Never mind. False alarm. 🤦‍♂️

I went out again and used a spray bottle to clean off the dark spots on the trunk.

The tree wasn't planted too deep. It had roots that went straight down for a way.

There were no horizontal roots until I got to this level, they radiate outward just below the visible soil you see in the picture.

So, it appears I'll be putting soil back on tomorrow. There're feeder roots galore just underneath what you see in the picture. New trees, new things to learn. :-)

8-9-2023:

I took the sunshades off both trees today.

We had 6 tenths inches of rain last night and it's going down to 52d tonight, mostly cloudy tomorrow and more rain forecast Thursday night and Saturday. High temps mid to high 70's.

Sun angle is a full 7d lower than the summer equinox and our days are more than an hour shorter than then also. So, we'll go with this information and see.

I'll be working at getting these trees to harden off. Last season, keeping them wet/moist caused them to send out new growth continually, on into October. Some tip dieback resulted.

I didn't have time today to take the wire surrounds off the trees for pictures, but I took them anyways, ;-) Nice new growth with large leaves on #2 tree and appreciable new growth on #1.

#1 and #2 trees are two different animals in both branching habits and colors.

#1: Nice orange/red new leaves on 5 new branches. I am not impressed. but seasonal root development and these are no longer seedlings is considered progress in my book. :-)

#2: Much fuller form with new branches growing out of everywhere. Lime green leaves.

;-)

Yeah, I noticed yesterday w/sadness the sun has been moving gradually south & lower. The long days are the nicest time of year,

One good thing, in my area, with days getting shorter and cool fronts coming down from the Northwest more frequently, the chances of rain and cooler temps increases, and the near drought conditions become less of an issue, even if I have to water some. :-)

8-10-2023;

Better pictures today.

#1. A little spindly but again, progress without any big setbacks. ;-)

#1.

#2.

#2.

:-)

8-12-2023:

A small TS went through yesterday afternoon with a few short gusty winds.

I never thought a seedling in the ground two seasons should have this problem, but when I looked at the tree (#2), it appeared to be rocking a little too much in the breeze.

When I looked closer, I could see a 2" dia. wallowed out spot in the soil around where the trunk went into the ground. The tree seemed very loose in the ground when I tested it.

My theory, is that a root snapped.

Either one of the two of the twins that appear to go straight down, or the one thicker lateral root I found earlier, an inch or so down below the ground. There were many, very fine feeder roots radially around the trunk but I'm sure they weren't very strong as anchors.

So, maybe this species of tree is too wimpy for this area? Tree #1 in the back seems to have a more normal looking root flare and wind doesn't seem to be a problem with it, but then the branching on that one is much sparser.

For now, I put in a few stakes and flexible ties, maybe too low but looks good during this fairly strong NW wind we're having today. We'll just have to wait and see. :^\

Bill - Seeing your trees' progress makes me all the more want to find a spot in my yard for a Korean maple. It can be tough growing trees in a setting that isn't their preferred habitat. I have had to stop growing Norway spruce for sale because my nursery fields are too wide open and they burn severely every winter. But plant them in a location with some shelter and they do just fine. Hopefully your maples will do better and better as the trees around them also mature. Sorry to see the results of your Canadian hemlock, by the way.

I'm late to respond, but just wanted to say that I think the hot, dry summer weather was indeed to blame for the burnt leaf edges. I had that all over many of my young maples. Didn't matter if the fields were heavily irrigated or not, fertilization or no fertilization. Not all varieties though. Rubrums like Northwoods had it pretty severe on the branch ends while Autumn Blaze maples in the same fields showed zero leaf burn at all.

Bill sez:

" My theory, is that a root snapped."

Hole might've been a mouse, vole or mole. All would love a tasty root to gnaw on.

Thanks, not much I can do.

I've just seen my first 'Pocket Gopher' in the back yard the other day. He eluded my attempts at capture. Caught one stripy and seen another last week.

Always something. :-)

8-19-2023;

Just a quick update.

#2 tree in the front, hasn't showed any adverse effects from what every caused it to wobble in the ground last week.

