Coral Bark Maple in Full Sun

jfalconsp

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Hi everyone!

I planted a bloodgood and coral bark maple in my backyard that’s gets all day fun about a month ago in GA. Bloodgood seems to be holding up well, but the coral bark leaves have turned very yellow and there is some black/die off on the ends of the branches where there would be new growth. I’m thinking it’s too much full sun/heat and wondering if I should pull the plug and move it back to a pot while I try to find a shadier spot (not a lot of options in my yard). See the pictures attached.

What do you think?29D5A156-7ACA-48F5-9BDA-41043AFD15CD.jpegA7DD3473-38F0-4918-A308-273B96C5AA97.jpegD435A20C-17F7-4680-9175-79F40FF0F583.jpeg
 

Bonsaidoorguy

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Hi there. You need to edit your profile to show your location so that the wonderful, extremely knowledgeable members here can give the best information possible.
 

Paradox

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Do you water it at all or just rely on rain?

Seems like it's not getting enough water
 

River's Edge

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Hi everyone!

I planted a bloodgood and coral bark maple in my backyard that’s gets all day fun about a month ago in GA. Bloodgood seems to be holding up well, but the coral bark leaves have turned very yellow and there is some black/die off on the ends of the branches where there would be new growth. I’m thinking it’s too much full sun/heat and wondering if I should pull the plug and move it back to a pot while I try to find a shadier spot (not a lot of options in my yard). See the pictures attached.

What do you think?View attachment 380336View attachment 380337View attachment 380338
Coral bark maple does better in partial shade. The color will improve in a shadier location given that all other care is equal. I moved an air layer to a full sun location and it is lighter yellow green in color. The parent plant is in partial shade and a much deeper green. Same substrate, same care, same genetics, roots not impaired on the air layer.
I am not implying that there may not be other factors at play in this situation such as overall root condition compared to the Bloodgood. However the Blood good is one of the few maples that are recommended for full sun.
 
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sorce

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Welcome to Crazy!

I wouldn't move it.... it will almost certainly die.

However....that fence looks like a good half of a shade cloth support.

Sorce
 

bwaynef

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I've a Sango Kaku in the ground that's in significant shade that seems to be doing pretty well.
 

River's Edge

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There is a wide range of advice regarding this species, I think the distinction between when full sun is acceptable is best expressed in this listing.
"Best color- Part Shade Tolerates Full Sun in cooler regions
Most sites advise not allowing them. to dry out, keep them moist. One suggests they are resistant to leaf scorch;) I would take that with a grain of salt.
The leaf color on your tree is consistent with a sunny location, however the leaf damage is consistent with a hot sunny location. Not sure what your climatic zone is in Georgia but it could be on the edge of best Zone range for the species.

Mature Height:15-25 ft.
Mature Width:10-12 ft.
Sunlight:Best color- Part Shade Tolerates Full Sun in cooler regions
Growth Rate:Moderate
Botanical Name:Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku'
Does Not Ship To:AZ
Grows Well In Zones:5-8 outdoors
 

Ohmy222

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If you planted recently I would make sure to water everyday. Recently planted trees take a while to establish themselves. Often the nursery soil dries out and the roots have not yet escaped into the ground soil. I would try that before stressing more. I am in Georgia and most of my maples get a good deal every day and do fine. If you are in South Georgia then the heat may be too much.
 

TN_Jim

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I strongly disagree with watering a JM every day in the ground or even in a nursery container. Doing so can inhibit root growth as well as lead to harm of your tree, & stressed plants are vulnerable to pathogens and infestation.

It gets pretty blazing here in summer, but still if I watered the Japanese maples at work every day we would have no Japanese maples -and these are in nursery pots, not in the ground.

Your JM needs to dry out some allowing air to its roots and to encourage roots to grow and search for water. Location and weather conditions are pivotal to when a tree should be watered, but virtually no tree or shrub in the ground or in a pot needs to be watered every day, they should only be watered when the tree needs water.

This requires putting your hands in the dirt, being aware of rainfall, and monitoring the trees appearance regularly -especially in the first year of planting.

For example, I could plant a JM today and never water it for the rest of the year if we continue to get consistent rain a couple of times a week. This has been the case with a tree planted in my front yard two months ago that I’ve only watered twice so far and it is thriving.

Here’s a video that goes pretty in depth into this topic. These guys know their stuff, they have to, it is the foundation of everything they do.
 

Forsoothe!

