![]() After planting, it is effectively sitting in a semi-impenetrable hole, surrounded by heavy clay and crushed stones, both very different in texture to the growing medium in its original container. You noticed that the planting hole was only the same size as the container in which the tree came. Therefore, one probable cause of your Sugar Maple’s distress is excess water in the soil. Thus a layer of crushed stone under the planting hole actually impedes drainage and causes pooling at the base of the roots. When there is a change in density, waterflow slows down and accumulate at the border where the two different materials meet. Water moves most efficiently through materials of uniform density. Unfortunately, contrary to popular wisdom, placing coarse materials like gravel at the bottom of a planting hole does not improve drainage. non-functional or dead) roots is suffering from physiological drought because it cannot receive water from its roots. Ironically, the symptoms of a plant with drowning roots is the same as a plant suffering from lack of water-wilting and leaf scorch. Roots need air in the soil to breathe, and excess water in the soil can drown the roots. The heavy texture of clay soil is not only difficult for the tree roots to penetrate, it also drains poorly. Sugar Maple is not an ideal choice because it prefers a well drained acidic soil and not a heavy clay soil. the proportion of sand, silt and clay) cannot be easily changed so it is important to choose a tree that is well adapted to the type of soil you have. Let us start with the fundamentals: soil. Here is why we think your tree is distressed. We are sorry to hear that your previous sugar maple had to be replaced and that the new one is also showing signs of decline. Thank you for writing to the Toronto Master Gardeners. What are we doing wrong? Are we overwatering the tree? Please help! When this tree was pulled out, we noticed very little root development beyond the wire cage it came in. In the second year the top 3 ft of the tree never developed leaves. The first sugar maple also showed signs of leaf scorch, leaves were turning brown and falling off already in summer on the first year. This is a replacement tree that was planted in the same location 2 years ago. We also applied the Transplanter sold to us at the nursery. The tree is located in a full sun condition with some shade from adjacent trees. We had them place about 4 in of crushed stone on the bottom of the hole. The hole dug for the tree was only the size of the plastic container that the tree came in. The tree is planted about 5m from a mature black walnut tree. One side of the tree is showing signs of leaf scorch and it is getting progressively worse. We are also leaving a large watering bag at the tree trunk. We are watering the tree with a fine misting spray for about 2 hours. We have heavy clay soil there and have been going up to water the tree every 3-4 days. high sugar maple from container at our cottage in Terra Cotta, Caledon. Two weeks ago we had professionally planted a 15ft.
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