I would think root damage would show dead leaves or something else visible up top. But it's still looking healthy.

I added a couple more stakes on the upper branches, when they forecasted strong winds the other day. The biggest gap I've seen since is <1/8" and it really blew that day.

I let it get pretty dry by not watering the last 10 days, but it hit 90d today and thought I'd better not push it.

A few of the older leaf tips are brown but don't know if that's a related symptom.

Some of the newer growth has been expanding and hopefully the rest will follow suit.

Trunk looks good, don't really know why it all happened except for that strong gusty wind.

No rain forecast for the next 10 days. ;-)

Bill, I usually hang out in the hosta and perennial forums, but like to wander over here because I learn so much. So thanks you for sharing your extensive documentation of your 2 trees. What I was reminded of with the trees burning early, is what happens with new “sun tolerant” hostas. They generally burn badly as they adjust to the conditions where they are planted. Often the second flush of leaves comes out looking much better. (and sometimes you just have to move the hosta……😝) Perhaps the early burning of the trees is similar. It does seem like they adjusted over the course of the summer with your attention and help.

Thanks again.

debra

8-25-2023:

Given a year when we had more early rains, I would be more comfortable leaving these trees for longer periods of time between waterings because even if getting dry, the subsoil moisture would be sufficient to prevent damage or decline.

And there is a difference between not watering this time of year than it was back in June.

Things are beginning to harden off, new growth has slowed or stopped, and a second season of roots have almost completely developed, so moisture requirements are less, and with cooler nights, fewer 90d days and some cloudiness daily, I feel a little bit more at ease watching these grow in my silty sand soil. BTW: I noticed around 3% clay in my last Mason jar test, and although I suppose that varies in both directions around the yard it's still nice to know that I'm not completely devoid of this precious material in my soil. ;-)

Bill, in a rather drier climate, you might do what I used to do, shovel snow around the root zone of your trees in the winter (not piled up right against them), and that recharges the root zone area a bit more than surrounding areas as it melts. I had snow piles 5-6 ft high around some my trees. Sorta cuckoo, I know.

In my climate, if you don't water ANY tree it will die eventually. Not watering constantly is such a foreign concept to me.

-Beng, I have an apple tree, grapes and roses in ground in my unheated greenhouse and I have to do that throughout the winter - shovel snow on them

It's all a learning experience. What you need to do for each one's climate and soil.

Last few seasons we've had wet winters with multiple FEET of snow by spring.

Before that, we were lucky to have any snow all winter or none that stayed very long at all.

The sun can evaporate the snow directly into the atmosphere with little benefit to the soil.

It would be so easy if we knew exactly what kind of seasons were coming.

Every time I think I know something, I'm wrong. lol.

8-30-2023:

I'm not sure what to think.

I let the tree get dry again the last 7 days. Temps in the 80's & 90's. Cooler at nights.

But for some reason, these trees don't want to stop growing.

There hasn't been a lot of growth because they haven't had water but not hardening off all the same.

Last year when I saw this, I just kept watering because I thought they wanted to keep growing but that didn't work either. They just never harden of.

It's just this small amount of new growth that doesn't appear to want to harden off.

So, whether I water or I don't, the results appear to be the same. :-?

I've let them go but hate to let them get too dry either to prevent possible root damage.

The soil is somewhat moist/almost dry under the mulch but drying around the edges is advanced.

I just don't know if I should water tomorrow (temps will be in the 90's) or wait another day or two or three?

Tree #1 has a couple branches that seemed to have stopped growing but Tree #2 appears to have soft growth on every branch.

Tree #1:

Tree #2:

Sometimes a tree won't harden off, especially if very young. My 19 yr old honeylocust has the most vigorous stems growing all season. The ends of those are winter-killed, but then just continue growing from the last living part the next season.

I agree beng,

I think I'm just going to have to water when dry and not be too concerned about it.

Last year I kept them moist on purpose, but I think a little too moist.

At least the roots should be going deeper this way.

With the cooler nights and less sun, they'll possibly get the hint it's time to shut down.

I might have to try the 'Ice cube' method on them. ;-)

Every time my Honey locust gets a little water, it spurts out a few inches of new growth and I think that one can get a little tip burn over winter without consequence.

