Question
I live in the Detroit, Michigan suburbs, and planted 2 Japanese Maple trees in
my yard with a Western exposure last summer.  One tree was planted too
close to the septic clean out door.  When we dug out the door, some (not
many) of the roots were exposed.  I left these roots exposed (bad mistake,
apparently) to show my landscaper, who was supposed to review and
placement of tree and rebury it, and went out of town for a week.  The roots
were partially covered with cardboard.  At the end of the week (landscaper
never showed) I filled in the hole, but the Japanese Maple leaves has already
wilted as the leaves are dry and curled into balls.  It has not yet recovered 4
weeks later.  Will this tree recover?  It gets a lot of direct afternoon sun.  The
other tree (same size and planted at the same time) which was not disturbed
is doing very well.

Answer
Over time it should recover but will lose foliage and branches on the side of the tree that the roots were uncovered. The roots more than likely were killed by exposure to the air and heat and dried out and the tree compensates by dropping foliage on that side. Over time the roots will grow back and new branches will sprout on that side.