acer globosums needing help!

Hi all,

I hope you all are well. I could really do with your help. I live in a new build and have completely redone my garden. We feb to put drainage in as the water retention was shocking. My grass is dry and green however my acer globsolums are dying. I have seven in total… 1 is in full bloom and is fantastic.. 1 is dead… the rest are partially blooming and budding but not going any further. Can anyone think what’s going wrong? They have been in for
Two years and have never really been great.

All help would
Be appreciated.

 

Some pics for reference

 

@JasonC where are you in the UK? Also where does the wind come from as the best looking tree looks like it's been "pruned" by the wind (lopsided).
Have a furtle around the base of them and see what the soil conditions are like and how they've been planted.
After planting them what aftercare did they get.?

 

Hi Nigel,

Thank you for coming back to me. I am in Glasgow, I bought a root care feed for them which was recommended by the nursery that I bought them from. I gently water over the summer. The whole reason I choose these was they were supposed to be hardy and can grow in most soil types. Apparently they are often used in big cities etc.

It was all new soil that I planted them with so none of the horrible stuff that the builders claim is top soil.

 

Hi Jason,

I think the area just too exposed with wind and if not kept watered every week from April onwards the foliage struggles ... water logging over winter hasnt helped either

with so many trres I can expect one to struggle but as you can see all of them are or already have died .... It looks like you were trying to shroud the houses over looking you

this is what the RHS says

so unfortunately you have planted the wrong tree and been given the wrong advice on what to plant

Position

• Full sun
• Partial shade

Aspect
South–facing or North–facing or West–facing or East–facing
Sheltered

Moisture
Moist but well–drained, Well–drained

 

Hi there,

it’s full south facing and gets a tremendous amount of sun in spring summer. The ground is well drained as I have ran a full drain system…so the tree should thrive unless I’m missing something?

I don’t understand how one can grow so well and the others not so much?

 

On looking the tree up it does seem that it should do well in that position.

Can't help thinking it's a root problem, they don't appear to have taken well.
Did you just prepare a planting hole or the whole area along the fence.
Also were they container plants or bare root.

 

They came in big pots ready for planting. It’s all new topsoil in my garden. Dug down bigger than the root, got the stake in place, got the trees in.. opened up the root base like instructed… put them in and then added topsoil.

On a side note silver birchs live in the estate and thrive here.

 

Possibly the holes could have acted as sumps and just filled with water.
I would have a friendly chat with the supplier and see what their thoughts are.
Silver birch are good trees.

 

Nigel that’s what I thought at first, so I put a french drain across the front with a flow outlet so they wouldn’t be getting waterlogged. I’m not overly green fingered.. but I have researched the heck out of this and I’m stumped lol.

 

First thing that always comes to mind with pot grown plants is the root ball drying out after planting.
If it dries out it can be very difficult to re wet and its not easy to see either once planted.
Is it possible that could have happened last year after planting, as you can often soak the surrounding soil but if the rootball has got completely dry it won't take up water easily.
Usually shows up as the tree shooting and growing ok but then withering and dying back in the first year.