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This chart shows that the intensity of sunlight is not less in the regions further from the equator, the only difference is the duration. The only JM appropriate for midday sun are those with darker green or red, larger, leaves. Threadleaf and lighter colored leaves are more susceptible to burning at the edges and all JM varieties should be regarded as understory trees where half-day sun works best.Latitude & Time annotated wide.JPG
 

rodeolthr

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In the PNW, Japanese maples are full sun trees, except for a few varieties that seem to burn no matter where grown. In the shade, they become leggy with sparse leaves. I have the hundreds of maple seedlings, saplings, and pre-bonsai that I have, cooking in full sun to get optimal growth.
 

Maiden69

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For example, I could plant a JM today and never water it for the rest of the year if we continue to get consistent rain a couple of times a week. This has been the case with a tree planted in my front yard two months ago that I’ve only watered twice so far and it is thriving.
This is such a blanket statement... without taking into account location your advise is null. Let me do that in my location and I will have a dead tree within a few days. I recently planted a blue point juniper and 4 boxwoods in my front yard and it took them over 6 months of watering every 2-3 days to get established where one watering when it's not hot will be enough for them. If it is hot I can see the leaves at the tip of the boxwood starting to wilt.

I also don't understand the "don't water every day" comment. Clearly the balance of oxygen and water has to be attained, but trees in inorganic soil "can't" be overwatered. The excess water will just run out of the pot. Walter Paul has explained this for years... I understand if you use organics on your soil. I do agree to some extent for trees in the ground. As they will pull humidity from the entire area, but once again, if in an arid location you will need to water them.

Also, this trees (JM) come from an area that is located between temperate and sub-tropical climates. They are used to continuous rain, especially during the monsoon season... I don't see the Japanese go out and pull the trees out of the ground to protect them from overwatering.
 

BrightsideB

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I am in north ga and my neighbors have a coral bark in the front yard that gets full sun. Probably 8 hours. If you are in north ga we have had rain almost everyday with sun and it hasn’t been above 90 degrees. If this tree was growing under a shade cloth or greenhouse in the nursery. It could be sunburnt foliage if this tree is now getting much more direct sunlight. But overall the summer isn’t a good time to plant plants in full sun. Specially if it wasn’t living in direct full sun prior. I’ve experienced that. I usually plant in fall. Gives roots good time to adjust to the following growing season. But like others have stated it thrives in part shade. My neighbor tree is ok but doesn’t look as good as it would in part shade. And like others stated the darker colored maple cultivars do well in full sun.
 

TN_Jim

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This is such a blanket statement... without taking into account location your advise is null. Let me do that in my location and I will have a dead tree within a few days. I recently planted a blue point juniper and 4 boxwoods in my front yard and it took them over 6 months of watering every 2-3 days to get established where one watering when it's not hot will be enough for them. If it is hot I can see the leaves at the tip of the boxwood starting to wilt.

I also don't understand the "don't water every day" comment. Clearly the balance of oxygen and water has to be attained, but trees in inorganic soil "can't" be overwatered. The excess water will just run out of the pot. Walter Paul has explained this for years... I understand if you use organics on your soil. I do agree to some extent for trees in the ground. As they will pull humidity from the entire area, but once again, if in an arid location you will need to water them.

Also, this trees (JM) come from an area that is located between temperate and sub-tropical climates. They are used to continuous rain, especially during the monsoon season... I don't see the Japanese go out and pull the trees out of the ground to protect them from overwatering.
You wrote three paragraphs there, I’ll respond to them individually.

1) This is not a blanket statement, it is an example of conditions where I live and proper watering here. The blanket statement was what I was addressing in the previous post by @Ohmy222, “If you planted recently I would make sure to water everyday.” If you reread what I wrote along with my example, it is that location is pivotal. Stating that you should water a Japanese maple every day is wrong and the embodiment of blanket. Plants should be watered only when they need water. Straying from this is looking for trouble. Perhaps where you live you do need to water daily, though the operative word there is need. Seems you water what you have every 2-3 days, that’s not every day.

2) This thread is about trees planted in the ground. I specifically was talking about trees in the ground as well as in nursery containers. Nothing here is about bonsai soil. Still you raise a good point about water and oxygen which complements why you should not water a tree in the ground every day if not needed.

3) It does not rain here in N. America or in Japan every day.

What I said in my original post is sound well tested horticulture advise that is also coming from years of personal experience, professional experience, and education. Will you kill a JM by watering it every day when it does not need it? Maybe not, but it could, or produce a weaker tree. However, doing so and advising people to do so is poor practice and bad advice.
 

