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Acer branches dying off

leighmalesleighmales Posts: 3
in Problem solving
Hi there, I have an Acer palmatum “aureum” in my garden which was planted about 4 years ago and has been doing well but then last year started having individual branches die off. The leaves shrivelled and turned brown but did not drop while the rest of the tree stays green. This happened to one branch in autumn last year and has happened to another few this autumn. The branches seem to be almost black in places. Any ideas what might be causing this or what I can do to try save it? I was worried about too hot a summer last year, and this year that it’s been too wet. Many thanks! 
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  • leighmalesleighmales Posts: 3
    Meant to say the other green leaves do turn orange and drop for the winter, but the leaves don’t drop from the dead branches. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Might be verticillium wilt if it's black. It's not very easy to see from the photos, but it would be worth removing all the blackened stems/branches. 

    Have you ensured it's had enough amendment/addition to the soil around it - leaf mould or compost etc? They don't like poor soil, and they certainly don't like wind, or being too wet at the roots - the soil needs to have good drainage. The green/yellow ones are more susceptible to wind damage anyway. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 347
    edited October 2021
    We've had these two acer palmatums a long time, the first for over thirty years, the sdecond for over fifteen.

    Here's the oldest one in January this year


    The canes are there  tensioning a couple of branches to get them  to adopt a better position, I took them away in May.


    This the second.
    Same day.




    Here they are in June







    Each year some of the lower branches die off, they  turn white and I prune them off. The tips of many other branches turn white they come off too.  There's always quite a few. They are always replaced by new growth at the top.

    This might not be relative to your situation, maybe there's something wrong with it which someone else may be able to identify.

    I'd check that you are getting new growth at the top.



  • CharlotteFCharlotteF Posts: 337
    Our acer did this last year, which we put down to drought. It seemed to just cut off looking after the foliage on one branch as a coping mechanism. It's been fine this year, though your pic does look like a whole length of stem has died off too.

    It's quite a narrow bed, is it possible that despite the wetter weather it hasn't had enough water? Whereabouts in the country are you? Here, despite the wet early summer, we got off to a bad start with almost no rain during March and April, and then had later prolonged dry spells. 
  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 347
    As has been mentioned, it may be that the tree is coping with the lack of water or nutriants in the soil it has available. Plants do tend to "shut down" branches in that situation. I'd suggest that the suspect branch you could afford to lose, which may result in a better nutrient/water balance. The rest should compensate for that by filling out the space vacated.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited October 2021
    It could be verticillium wilt as Fg suggests - the black branches are a good indicator.
    I have an acer with it.
    To check, cut off one of the blackened branches and look at the cut surface.
    If you can see black rings inside the wood that's an indicator of VW.
    An RHS article here may help with diagnosis
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=255

    Fingers crossed it's not and maybe as DR says above - caused by a lack of water and/or nutrients, so would likely recover

    PS - make sure you clean the blades of your your loppers/secateurs after cutting as the virus can be transferred to other plants via the infected blades

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • leighmalesleighmales Posts: 3
    Many thanks for the responses, much appreciated. I am a bit worried that it’s VW. Will see if I can try find a tree expert to take a look at it. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If you cut through one of the branches, an then compare them to photos online, you might be able to judge it yourself @leighmales. 
    Start here and then see what you think. It's not always terminal either if you can get the upper hand early enough

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=255
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    It is fairly easy to make the diagnosis yourself and then judicious pruning will often keep the tree alive.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    The acer I have with VW still looks ok.
    No need for an 'expert' to have a look, just cut a dead branch and have a look at the surface as I mentioned above and see the RHS article
    I had hoped my acer would be tree-like, but with VW it now looks like a multi-stemmed shrub - it still looks good, but no longer looks like a tree.
    I cut out any dead branches in the dead of winter and it looks ok for the rest of the year.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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