Bark scarring on JM's with light or brightly colored bark is fairly common and not necessarily a sign of a disease. However Bihou has a reputation of being a difficult cultivar to grow successfully. It, like many other of these colored bark varieties, are overly prone to bacterial blight, Pseudomonas syringae, but that typically manifests by late winter/early spring blackening of tip growth. That's what I'd be on the look out for but not something you would see at this time of year......unless the signs of that issue were removed by the grower earlier.

Thanks for the input. On closer inspection of the newest growth, there are some black tips that were pruned. Any chance of this tree recovering or lasting a nice five years at least of enjoyment? In case the seller won't take it back.

Once the blight takes hold, It is difficult to halt and eventually the disease will overwhelm and kill the tree. You can prune it out if not yet fully established but now is not the correct time.

This may help -treating JM's with pseudomonas.

Thanks for the information! I am crossing my fingers. Lesson learned: Examine a plant completely from top to bottom before buying.

I took my 'Bihou' out because it kept dying back from the tips. Fertilization - which has been recommended for helping Japanese maples "outgrow" as it were Verticillium - did produce a better appearance during the one year I tried it. But I didn't keep it up and the specimen soon slid back into the existing pattern.