Question
Hi Jim,

We have a paper bark maple in our landscape that has been in for about 6 years.The tree is about 13 feet tall and has a trunk of about 9 or 10 inces in circumference. I'm not sure the exact age of the tree, but it's not small. This spring we noticed that the tree was very sparse in leaf production, but was loaded with seeds. The seeds were on all summer and have just fallen off. The tree appears to be healthy otherwise, but is pretty bare with leaves.
We read that maple trees in general will do this and that heavy fertilization in the fall will prevent it from happening. Since we couldn't find anything specific to paper barks, we are wondering if this is normal for them as well or if we have a different problem. The same article said that the seeds should fall mid summer and that foliage prduction should begin again, but that didn't happen in our case. It's a beautiful tree and we don't want to lose it. Can you help please?

Thanks.

Helen

Answer
Sounds as if the tree needs a fertilizer application. Fertilize with  10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. Apply just before a rain storm and you will not need to water it in. Apply now and again in the spring. This will increase the root production and in turn the foliage production.