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Acers lots of dead wood this year.

annesk54annesk54 Posts: 6
in Plants
My two acers are 19 tears old. Always been in pots and potted up as advised by grower. Last couple of years they haven't looked their best. This year potted up. Local garden centre says they are probably shocked but they've never looked this bad before.   They have lots of dead wood in them. They already look like the leaves are shedding. One has flowered. The branch the seeds had formed on has already fallen off the tree. 
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  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Are they acers? I've never known them to flower? Perhaps a pic will help. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • annesk54annesk54 Posts: 6
    I've no photo of flowers. Only of seed pods. The flowers looked like little berries.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,114
    They don't really have noticeable flowers but those are the right looking seeds.  

    When did you re-pot them?  What compost did you use?  Where do you keep them?  

    I have them in pots too and kept mine in the polytunnel this winter except for the two biggest.  I brought them all out after Easter and gathered them on my north facing terrace, as usual.   All was well with all of them but a combination of storm Miguel and the two heatwaves in June and July has left the two big ones with some scorched foliage and bare ends of stems despite being regularly watered and fed too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • annesk54annesk54 Posts: 6
    Repotted April. Loam based compost rich in organic matter. In sheltered garden, west facing. Moved to rear of house in winter.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    Can you take photos of each whole tree, and a close-up of the area where the branch fell off?  That should make diagnosis a bit easier.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • annesk54annesk54 Posts: 6

  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,435
    edited July 2019
    hogweed said:
    Are they acers? I've never known them to flower? Perhaps a pic will help. 
    All trees and plants produce flowers...even those that only do it rarely.
    Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the titan arum took 8 years before it flowered.

    https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/corpse-flowers-bloom-after-9-years-brings-hundreds-to-botanical-gardens-in-kerala-1272039.html

    You have probably seen the flowers of Sycamore ......Acer pseudoplatanus.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,435
    edited July 2019
    We used to grow many named Acer palmatum trees.
    It was perfectly normal for them to have a few  to many dead twigs.
    These are normally noticeable in winter when bare of leaves.
    I found it very therapeutic to just snap these off.


    Your Acer has maybe been under stress with the recent very hot weather.
    Wait till winter then just remove all the dead twigs or snip dead bits away
    If dead branches are thicker use very sharp secateurs .
    Never let the pots dry out completely,.
    Move to partial shade if in full sun.
    Give them some TLC.
    It should be fine next spring.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,435


    This is flowers from Acer diabolicum
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • tsteed97tsteed97 Posts: 13
    How windy is the spot their in and how much sun are they getting? They don't like too much of either.
    I would have potter them in John innes no 3 mixed with ericaceous compost.
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