QuestionI recently purchased a home that had a severely dried out Japanese Maple tree. I have been giving it water when it does not rain. Will the leaves come back? It is not entirely dead. the The limbs are still green. I put some fertilizer spikes in the ground around it. I poured a Bayer fertilizer on it. It now has little red sprouts coming out the ends of the dead dryed out leaf parts. Will it come back next year?
AnswerIt should bud out next spring. I would not fertilize it any more for a year but if you have not done so I would mulch around the tree out say 2-2 1/2 feet with not more than 3 inches deep of organic mulch not piled up on the trunk. This will help hold moisture around the roots and also protect the trunk from lawn mower damage. The red are the new leaves but do not expect many this year since soon the hardwood trees will shut down for the winter and drop their leaves. Next spring you should see new leaves bud out.
