QuestionI live in Southeast Ohio, I planted a Sunset Maple tree in our back yard about 7 years ago. At the time this tree was planted it was approx 9 ft tall. I dug a hole about 3 1/2 feet square and added soil ammendments, as our soil is mostly clay.
Our tree did well for the next 4yrs and then last year I noticed limbs near the top and a few on the side have died. The tree right now seems to have recovered somewhat as the leaves have filled out closer to the trunk of the tree and other branches have filled in to some extent. Could parts of the tree have been killed off from winter damage or what could have caused this? Thank you.
AnswerI would not think it was the cold that caused the problem since sunset maple is very cold hardy. I am not sure what caused this-- could have been a borer that attacked or environmental type problems. Since it seems ok now I would prune the dead branches off and watch it for signs of the foliage yellowing early. Make sure you do not over water it--it only needs 1 inch of water each week. Except during droughts let Mother Nature handle the watering. Sorry I could not be more specific.
