of them at the exact same time.  They are in different areas of our yard and one is in an island with rocks and other bushes and this one with the problems is just surrounding by a little mulch.  We spent $600 on these two trees so really want to save it.

Answer
Dear Elizabeth, Yes, the wet conditions could cause the same type of problems.  The number one reason for plant failure is water, either too much or too little.  The other maple also has other plants around it to absorb the excess water, and the mulch may just be keeping the area even more wet at this point.  Can you turn off the sprinkler to this area for a bit so it will have a chance to dry, and then turn down the minutes?  You might also want to get a drainage system in place to drain excess water from this area.  A french drain is one such option, and they are easily installed.  You can look this up by Google-ing French drain, but basically, you dig a ditch that is on a slope, lay a hollow tube in the ditch (those black centipede looking tubes at Home Depot) to catch the water, but you need to dig it on an incline, you can put a drainage container in at the lowest point, and then you cover it up.  They actually work quite well.  It may be a bit of hit and miss trying to regulate the water but try to check the area under the healthy tree and keep the soil in the same condition under the other one.  Let me know how it goes.  I do know how expensive these trees are.  Melissa