{"id":2707,"date":"2019-05-03T00:03:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T07:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/pal-question-502\/"},"modified":"2024-11-13T13:50:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:50:21","slug":"early-leaf-coloration-in-vine-maples","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/early-leaf-coloration-in-vine-maples\/","title":{"rendered":"early leaf coloration in vine maples"},"content":{"rendered":"

We planted a clump of vine maple last fall and because we were in a hurry (landscaping a new home), we just put in without amending the soil. It is dealing with extremely sandy soil, though we did give it fertile mulch, and gets full sun all day long. It looks okay, but the leaves have been very red all summer, basically what I would expect it to look like in the fall. We’ve been watering a lot to make up for the sand. What’s the story on vine maples? We had a lot of them at our old house, but they were mostly under fir canopies or at least were not in full sun. Any tips on helping this one out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wonder if the leaves on your Acer circinatum<\/em> are evenly red, and if they look scorched at all. Leaf scorch is a problem for maples in conditions of stress.
\nSee this information from the HortSense database of Washington State University.<\/a> Excerpt:<\/p>\n

“Leaf scorch on maple has many possible causes. Plants that are under
\nstress, such as drought or heat stress, may not provide sufficient water
\nto the leaf margins, causing the edges of the leaves to turn brown and
\ndry. In some cases, scorch may spread to areas between veins or entire
\ntwigs may die back. Trees placed near heat-reflecting surfaces, such as
\nbuildings or pavement, often suffer from heat stress. Excessive salts
\nfrom overuse of chemical fertilizers may cause leaf scorch. Scorch may
\nalso be a symptom of damage to the roots or stem.”<\/p>\n

If the leaves are not scorched in appearance, it is possible their early
\ncoloring is the result of some other type of stress, or perhaps the leaf coloration has to do with their being in full sun, in an exposed site. You may find this information from University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens (no longer available online) interesting: “The formation of red pigments in the autumn provides protection, preventing the too-rapid breakdown of chlorophyll which could occur in exposed (read: excess light) areas. As you can clearly see in the leaf in the upper right, the bottom-right corner has the pattern of the leaf above. Where the leaf above shaded this leaf, no red pigments were produced. Where the leaf was exposed, bright red anthocyanins were formed. To take this to a broader perspective, vine maple trees in shaded forests and under low light conditions have little need to produce red pigments, as the breakdown of chlorophyll can occur at a modest pace. However, vine maples in exposed sites turn flame orange and red, so that the pigments produced will slow the rate of chlorophyll breakdown.”<\/p>\n

An article (no longer available online) from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources discusses premature fall color in maples. Excerpt:<\/p>\n

“Each August brings a few trees that begin the fall color frenzy ahead of
\nschedule. In addition to signaling the change of seasons, these trees are
\nsending a clear signal that they are suffering from some form of stress.
\nStress can have a wide variety of causes, be mild or severe, or, benign
\nor fatal. In any case, professional tree ‘care givers’ should be aware
\nthat the trees are talking to you. Are you listening?
\n“Maples are probably the group of trees that most commonly exhibit
\npremature fall color. Sensitive to changes in their environment, maples
\ncommonly show early color in years when summer rains are heavier than
\nnormal and raise soil moisture to or above field capacity during the
\nperiod from mid to late summer. The maples that show this characteristic
\nthe best are the several species of soft maples (silver and red) that
\ncommonly inhabit the shrubby areas around wetlands. These trees commonly
\nbegin to show deep, rich purples as early as the first week in August.
\nMaples in communities also commonly display early color due to stress
\nmechanisms more common to the urban environment. Sugar maple, in
\nparticular, shows early color due to the stress induced by infection from
\nVerticillium wilt. This disease may occur in nursery grown stock in
\ncommercial trade. It is difficult to detect because it is soil-borne,
\ndifficult to culture, and commonly not tested-for in the nursery. In
\naddition, Verticillium wilt is a relatively weak pathogen that does not
\ndo well on young, vigorous nursery stock. Trees can be infected for many
\nyears without showing external symptoms of the disease. When they do
\nbegin to show symptoms, one of the first is premature fall color followed
\nin succeeding years by a progressive, if not slow, crown decline and
\ndieback.”<\/p>\n

Maples in communities that are planted ‘just-a-little’ too deep often
\nshow premature fall color. Again this is more pronounced in years with
\nwet summers. The likely mode-of-action is decreased soil oxygen content.
\nPlanting too deep ‘smothers’ roots reducing oxygen in the root zone. So
\ndoes over watering whether natural or artificial. The bottom line is
\nstress-induced premature fall color. Remember that stress is (1) caused
\nby many factors, (2) cumulative, and (3) potentially fatal if left
\nuntreated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We planted a clump of vine maple last fall and because we were in a hurry (landscaping a new home), we just put in without amending the soil. It is dealing with extremely sandy soil, though we did give it fertile mulch, and gets full sun all day long. It looks okay, but the leaves have been very red all summer, basically what I would expect it to look like in the fall. We’ve been watering a lot to make…<\/p>\n

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