Ailing Acer

I have a 4 year old Japanese Maple. It's the pride of my small garden. Unfortunately, it appears to be very unwell. Half of the plant is starting to bud nnormally, the other half is not shooting at all. The buds look withered and the trunk is mottled with light grey patches. It is definitely unwell. Can anyone help me with: a) what the problem might be and b) how to treat it (if treatment is possible!!).
Thanks in anticipation,
p.s I can supply photo's of plant if required

 

is your acer in a cold or windy spot, they don't always cope well with cold wind bud blasting happens commonly, which acer is it?

 

Not sure what type of Acer it is. It has a pale trunk and dark marrony brown leaves. Doesn't help much does it? It is in a reasonably sheltered spot and get lots of sun (when we have any!!)

 

photo please!!!!

Just noticed we now have a tree topic!! Unless I've gone totally mad it wasn't there yesterday was it? :confused:

Good move, Nahtan!

 

Mmmm - now its just a case of ensuring the content matches the heading :D :D :D

 

I think it is may be spreading it a bit too thin cos I am starting to get lost, but then it is probably my pea brain.

as to acer - well I just "de-gardened" one a mop head grafted thing, it always was a chance planting, they do not like lime and they do not like exposed conditions - hope you are not fighting against either of these.

 

It sounds like die back due to cold. You say it gets lots of sun- if this is early morning sun it could make the effects of frosts worse as it will thaw out quickly. They prefer a bit of shade most of the time.
A photo would help as dendrobium says, but if it's suffered from cold the worst is past, and the dead looking bits might shoot again- wait a while before doing anything!

 

I'm very prone to the odd typo, NATHAN!! Sorry! I just type too fast for my brain to keep up!

[ 23. April 2006, 10:25 PM: Message edited by: dendrobium ]

 

My acer has done exactly the same thing, I have one branch coming along nicely, the rest no movement at all. Sorry but as not an expert, my test is bend the branch and if it snaps that bit is dead, hence I now only have one branch left, will leave it for now and see what happens.

 

simple test on any plant - brown = dead / green = alive - a mix = not long for this world!!