Acer problem

Hi, hope someone can give me some advice please. I have been trying in vain to get my acer's to grow, I have 4 diff varieties ( can get names later if need be ) the problem is the same for all of them. 6 trees in all ranging from 18" to 48" all full of leaves and living branches for the first few months and then they start to wither away. Tried moving locations to shadier spots and away from winds etc still the same. They start sprouting new growth and it gets to the stage where it is opening up and then it just withers away slowly and just leaves the stump of the leaf if you like, just as if something has eaten it away but it looks shrivelled up and dry ( brownish colour). The wood of the branches just dries out like rotten wood...no matter what I try it never seems to work...re-dug all the ground and replaced my clayish soil with acer friendly stuff and still the same thing...watered watered done it...all fails. help pretty please

 

Have you got it in / on ericacious compost soil?

 

Yes I tried the ericaceous compost also on 3 of them...exactly the same thing has happened to those too...the other three are in a mixture now of my soil and ericaceous mix..same thing. Tried my soil first with the one tree I bought an expensive �£60 failure grrrr..

 

Sounds to me like you got a root problem - or a systemic disease. Have you checked the roots?

 

What are you watering them with? Tap water can contain too much lime, which they don't like. If you can collect rain water it's best to use that.

 

How clayey is your clayish soil?

I'm looking to get an acer and was reading around. One nursery was on clayey soil and said they "mound" planted - in their experience if you plant an acer in a hole dug in clay then it tends to drown! I've also seen that a constant moisture level is important.

 

Sounds like wind or sun scorch. They don't like it. I've had plants that have ben fine for 10yrs+ then get scorched and just seem to fade.

Another possibility which I can't vouch for as I haven't seeen it on my plants is red spider mite. Is the air dry where you are/are they under cover? Look for the telltale 'cobwebs' on the underside of the leaves.

 

Check your varieties as some do not like acid soil! :rolleyes:

 

As acers are so popular it seems they're very hard to grow, Im wondering to myself if it's worth me actually buying one of the ones I saw recently... any suggestions - SW facing border, very & sunny, backs onto solid fence, stony soil with deeper clay in parts.. should I bother?

 

Although there are varieties [eg Atropupurea] that wouldn't mind your soil, I don't think they'd like the position. They need some shade. :(

 

Thanks Liz, saves me murdering a poor acer then!