9-04-2023:

Earlier in August:

' I've just seen my first 'Pocket Gopher' in the back yard the other day. He eluded my attempts at capture. Caught one stripy and seen another last week.'

AM happy to report, finally got that pocket gopher today. Plus 4 stripy gophers since.

I have 4 5gal pails of sand that bugger piled/pushed up and no place to put it.

I think I'll just leave the stakes on the trees until next season until next seasons roots develop.

9-7-2023:

Just for fun, on a beautiful cool morning, I took some pictures (uncaged) of the two trees, A. psuedoseiboldianum.

They both look to be quite healthy considering the abnormally long hot season we've had here.

Yesterday we received 4/10" nice steady rain, and right after I had watered some.

This morning it was down to 39df. That's 60d colder than a few days ago when temps hit 99-100 as it has many times this season. (There were frost warnings in the far northern parts of the state).

#1 tree: The two good things I can say about this tree, is it's not a seedling anymore at 3-1/2' tall with increased trunk girth, and it isn't a 'stick' or whip anymore with at least 6 new horizontal branches from this season. Just not real showy yet except for the promise of good colors.

#2 tree:

Has put out new growth in numerous directions with even more girth increase than #1 tree.

Both are still a little shy of getting full, all-day sun but I've had worse experiences with plants and hopefully this will improve with more root development as time goes on. ;-)

I didn't water either one near as much as I did last year, when I kept them pretty moist almost all the time.

This season they went several times, in the hot sunny weather, without watering, for up to 7 days at a time, and the soil was getting fairly dry by the time they got watered again. Along the lines of 'Water deeply but infrequently' so this should've given them more opportunity for roots to develop than the season before.

;-)

10-6-2023:

Although growth has slowed with cooler weather now here, there hasn't been much of any real hardening off or expanding of the branch tips or immature leaves.

Tree #2 (front yard).

A little sign of hardening off on this one and a few more.

Anyways, today I dumped ice cube around the base of the tree to see if it helps it gets the hint that it's time to harden off. We've already had a quarter of an inch of cold rain last night and It's been highs in the mid to low 50's with 30's & 40's, going to light frost by Tuesday.

I don't know if it will even warm up enough anymore for things to grow from the top, but we do sometimes get a few days of what's commonly called 'Indian Summer' in late October.

Not saying this will affect anything one way or the other but sometimes you just have to try. ;-)

I didn't have enough ice to do this on Tree #1 in the back yard, but we'll see.

I'll know more in a week or so.

10-22-2023:

I can't tell if the ice did anything to #2 tree.

We've had a few lights frosts and one hard frost, after it was applied, followed by a nice spell the last week or so. To look at it, it's hard to tell.

#1 tree (with no ice) appears to be hardening off better than last season.

I can see where it tried to break bud again during that cool time but froze again.

The leaves are pretty dry & crispy and strongly marcescent.

By next weekend daytime temperatures are dropping below freezing for at least several days.

So, I did all I can do, and we'll just let 'er buck. ;-)

Strongly marcescent indicates that the stem wasn't able to grow a callus to cut off the leaf. Bitter cold mid-Oct 1976 cold spell in west MD left all the leaves on many trees killed & unable to fall, sticking on the trees all winter.

10-23-2023:

From what I see posted on other forums, Korean maple especially, and some of the Japanese hybrids can have this (marcescence) happen, as part of their natural makeup.

I'm almost certain this can or will improve as the root mass matures.

The only irregularity is on the branch tips that are dead in the spring, those tend to send out multiple new shoots from the same spot on the next node down, instead of growing on as a single branch. Pruning the entire dead part away too is not easy because of the angle of new buds forming, albeit the new growth does encapsulate the leftover dead part over time.

Fall colors won't win any prizes yet either, but they're alive and already survived their first winter here at the Boreal Analogous Arboretum. ;-)

I rodent/sunscald proofed the trunks about a foot up from the bottom. The marcescence may help with shading the trunks over winter.

#1 tree (back yard).

#2 tree (front yard).

