I cannot answer your questions but it may help if you explain "It doesn't seem to be fairing very well. " HOW SO can you post a photo ...good LUCK with that..or at least explain what conditions you are concerned about... size of tree and when it was planted ..You say it's two years old ...from its "beginning" or planting... also what type of weather you have had. there are many factors that can effect ANY tree and I don't want you to do serious doctorin' if it is NOT needed...Many trees improperly planted will "grow" their way out of it on there own...you may be overly concernened or NOT ??? David

The tree does well until summertime hits. Then part of the leaves turn brown and become brittle and crisp. These damaged leaves are found throughout the tree (top to bottom).

From the "beginning," the maple is 2 years old.

The weather right now is hot as hell with little rain fall. I water it once a week with a slow trickle overnight. I�m kind of thinking the ground is so tightly packed, little water is soaking into the soil. Thus my inquiry on vertical mulching.

Go to www.bloomingarden.com/verticalmulch.html
It should help. David

I've read that mulch should not be hitting the trunk of the tree. There should be at least a six inch area around the tree that's mulch free. And when you say two years old that is a very young tree. Is it possible to dig up the area surrounding the tree to breakup up the soil?

Scrounge, you did not tell us the size of the tree, and why not change your profile to let us know your State and zone?

I also have a Red Sunset that I have had in place in the front yard for two years. It has four trunks, and is maybe 13 feet tall and the main trunk is about 2 inches in diameter. It is planted over the site where I had to cut down a 30 year old ash tree because of ice storm damage. So the soil is mostly ground up tree roots, oh, and I found a rabbit was living under it too.

The leaves are showing chlorosis and now this past week most of the new leaves are turning brown. I will start treating the soil to make it more acidic, and start to spray the tree with a fungicide, but any comments will be appreciated.

A smaller tree with chlorosis should be easily treatable with any iron or acidic soil treatment ... I have several large pin oaks ( terrible trees BTW...but they are BIG so I left them) that had moderate to severe CH...I bought iron suppositories and drilled holes and put 'emm in past the cambian layer...worked just as advertised ..i did this every two years for just a couple years ..now they seem to have roots down far enough to get the iron they need and are doing fine as a cruddy tree can do...but I see smaller ones in the throws of death all over ..but NEVER maples ...but the same is most likely true with yours ...so you have it relativly easy with a smaller one and HOPEFULLY you will have the same experience and once they get their roots down a ways you will be ok ...cause as they get real big soil treatments will most likely be not effective and you will have to go my route which does work but is a hassle..david

About red maples: I've read that chlorosis here can be a manganese deficiency, due to a higher PH than required. Do soil treatments really work? I added elementary sulfur twice already, hoping to get the maple I planted started, but since it is a big tree, with roots going far, is this not a hopeless endeavour?
What puzzles me is the pretty obvious chlorosis I am getting on a Red October I planted last fall. It came out chlorotic in the spring - PH is around 7. may be a bit less. It's puzzling since the chlorosis is much more severe than the very little I am sometimes getting on my rhododendrons that are planted in the same soil. May be a red maple expert can help out here - the leaves are yellowish, with green 'veins'. Could there be another reason? (The tree is not planted too deep.) Any similar experiences?
Schusch

"Go to www.bloomingarden.com/verticalmulch.html"; - picea

Hehe... that page came up in my google searches. I just didn't know if the recommendation of starting 8 ft away from the trunk would apply to a smaller tree. Seems like that would be to far away to be of benefit. Until the tree is mature and has a larger root zone that is.

"I've read that mulch should not be hitting the trunk of the tree... Is it possible to dig up the area surrounding the tree to breakup up the soil?" - ezochi

I have fixed the mulching around the tree. I am somewhat tempted to free up the soil around the trunk, but also cautious. I've never attempted to breakup soil around a tree, would hate to tear a root off an already malnourished tree. ;P

"...size of the tree, and why not change your profile to let us know your State and zone?" - jonijumpup

D'oh that would help wouldnÂt it. The tree has a single trunk with a 3.5 ft canopy and stands roughly 8 ft tall. I live in SW Missouri. This time of year it is hot and humid, with little rain fall.

Hmmm... odd my profile shows the correct city and state, but it is not displayed on my members page. /shrug
Also, where I live (Springfield, MO) is a zone 6.

here's a couple of links for larger maples ...as i said I have used the supositories and they DO work ..I agree with schusch I think ground feeding a large tree is a waist and futile!!! but the drilling of these will work from my experience!!
http://www.amleo.com/index/item.cgi? If this link doesn't work just go to www.amleo.com and type in " iron " !!!

also this http://vanwert.osu.edu/ag/maple_chlorosis.html

If was going to vertical mulch a small young tree I would start at the drip line or 6-12 inches from the edge of the root ball and vertical mulch 3-4' out. If nothing else it will help hold moisture in the ground and encourage the roots to expand into the are you mulched. David

"The tree does well until summertime hits. Then part of the leaves turn brown and become brittle and crisp. These damaged leaves are found throughout the tree (top to bottom)."

I have a pretty similar situation in Chicago, I'm trying application of the miracle grow "for acid loving plants" fertilizer to see if that helps, but the good news is that it's only a brief problem during the summer, and my tree(now 4 years old, also a Red Sunset) has lots of healthy leaves as well as some burnt ones.

this year I did get one of those tree soaker hoses, that seems to be helping as you can really let the tree "get its feet wet", which it definitely loves as it is a swamp maple.

Hi carterobrien -

do you by any chance know the PH of the soil you are growing your Red Sunset in?

Thanks.
Schusch

well, it's Chicago, so it's clayey once you get under about 6 inches of topsoil. I haven't had it formally evaluated since I've planted only native plants I see in the area, but one of those garden center gadgets puts it just above 7.

you can't go wrong with the soaker hose btw, I think at Home Depot they were about $5, they're nice as you can leave it on very low pressure for hours and know that the water is being evenly distributed around the rootball and surrounding soil.

See - if your PH is around 7, it is like mine but you have much less of a problem, so I keep wondering what is wrong with mine.
Thanks.