Question for tree experts

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Nov 23, 2021
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I have 2 Red Maples that were planted in my Central FL backyard at the same time. One tree is growing fine but the second is barely hanging in. We thought she was dead but she seems to only bloom on her left side. We have tried all sorts of fertilizers, manure and even dug around her on the bad side in case the roots were tangled. Trees are about 2 years old and were planted when about 8-10 feet.
 
Not an expert, but I don't know that anyone will be able to answer without some more details.

Picture?

Details on sun exposure, water, soil drainage, etc.?
 
transplant shock can take quite a while to rebound from. 2 years is long time for us....not so much for a tree. Do you have any pictures?
 
Bad tree 2.jpg
Bad tree 1.jpg
Good tree.jpg
Bad tree 2.jpg
Bad tree 1.jpg
 
A soil analysis might be helpful where the weakened tree resides. Adding fertilizers and manure shoud not be done without finding the PH of the soil. By adding all those things, you could have made matters worse.

Also looks like that tree is on the receiving end of a lot of moisture at the bottom of that slope.
 
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A soil analysis might be helpful where the weakened tree resides. Adding fertilizers and manure shoud not be done without finding the PH of the soil. By adding all those things, you could have made matters worse.

Also looks like that tree is on the receiving end of a lot of moisture at the bottom of that slope.
Totally agree, my Dad had a tree that died, I took it out, stump also was taken out. He decided to plant another tree in the same spot and it is not doing very well.
 
Had the soil tested and it was OK, same at the soil where the good tree is. Did the fertilizer and manure stuff after speaking with local tree farm. Was bad last year and was told to wait till spring but not much has changed.
 
Has any sort of herbicide been applied near the tree?
Certain types of herbicide can carryover in cow manure.
Milestone herbicide can be a booger on trees and can carryover in cow manure.
Was the soil tested for herbicides?
 
you can test soil for herbicides? That tree probably cost $50, just slap a new one in there and see if it works out.

Agree with the possibility of it getting too much water, may want to dig a really small trench nearby to help direct water away from it. If you go full redneck style this can be done at almost no cost.
 
Has any sort of herbicide been applied near the tree?
Certain types of herbicide can carryover in cow manure.
Milestone herbicide can be a booger on trees and can carryover in cow manure.
Was the soil tested for herbicides?
As you can hopefully see in the photos the trees are in the wives rock garden with other sensitive plants. That said, she pulls weeds and avoids spraying anything
 
you can test soil for herbicides? That tree probably cost $50, just slap a new one in there and see if it works out.

Agree with the possibility of it getting too much water, may want to dig a really small trench nearby to help direct water away from it. If you go full redneck style this can be done at almost no cost.
That kind of tree at that height is $150 plus $150 for install as it comes in at least a 50 gal. container. Hard to get here in Central Fl.
 
That kind of tree at that height is $150 plus $150 for install as it comes in at least a 50 gal. container. Hard to get here in Central Fl.
Is it a Red Maple or Japanese Maple? I can dig up wild Red Maples for free, around here.
Is that a commercial building or house in the background? There looks like a good bit of runoff coming down that hill.
 
Lots of good suggestions already mentioned above. It is very difficult to diagnose tree problems from pictures alone, unless it is clearly evident symptoms such as common insect or disease signs. I even hate to mention hunches, because without being there to look at everything, it is too easy to make a wrong diagnosis. Even the description of "red maple" could be in error.

Because the trees were recently transplanted, my hunch is that they simply did not establish themselves well due to many possibilities. Even the good tree has a stressed top (thin leaves). The "healthy" tree planting site is not ideal - the roots on the left side will have to go below the retaining wall and then compete with the sod for water/nutrients = stress.
- Were the planting holes properly prepared (dug much wider than the root ball?
- Is the surrounding soil hard construction backfill, impossible for new roots to penetrate?
- Maybe unhealthy trees from the get-go (root bound, failed graft, root ball too small, mismatched cultivar to site,...................................)
- Sometimes ball& burlap rope is left on the root collar and it girdles the trunk
- possibly planted too deep, especially the retaining wall side?

Goodness, just too many things we cannot see from the pictures. Insects, disease, environmental issues, site issues, animal damage, etc.. I would guess that the mostly bare tree will not survive with less than 10% live crown. You could scrape the bark on a few of the bare branches to see if there is green (live) cambium underneath.

Sorry I cannot help more. Your Land Grant University is University of Florida in Gainseville and they have a plant diagnostic center that might be able to assist you: https://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/plant-diagnostic-center/
 
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Lots of good suggestions already mentioned above. It is very difficult to diagnose tree problems from pictures alone, unless it is clearly evident symptoms such as common insect or disease signs. I even hate to mention hunches, because without being there to look at everything, it is too easy to make a wrong diagnosis. Even the description of "red maple" could be in error.

Because the trees were recently transplanted, my hunch is that they simply did not establish themselves well due to many possibilities. Even the good tree has a stressed top (thin leaves). The "healthy" tree planting site is not ideal - the roots on the left side will have to go below the retaining wall and then compete with the sod for water/nutrients = stress.
- Were the planting holes properly prepared (dug much wider than the root ball?
- Is the surrounding soil hard construction backfill, impossible for new roots to penetrate?
- Maybe unhealthy trees from the get-go (root bound, failed graft, root ball too small, mismatched cultivar to site,...................................)
- Sometimes ball& burlap rope is left on the root collar and it girdles the trunk
- possibly planted too deep, especially the retaining wall side?

Goodness, just too many things we cannot see from the pictures. Insects, disease, environmental issues, site issues, animal damage, etc.. I would guess that the mostly bare tree will not survive with less than 10% live crown. You could scrape the bark on a few of the bare branches to see if there is green (live) cambium underneath.

Sorry I cannot help more. Your Land Grant University is University of Florida in Gainseville and they have a plant diagnostic center that might be able to assist you: https://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/plant-diagnostic-center/
Yeah, the bare tree is toast. I noticed the suckers coming from the roots. The top on the other tree suggests there is a problem there. When planting trees, it’s always best to consider native trees. We just transplanted two native trees to our yard. One is the Tulip Poplar and the other is a Black Gum (aka Tupelo Gum). They are doing well.
Magnolias and Bald Cypress are perfect trees for central Florida.
 
Had the soil tested and it was OK, same at the soil where the good tree is. Did the fertilizer and manure stuff after speaking with local tree farm. Was bad last year and was told to wait till spring but not much has changed.
If the soil was ok, why did you add fertilizer and manure??? You then changed the soil PH by adding those making it even more difficult for the tree..
 
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