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New Japanese Maple leaves falling off

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I planted a small Japanese Maple last Fall. It did well and leafed out nicely this spring. Over the past week I noticed some of the leaves turn a bright red and then fall off. Overall the tree still looks good, but more are turning bright red each day. Most of the leaves that have fallen off are close to the trunk. The ends of the branches look normal.

We have had rain this week, so maybe it's too wet? Or I watered it with some plant fertilizer along with all my plants and shrubs about a week ago before this started happening. So maybe the fertilizer is to blame?

I am located in Iowa. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 years ago
Can we see any photos? It is very difficult to diagnose any problems accurately just by description. We really need to SEE what is going on :-))
stiltstudio
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Here are a few photos. You can see the red leaves and I took a picture of a few laying on the ground.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Is it possible it dried out a bit before the rain? That could cause the coloring and leaf drop. The dropping could also be due to wind.

Other than that, the tree looks fine. Just make sure it gets water as needed (assuming it is planted in a well draining soil). And no need for any additional fertilization.
stiltstudio
Original Author
10 years ago
It's very unlikely it dried out, but we did have some strong wind in a recent thunderstorm. The tree overall looks healthy so I'm sure it's fine. I just thought it was odd to see leaves turning red and falling off in the Spring.

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