BrightsideB

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Would people advise him to dig it back up and repot it? And move it into the shade? Curious about what one would do in this situation. For future reference. If you bought this at pikes nursery I am pretty sure they would refund or replace the tree. They seem to stand by that.

@jfalconsp keep us updated
 

Maiden69

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3) It does not rain here in N. America or in Japan every day.
While it doesn't rain every day in Japan, they average double the amount of rain the US gets. and during monsoon/typhoon season, it rains literally every day... I didn't see anything on your initial post about location, which is why I said it was a blanket statement without including the location and how to adjust to it. Another thing to consider is the kind of soil in the area. While TN have good soil, what I have here in TX sucks... GA (most of the places I have been to) is mostly red clay, which is not the best for Maples as well.

I have2 maples that I ordered from MrMaple, one died a few months back on a hail storm, and the nursery mix they use bogs down a lot. It is the wettest from all the trees that I have ordered or bought from nurseries locally. Way too much peat moss for my liking... but maybe that is because they adjust the mix so hold more water during the shipping process.
 

TN_Jim

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While it doesn't rain every day in Japan, they average double the amount of rain the US gets. and during monsoon/typhoon season, it rains literally every day... I didn't see anything on your initial post about location, which is why I said it was a blanket statement without including the location and how to adjust to it. Another thing to consider is the kind of soil in the area. While TN have good soil, what I have here in TX sucks... GA (most of the places I have been to) is mostly red clay, which is not the best for Maples as well.

I have2 maples that I ordered from MrMaple, one died a few months back on a hail storm, and the nursery mix they use bogs down a lot. It is the wettest from all the trees that I have ordered or bought from nurseries locally. Way too much peat moss for my liking... but maybe that is because they adjust the mix so hold more water during the shipping process.
I’m not sure exactly why JM thrive in the monsoons of Japan when they would potentially fail here, although I’m pretty certain it would have a lot to do with the components of their native soil and that JM can tend to have a shallow root system.

Soils in TN can vary greatly, but here in middle TN it is predominantly red clay (garbage) and limestone -big part of why how you plant, water, and what soil amendments used here is so important. We are definitely not sitting on a volcano here, it’s a clay basin.

Hate to hear that about your JM. At the nursery I work at there is some peat in the mix, but also a stronger ratio of sand and pine bark soil conditioner. This is pretty much the same type mix as trees we receive from Oregon except they have pumice and less or no sand. If had to guess, Mr. Maple have such a heavy ratio of peat because they would have to water nonstop given the amount of stock they have otherwise.

Still though, even with the more freely draining mixes we use at work, watering the JM’s every day really can be very detrimental to them (kill them). I treat them more akin to the conifers regarding watering rather than like other the other deciduous. If we used a more porus free-draining (better) soil mix, all I would likely ever do is water plants.

What I said in first post here regarding location was this:
Your JM needs to dry out some allowing air to its roots and to encourage roots to grow and search for water. Location and weather conditions are pivotal to when a tree should be watered, but virtually no tree or shrub in the ground or in a pot needs to be watered every day, they should only be watered when the tree needs water.


Regarding planting a Coral bark in full sun I’ve seen some thrive and some not. The best thing if you have to do it and succeed would be to plant it right and water it right. Dig the hole much wider than the diameter of the pot (~3x+), use a good soil amendment suited to your area that can drain, water when the tree needs it even if it’s established.

A weak coral bark in full sun could be weak because it’s not getting enough water to facilitate cooling itself off. This is especially important in summer. Trees don’t sweat, they have to pull water through their vascular system to cool off. If there is no more water to cool the tree it gets crispy and loses leaves -it’s not always that the leaves or the tree just can’t handle the amount of hrs of direct sunlight or about photosynthesis.
 

Maiden69

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definitely, I will not plant a coral bark, variegated, or any of the dissectum in direct sunlight unless in zone 6, and even then I would consider a morning sun afternoon shade. MrMaple mix had too much peat, yes, it had the other ingredients... pine bark, sand, I don't remember if they had perlite. So far the best mix I have received my trees in had been from Brent. I have my "in-ground" trees inside grow bags, and I have pumice-lava rock-monto clay-bonsai block. I have seen a lot of people almost losing their black pines because of decomposing organic soil in the shin of the tree... so I planted mine inside all in-organic media. That way I can also re-use the media once I get the tree out after a rinse and dry. I will use akadama on them once they go into pots, or I want to slow down the growth.
 
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