:-)

It’s variabe on my various korean maple and hybrids. Korean maple from Bailey Nurseries never holds its leaves and good orange fall color. Northern Spotlight always holds its leaves and fall color is orange to red. Ice Dragon will retain the leaves in abrupt falls and color is usually poor those years. Other years it'll turn red and drop all the leaves

pennlake, How about the branching? Do you find yourself removing a lot of crossed/unruly branches?

I've always heard that diversity comes from planting seed but this tree appears to have a wide range of differences.

And I'm not too concerned about color. Even my sugar maple took several years of establishment to color well, and on time.

I don't hardly recognize the trees, in the pictures below anymore (10-7-2021). The week I bought them home after a trip to Wisconsin.

These may have been seedlings started the year before, just by looking at them.

I repotted them before placing them into the cold frame and iirc: #1 never did color that first year.

#1 tree:

#2 tree:

Yes they can be a bit unruly. It gives them character.

That's what I thought! :-))

Thanks!

5-15-2024:

My 2 Korean maple trees have been leafing out this last week or two.

The #1 tree in the back yard is perfect, with no tip dieback and new leaves sprouting right to the very ends of the branches. The most noticeable change in this tree from last year is that new leaves used to open pure red in color, then turn a darker green once unfurled. Now they open green with a cast of red near the leaf margins.

The #2 tree in the front yard looks about the same except a less pronounced red color at the leaf margins.

One of the two main leaders had some branches die back about 10" down from the top. The winter was not very harsh, and the wind wasn't much fiercer than in the back yard where #1 tree resides. Neither tree had any artificial protection from wind or sun around them all winter.

This tree sets new branches ferociously, so I just cut off the dead part instead of waiting for a damaged branch to mend, if it would at all. Looks like another branch starting up near the cut.

;-)

5-23-2024:

JFWIW:

The cut branch (lower center) is already covered by the throng of new branches.

5-31-2024:

Tree of many talents. Or is it many diversities? ;-)

#1 tree in the back yard is now making pinkish orange new growth.

#2 is not as colorful although much more of a balanced form:

Also, both trees are handling full sun much better this year (so far).

I staked #1 bc it got a little top heavy to one side and we've had strong TS winds again this year and I noticed good sized cracks in the ground near the trunk.

I left the lower stakes on #2 tree JIC it needs more time to recover from last year.

7-3-2024:

With plentiful rains, I notice no more unusual or disfigured branch tips this year.

The branches appear to be hardening off cleanly.

Not sure if this plant puts out a second flush or not.

There has been some leaf scorch on some of the newer growth but not bad.

Maybe the root system has matured?

Tree #1.

Tree #2.

7-3-2024: And to add.

Tree #1.

Tree #2.

Bill, your trees are looking GREAT, love to see an update. :)

I don't know if these just don't make it here in this far north climate, I never come across specimens within local yards and neither do I see them any longer brought in by the nurseries.

That issue is something I've pondered at times myself.

NDSU has a selection for quite some time that's good down to -40df. (link below not secured).

http://ndsuresearch/northern_spotlight/korean maple:

But you never see it for sale anywhere, like it never got off the ground sales wise.

Maybe just too many choices with all the hybrids available?

And with this selection being chosen for cold hardiness, is it the best one for other features like color and form? There's just not a lot of information out there for this one.

Mine are beginning to look good after only their 3rd season in the ground, planted as small seedlings. And when you live in a borderline area for growing things you can't be too fussy about it. :^)

Tree #2 in the front yard has the best form while #1 in the back is showing the best color both in new growth and Fall colors. So, diversity maybe is what makes it difficult to come up with all the desired features on this one. idk.

What I've noticed on mine is leaf scorch from being in full, all-day sun. Something that that should improve as my surrounding trees grow.

Even as the tree itself grows, I noticed it shades itself somewhat on one side to the other as sun direction changes during the day.

With our hot August & September and me watering to prevent LS the tree is sending out a second flush, but erratically on certain branch tips. Not the same as the deformed branch tips I had earlier (which may have been caused by too much fertilizer at a young age) but still a bit unsightly late in the summer.

