Help - Diseased Japanese Maple

[cmorris30316@yahoo.com]

Help - I bought an old house with a mature beautiful JM in the front yard.

It is in terrible soil. the yard is eroded all around it - it is on a slant where the whole yard drains -- however, it doesn't seem affected by water or soil as much, but it
has black spots, the bark is peeling off the trunk, and there is one limb that was trimmed with a hole in the end of it. There is also a large hole at the ground - around the trunk ! Its in bad shape... but the leaves are green. tree looks healthy otherwise. I have collected a dozen little seedlings from beneath it as well.

I don't see any insects or other signs of disease or infestation.

[yama]

Hi
Few things I noticed from your post.
1) Ground is sloped .. that mean water in ground drain quickly.
if previus owner din't maitain maple tree properly, maple tree is
weaken . posibly , not enough nutrition in soil.
2) large hole on base of the tree
which indicate insect infectation. Have a screw driver or pocket knif
and check ants, pupa of insects.. if find inscts, then you have to
controle it. Water first make it sure soil is wet, then you can apply
inscticide. If you have ant nest, poke hole with steel rod or long screw driver so that colution of pestcide go down deep into ground. Once insect ant contact to pestcide, within an hour most ants insect/pest will die.
Maple is shalow rooted tree and take wet soil, clay soil when soil is dry for long time , it affect to maple tree's helth.

Maple tree relatively pest free tree, but since bark is very thin, you have to handle carefuly.I hope ,this infor help you.
Good luck. yama

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yama offers good advice (as always). I would add the bark on maples is very thin and can sunburn easily, damaging the ability of the tree to sustain itself...

What is the light conditions, CM?

HG