Question
I have a situation where I bought a Bonfire Maple in early March from a nursery. It is about 15 foot tall with a 2-3 inch trunk. It had already started leaving (small redish leaves) when they removed it from the burm. They cut down the root section with a shovel until the ball was about 3 foot in diameter. I dug a hole about 4 1/2 foot wide and left the top edge of the ball exposed. Backfilled with tree and shrub starter soil and native soil. Mixed root stimulator with water and deep watered. My problem is after two months the leaves seem to stop growing at about two inches and now are starting to turn red. What do you think?

Answer
Usually when a maple that is young turns from green to reddish it means the tree is under stress. Newly planted tree do go through a period of stress normally. I would check to see if the soil around the tree is wet if so do not water. Too much water is as bad for the tree as too little. I would not water the tree unless you see the soil down to about 3 inches drying out. and then water once a week with 1 inch of water--place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. IF you have not done so I would apply mulch around the tree--place not more than 3 inches deep of organic mulch not piled up on the trunk (pinestraw is a good mulch).

The planting method sounded Ok. I think the tree will be OK it will take this season of growth to adjust to the new site. As long as the leaves do not turn brown and dry I think the tree will do well.Hardwood tree tend to put their first years growth effort into the root system and the foliage can look not full. But the second year they will leaf out fuller.