IliN
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20 year old japanese maple not leafing out

My beautiful japanese maple is having some trouble! I think winter moth caterpillars got into the buds and ate everything. It is not dead as it's green inside and it's trying to give out a second set of leaves. They seem to be growing painfully slowly though. Is there anything I can do to help it? Also my mother in law put some annuals underneath it shall I remove them? I'm afraid the routes may have been disturbed when she was clearing the flower bed.
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rainbowgardener
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Wow, a big beautiful Japanese maple! I certainly hope it makes it through the current problem. I can't say much about what is causing this.

But the annuals should not be bothering it. Even though the JM is a shallow rooted tree, its roots will be much deeper than the little petunia (or whatever) roots. And planting the annuals should not have bothered the tree unless she was pretty aggressive with tilling the ground. If she was just loosening the top few inches, that shouldn't have disturbed your tree.

Welcome to the Forum! I hope someone comes along who can be more help about what the problem is. It always helps to tell us where you are located. Different regions/ climates have different pests/ diseases that are common there.

IliN
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Thanks for your input! We are in MA. Bad winter but the other Japanese Maples in our area bloomed about 2 weeks ago. Glad that the planting won't have bothered it. I think it's the winter moth. I found many green little caterpillars which we have now sprayed for. I'm hoping this second set of buds come out successfully. I just wonder if there is anything I need to to help it or if it's best to just leave it to do it's thing. It really is a beautiful tree. Here is a picture of it in full bloom last fall!
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IliN
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Some progress this week. Is this promising?
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rainbowgardener
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Yes, promising! :) :clap: :clap:



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