So, I have a choice between sun scorch or extra new growth. It could be the cause is my sandy soil idk, but this may also pass with maturing root system and increasing shade. I too need to get a better handle on how to water this tree for best appearance.

#2 Tree front yard. 8-22-24.

Tree #1 back yard: 8-23-24:

Tends to leaf scorch more with less late growth but when watering to lessen the LS problem, the tree decided to send out a long, second growth branch (upper left) instead of a little new growth on several branch tips. :o)

So, it's all a learning experience. I'm glad to have them and they're looking better every year with less care. 8^)

I can’t help but wonder if lack of ornamental appeal at the retail level doesnt impede the popularity of A. pseudosieboldianum. They’re not common, but also not rare in commerce. Whenever I see one at a nursery, it looks a bit unruly. On the other hand, the few older/mature specimens I’ve seen on garden strolls are attractive. This must be a challenge for retailers.

Unruly growth would be a good word for them.

Not a replacement for Japanese maples by any means but one that will grow in colder zones and if placed correctly with companion plants, could be a nice addition in a more septentrional garden.

I'd be happy to obtain 'Northern Spotlight' if at all available. But, yeah, the nurseries had their run with the Korean maple and then up and stopped about ten or so years ago, could very well be due to lack of full hardiness and folks here requesting refunds. Bill, your specimens are beauties even with a bit of leaf scorch. I did make one attempt, though never even had chance to get the thing in the ground for developing a watery canker at the base and up and perishing.

Maackia, yes, the ones I recall at the nursery did not much inspire with their yellowish leaves and scorched leaf margins, rangy growth as well, though might have done fine when properly sited and settled in. Gonna do a search for what I can "possibly" find available in Canada whether seed or specimen.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so they say.

Here's what they looked like in late June before the real heat hit.

Again, if placed in a shadier environment, which I don't have, they'd do better,

;-)

I have very many different sun aspects ... problem is my winters aren't necessarily becoming any milder, last winter seeing a dip like I haven't experienced in 40 years, some regions hitting -50 F, my yard not quite so, but dang cold enough that some very hardy apple and plum trees had been damaged.

I may be repeating myself but my seed Korean maple and northern spotlight , if they put on the secind sporadic flush of growth its, in late july. The Iseli hybrids have that bad habit of flushing again here in late August and September often resulting in that growth being damaged.

My winters have been getting milder for the last few years now.

Could be I'll be posting here next spring telling how we got a terribly cold and all my borderline plants bit the dust.

What was weird this season was the solid low to mid 80's we've had all of September and very dry with no rain since mid-August with windy conditions.

Ordinarily, this time of year, I would've let the Korean maples go knowing it was Fall and the trees have stopped actively growing for the season and soil moisture was sufficient for root expansion until winter. But it stayed hot & dry for so long I feared drought damage and so I watered the trees. nbd huh?

It was the second or third watering, about a week apart that the late growth began.

Like I say, I learned a lesson and should've watered the second time only after things were nearing critically dry conditions again. Heat + moisture = confused plants.

I'm letting things go without watering for now. Cooler temps forecast this week so I'm just hoping things will harden off before our first freeze a couple/three weeks from now.

Pennlake, yes, especially this far north, anything that flushes any bit on the later side gets winter zapped. From record November and December sunny warmth, we were nailed in January with that deepest of cold in 40 years. Alberta was pretty well the only region having experienced the bitterness of that arctic blast, though very cold did briefly slump down into the interior of BC causing devastating damage to the stone fruits and grape vines. Ontario and eastward along with the eastern states, winter had very much taken the season off!

Bill, after a very rough slow delayed spring, the weather settled into a near perfect pattern until now, summer was fantastic warm and dry, a bit tooo overly dry, though enough moisture falling upon field crops to make for good yields. Moisture has been on and off of late giving the ground a bit of a very necessary drink, I hope more falls prior to late October's chill.

Yeah, we had a slow start then a beautiful summer season, sunny with regular rains and when it stopped raining about the middle of August, that was great. Generally, dry is good that time of year and by September, the weather cools off and things finish off for the season. And usually by mid-September, we get a rain or two that keep things from getting too dry.

