Update: Japanese Maple

Nov. 30

Not much change..infected foliage is not getting any worse..I think the repotting in fresh soil addressed the root (no pun intended) problem, but I don't see any substantial improvement, although there are some new leaves appearing & so far, do not appear to be infected.

My long-term strategy for this tree was to wait for his winter dormancy to repot & prune (he is deciduous), but I'm more concerned with recovery than schedules, right now, so decided to remove the top-most branch in order to lessen the load on the roots.

Reducing the height of this JM has always been necessary to shorten him, but to also possibly stimulate "back-budding" or new growth that is lower on the tree than the current canopy. If we can accomplish that without "layering" the tree (think taking a section out of the lower trunk), we might save months off the schedule for this tree.

(if you need to "catch-up" on the history, see the Japanese Maple Photo/History)

Update: Unpacking 2 New Trees

Both of these seedlings survived 5 days in-transit, and nearly 2 weeks since they were potted & both are showing signs of growth, so I have formally welcomed them into the collection, live or die, & created permanent Photo/History pages for each, which have been added to the list of specimen trees.

They can be found at Pacific Crabapple (Malus Fusca) and Flowering Dogwood (Cornus Florida) respectively. To see the complete article showing the process of receiving, unpacking, potting, etc. see Unpacking 2 New Trees.

Happy Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving Day was absolutely beautiful on the patio..80 degrees..mostly sunny..light wind..and I was thankful, mostly cuz I wasn't back in Nebraska, where I grew up. The high temp yesterday in my old "home town" was 30°..the low was 18°..'nuff said.

I worked on both Junipers today; minor pruning on both, what you could call "housekeeping"..the goal being to expose more wood..to show the underlying structure of the tree, without sacrificing too much foliage.

Blue Star

It's been about 30 days since I styled & potted the "Blue Star" & from all appearances, he's doing fine. He seems happy in the training pot & is taking water, which is one indication he is adjusting to his new life.

Juniperis

After some "due diligence", I have to admit that I do not really know the Genus (family) that this Juniper belongs, so until further enlightenment, he will be know as simply "Juniperis"

2 months now since the initial styling/pruning/potting & he continues to show no signs of distress; I am slightly "gun shy" around Junipers, as I lost a plant last year to unknown causes..he just "up & died", rather suddenly with little warning except for some tip browning..it bothers me when I lose a plant, and more so when I don't have a clue as to why?

Here is a close-up of this little tree, after some minor pruning, as with the "Blue Star" to expose his "bones" more advantageously; I want people to see the tree, under the foliage. I feel pretty good about how this tree is looking & his apparent good health..hope we can keep that mode, going forward.

Update: Japanese Maple

Nov. 26
Last night, I was afraid that I'd be writing about how my Japanese Maple was dying, but he looks much better this morning. I continued foliar-feeding w/ liquid seaweed & he is responding..there's no hope for the infected leaves, but I do see some back-budding lower on the main trunk & those buds do not look infected..keeping my fingers crossed!