Assuming that is the case, will those buds be activated later this summer as the roots replenish themselves ?(I've read some maples put on a second flush mid summer.) Here's a couple of full tree shots. The Tamukeyama made little "pads" of leaves sort of like I expected the Sensu to do. I can see in my mind what I want to do with this guy, but we'll see if I can make it come true over the years. Here's a full tree shot of the Fjellheim (or whatever it turns out to be). I really have no idea where to go with this tree at this point. In time I may wire the lower limbs out flat and try to make it into more of an "Upright Oak" form. Just can't see in my mind where I want to go with it. For now, I'll let it grow and see what happens. Thanks for following along with my on my journey. I really am enjoying this. Blake

We planted a Winter Flame Japanese maple in Fall 2009, and it's doing very well in our yard near Green Lake. Here's a photo of it right after we planted it. It's in a protected patio area that's about 20' wide between our house and our neighbors', so it only gets morning sun for 6-8 hours then it's in the shade the rest of the day. It was about 3.5' tall when we planted it in fairly rich soil with lots of organic matter and worms. Even though last summer was relatively cool, we had to water it every few days, or its leaves started to wilt. it's now about 4-4.5' tall, and the new growth this summer is about 6-9" long. During summer it has small healthy green leaves with yellowish-red new growth, so it looks like every other green Japanese maple. BUT In winter it's BEAUTIFUL! Most of its trunk and stems get bright red, both old and new wood, unlike the 'Sango kaku' on which only the newer wood is red and the older wood stays greyish-brown. Our Winter Flame had several black stems tips the first spring after we planted it, which may have been Pseudomonas syringae. Now I don't prune it and our other Japanese maple until after they start leafing out, and there were much fewer black stem tips this spring. It's definitely slow growing, but otherwise, it's a great little tree.

It looks like the stub is dying and nothing else. I'd still saw it off so the encapsulation process can start as soon as possible this spring. As it is, it's going to take a awhile and look bad the whole time. The broken branch should have been cut where the branch originated rather than leaving a stub. When pruning Japanese Maples, the branching pattern should be of the utmost consideration so you aren't left with a dying stub and congested branches. Mike

Yeah, I think the problem though is that there's some visual deception going on; by the time the core complete vanishes, A LOT of the wood is probably actually microscopically compromised. If that makes sense. I think higher up - the wood my tree guy carted away - the size of the "aperture" was larger. And that was where it split after all. He cut down about 6 feet from the point where it split to leave this a few inches off the ground. Like I said we get high winds around here sometimes, but it isn't as though a tornado came through! Most of my cherries, ashes and tulip poplars shrug such conditions off. The silver maples are clearly very weak wooded and in a dubious category of their own.