But no harm done from what I can tell.

Pennlake,

I may have mentioned this earlier in this thread, but I had tip die back this spring with the deformed tip growth from last Fall. It wasn't all that much, maybe 1" L. off the branches that were affected (~25%).

But new branches grew out of the next nodes downs and by the time everything was leafed out, you couldn't tell anything had been wrong.

I just looked and the #1 tree in the back that I quit watering over a week ago hardened off and looks like it will go dormant. All the branches looked pretty much like this.

The #2 tree out front was watered a few days after #1 one and is still showing an attempt at making new growth. It's not all deformed like last year but again, that could've been my previous seasons fert program. ;o) I think this is just hot weather and abundant moisture.

I'll check it again to see but it might be like pennlake alluded to about different varieties acting differently at end of season. It's nbd bc last spring I did a little early snipping those branch tips and all was fine.

#2:

Finally cooled off some.

10-11-2024:

After NOT watering the #2 tree in the front yard for over a week and temps in the low 80's today with still dry conditions, I had a look and can tell the tree is hardening off like the other in the back yard.

I was surprised how moist it still is under the mulch, after no irrigation and mostly 70's and sunny for highs.

I'll continue letting it go with cooler temperatures forecast.

Hard frost coming Sun, Mon, Tues. with 26d for 8 hours on Tuesday AM.

The 10"L. branch that died back last spring and resumed further down the branch, is still growing, which could explain why it died back in the first place. It most likely wasn't hardened off by Fall last season. So, lesson learned but maybe hotter weather will be the norm here from now on. I'll just have to let things dry down earlier, if possible, for these maples.

No rain forecast for the next 10 days, with only 50's and 60's for highs.

1-29-25: Last report on these until I see some good Fall colors.

This is about as good as my Fall color got on the #2 Acer pseudosieboldianum, front yard, this Fall.

Picture taken 10-5-24 before our first frost. The leaves just kept getting brown, so I didn't take anymore pictures.

I am satisfied on how well they are growing though. The trunk on this one is a good 1-1/2" diameter, crown width 3ft and height is 3ft.

Tree #1 in the back yard is growing more vertical in form and is 4ft. tall, 3ft. wide. New growth starts out red to maroon in summer then to darker green.

Then from green to brown so far. :-/

11-6-2024:

The most beautiful time of year for these trees, so far, has been springtime.

These were taken May 31st, 2024. The new growth has been the most colorful so far on #1 tree. The orange goes to a darker red as the season wears on.

#2 tree: Lime green with new leaves having a thin red margin.

History: Bought seedlings planted April of 2022 after they began growing in my cold frame where they wintered during the 2021-2022 winter. New growth this time of year is bad but I was leaving on a trip and had no choice.

4-11-2022:

Planted in half frozen ground 4-11-22. The new growth froze off and had to start over, which gave me an indicator of the cold hardiness of this plant.

End of May 2022. Remarkable recovery.

#1:

#2:

Conclusion:

No, they aren't Japanese Maples but those won't grow here anymore than Camellia would.

So, stop comparing and we'll stop saying that you can't grow Cocos nucifera. ha! ;-)

Acer pseudosieboldianum is a beautiful, cold hardy =>(-40f) form of Asian maple that grows in our more Septentrional locations. So, we'll grow it and are happy about it.

:-)

Just to add:

With the experience I've gained with 3 years in the ground, I'll be approaching this season differently. Watering only when needed, and absolutely no added fertilizer whatsoever, even though what I did apply was barely minimal, just to ensure my poor sandy soil wasn't lacking in a critical nutrient for this type of tree. Sulfur, calcium or magnesium being the most likely.

Still winter here but looking forward to 1st days of spring. Planted a First Flame. I saw it at the local yard....the spring color is to die for. Online pics of this cultivar don't do it's justice on how it looks in person. The cultivar name of flame suits it right

Yeah, First Flame is rated zone 5 so for me it's a bridge too far. ;-)

A good tree for those in a cold zone 5 that can't grow a straight JM though.

Here's recent thread on First Flame: