We have a small Japanese maple tree that I planted back in 2006. Every fall the leaves turn bright red and fall off, just like they’re supposed to. But this year the leaves simply turned brown and are not falling. What could explain this?
IT might have a disease, wilt, been going around, it’s a bacterium in the soil. fatal iirc
It could be serious, but since it happened at the time the leaves normally change color it might not be. Did you have an earlier than normal freeze? Your location says NE Ohio, so I suppose you have had a freeze by now. If so, some trees can have the color change process short-circuited: explained here.
Here in central Ohio our Japanese maple’s season of color was drastically shortened due to late arrival of frost, followed relatively quickly by a plunge down to the low teens. Result: brown leaves, still hanging on the tree.
A sudden hard freeze can do this, as can a droughty summer/fall.
Landscaper here, 30 years of experience (southern California). Good chance its dead. Never seen one come back from this kind of condition.
I would have guessed weather, but more knowledgeable folks have already weighed in. Why am I even posting, then? Just bored and lonely, I guess.
Mine did the same thing, but I’m not too worried because we had a tree person pronounce it healthy in late summer.
Here in Denver we did not get the display of color we often get in the autumn, I don’t know why.
Thanks, everyone for your responses. I guess since there’s no consensus, we’ll just wait until spring and hope for the best.
Our Japanese Maple (planted circa 1987) does this every once in a while. No idea why. But it’s always bounced back. so far, anyway.
Not a professional landscaper, but a gardener for at least as long. Like Qadgop, here in the Midwest our Japanese Maple does this more often than not. By the time the drop, they quickly degrade. Don’t need to be raked or anything.
Never looked myself, but you could likely check to see how the buds look. But I doubt there is any need. If you have it in a good spot where it has thrived for 13 years, and nothing huge has changed around it, it’ll likely be fine next year.
Leaves in North Little Rock, AR fell without changing color, but they aren’t !@#$ quickly degrading, *&^% it.
I think it’s the weather. My red maple has only dropped about 50% of its leaves by now, and the rest are green/brown and hanging on. A tree in my neighbor’s yard is a huge maple of some sort and it’s full of green/brown leaves. Other trees have completely dropped.
Come to think of it, our giant sweet gum tree didn’t put on much of a show this fall (red, gold and purple foliage is usually spectacular in mid to late fall). Right now it’s hanging on to a lot of brown leaves.
Beyond the unusual temperatures, it’s possible the dry late summer to early fall wasn’t conducive to good fall color either.
Ours does this every year, bounces back every year.
It should also be noted that the microclimates in southern California are vastly different from what one would experience in NE Ohio (where the OP is located) or for that matter from the four-season climates experienced in much of the Midwest and Northeast.
I’d expect Japanese maples (for example) to behave differently in largely frost-free areas.
Mine did the same (Kansas City area). But we had a couple of nights of hard freeze
before the colors could change.
It was a very healthy tree. I assumed that it took a bit of a shock but I’m fairly confident that it will be OK come spring.
Mine had always transitioned from green to red to brown with the dead leaves staying on till very early spring.
We have several red maples and hybrids on the property. The weather changes the way they behave. Sometimes the leaves drop rapidly, sometimes they fade and stay on the tree until a storm takes them off. In the spring the leaves come in green and the shift to red happens in different ways, sometimes well into summer before it finishes changing, sometimes there’s barely a green state.
You’ll find out in the spring. There’s a good chance the tree will be fine. If it isn’t then let me know and I’ll send you a seedling. They’re everywhere here.
If you scratch the trunk a bit, do you see green under the outer bark? Obviously don’t cause damage or anything; just a tiny nick with your thumbnail should be enough.
I learned that trick from reading The Secret Garden, but it’s been useful in my gardening.
The Japanese Maple at the liquor store went brown without dropping leaves. I would guess yours is ok.
Another test is to see if twigs bend or break.