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| Autumn Maple in rock landscape. Bad idea. |
Q. We have a young Maple tree in our yard that we planted
last October. We may have messed up when we planted it to replace a shrub that
was dead when we moved in. The tree is in full sun all day. Last year toward
the end of summer it lost most of it’s leaves – they looked burned. However it
re-leafed itself before going dormant, and survived the winter. So we figured
it was because it was a young tree and might be okay this year. Again this year it has done the same thing
and is at present in it’s second bloom of leaves.
question is, would it be better to move this young tree to a part of the yard
that is not in full sun all day, and if so am I right in believing it would be better
to wait until it goes dormant for the winter before doing so? Any advice will
be much appreciated.
take care of. Maples is a huge category of trees. They range from the
ornamental and shade trees common to the northern and eastern states to the
highly ornamental Japanese maples and even our native maples. But unfortunately
all of them will struggle.
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| Autumn Blaze maple in desert landscape in Summerlin Nevada |
I have
seen two instances of Japanese maples successfully grown in Las Vegas. They
were in sheltered, shady parts of the landscape. The soil was highly modified
with compost and other sources of organic matter. In one case many years ago it
was growing in a lawn situation.
mulch. Another possible Maple you could play with are native maples such as
Bigtooth Maple. If this is a Red Maple, Sugar Maple Or Silver Maple you will
have some big problems down the road if you can get it to grow. I like to
encourage people to try new things but if these are maples used for shade trees
I would get a replacement and check it off as part of your education.
might find interesting concerning Autumn Blaze Maple in Las Vegas.
Yes, you should move it now so it has the
remainder of the fault to reestablish the root system and a spring for more
growth before it gets hot. Pick the North side or shadiest part of the yard.
Dig the hole 3 feet wide. Amend this volume of soil with about 75% compost.
Plant it at the same depth. Stake it solidly in the soil so the root system
cannot move. It is okay for the top to move but the roots should be totally
immobilized. Cover the surface of the soil with 4 to 6 inches of wood mulch,
keeping the mulch away from the trunk 6 to 12 inches. The mulch should totally
cover the surface of the soil and the hole that was dug. I hope this helps. Try
to find out or remember the type of Maple it is. This makes a huge difference.
can a maple tree grow in full sun?
Here in LV? or the Mojave Desert in general? very very difficult to pull it off.