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Acer crimson , not sure of other ones

KLKL Aberdeen Posts: 105
in Problem solving
Hi, I planted these 5 trees last June and the Acer crimsons have done very well as you will see with the below pictures but the green leaves trees are no where near as good and have definitely lost there volume and shine. The leaves are curling up and a lot duller from last year. Hopefully someone can explain what’s going wrong, I think possibly the Crimsons are over ruling them ?
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  • KLKL Aberdeen Posts: 105
    Sorry was to eager and forgot to add the pics. 

    As planted in june 2018



    Both the pictures below are how it looks now and I notice it’s sprouting some leaves that are pure green which are looking very healthy compared to the white tipped leaves.


  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    Are all the green leaves on one branch? If the answer is yes, I would remove it. It isn't unusual for a variegated plant to regress to the original and if you don't remove it, the all green leaves will be more productive than the variegated ones (the white part contains no chlorophyll and therefore doesn't photosynthesize, and the tree will eventually become completely green leaved.
  • KLKL Aberdeen Posts: 105
    edited June 2019
    Yes they are but if I’m honest they look so healthy so going by what I see I would prefer for the whole tree to have leaves like these. I much preferred the white/green leaves from last year but they are so withered and these new green leaves are so healthy. If I remove the healthy looking green leaves will this help the rest of the tree to go back to how it was ? I’m clueless about this type of thing as only started gardening 2 years ago.

    Heres a close up 

  • AuntyRachAuntyRach Posts: 4,787
    I agree with @Joy* about removing the reverted green leaves. Any chance of a close-up on the variegated leaves - they might be wind or sun-scorched maybe? 

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=591
    My garden and I live in South Wales. 
  • KLKL Aberdeen Posts: 105


    Hopefully this helps your diagnosis 👍
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    The RHS site will help you to avoid the variegated leaves suffering next year - once they dry off you won't be able to resurrect them. If you decide to let your tree revert back to its wild state, you might get far more than you bargained for. It might grow to a size you wouldn't want in a domestic setting and keeping it under control could be a worse problem. I would persevere and aim to maintain what is a very attractive tree. If it has been fine in the past it might have just been caught out with the weather conditions this year. As it matures, weather may become less of a problem. It looks as though it is quite close to the wall so keeping it watered is important.  It might need some pruning in future to keep it manageable even if you keep removing the green leaved growth. 
  • KLKL Aberdeen Posts: 105
    Great advice, thanks. I’ll keep it in its original form. Should I just clip the green
    leaves on the same branch as the others or just completely remove the branch at the stem ?
  • AuntyRachAuntyRach Posts: 4,787
    I still think wind scorch, but I am not an expert. Did you have a read of the link?
    I think variegated varieties are quite prone to both scorch and reversion. 
    Worth checking your watering status - young trees need water but also the roots don’t like being soggy under ground. 
    I believe you need to remove the whole branch, or stem, when reversion occurs. Use a clean and sharp cutting tool. Ideally you wouldn’t prune an Acer in Summer (if at all) - but it sounds like you will need to do this one cut now (unless anyone thinks to wait until dormant?). 
    I hope they will give you years of pleasure anyway - beautiful trees. 

    My garden and I live in South Wales. 
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    No, cut the green branch right back using sharp secateurs.  Don't leave a 'snag' as it will grow out again with green leaves. Keep a lookout for any reversion so that you take out the miscreants when they are small. 
  • KLKL Aberdeen Posts: 105
    edited July 2019
    Yes RACH i had areas of the link thanks very informative. The amount of water is a difficult one to work out as unsure how to tell if the roots are soggy or not but I have never watered them this year as there’s been a lot of rain and presumed this was enough so maybe I should start watering more. 

    Joy , I have cut the defected branch and the pic below shows a clearer idea of what was happening the sun was to bright yesterday to get a good picture. The other picture shows better how the trees are set up. My idea is to have screening during the summer from the adjacent car park. 


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