Advice on recovering neglected trees

[Japh]

Hi everyone! So as you may (or may not) know, I've been away in the UK for almost a year. While I was away I left my bonsai with other trusted individuals to look after, however, some of my trees have suffered a bit of neglect in my absence.

This Wisteria has bounced back pretty well, but there are a few branches that appear dead:

wisteria.jpg

The Japanese Maple seems to have suffered the worst... I'm unsure if I should perhaps be cutting it right back, watering thoroughly, and giving a decent dose of fertiliser in the hopes of resurrecting it:

japanese-maple.jpg

And my Chinese Elm, which is in a grow box anyway, seems to have done ok in the end... roots growing out the bottom of the grow box now even!

chinese-elm.jpg

I'm hoping some of you guys will be able to give me advice on how best to proceed. I'm hoping these are salvageable (certainly the Wisteria and Chinese Elm appear to be bouncing back well), I'm particularly worried about the Japanese Maple.

Specifically, I'm hoping for any advice on immediate recovery care, and also how drastically to cut things back? (Any other advice also gratefully received too of course!)

Thanks guys!
Japh

Note: If you need better photos before you can give advice, let me know and I'll add some more.

[craigw60]

Hi Japh, I would just be feeding them lots for the rest of summer and try to get some strong healthy growth on them them worry about pruning when they have fully recovered. Did you defoliate the maple ? or has it lost its leaves ? . Wait until it has dome foliage before you feed it.
Craigw

[Japh]

Hi Craigw,

Hi Japh, I would just be feeding them lots for the rest of summer and try to get some strong healthy growth on them them worry about pruning when they have fully recovered. Did you defoliate the maple ? or has it lost its leaves ? . Wait until it has dome foliage before you feed it.
Craigw

That's them exactly as I had them returned to me (almost... I've cleaned all the cobwebs off and done a little weeding). I believe it's simply lost all it's leaves, and it's outer branches are extremely dry (dead?!)

Thanks for the advice!

[bodhidharma]

Japh, With the maple i would be feeling around the ends of the secondary and tertiary branching and finding out what is alive and what is dead. Cut the dead branchlets back to live wood and do the same all over the tree. Then take Craigs advice on the rest of it.

[Japh]

Bodhi!

Japh, With the maple i would be feeling around the ends of the secondary and tertiary branching and finding out what is alive and what is dead. Cut the dead branchlets back to live wood and do the same all over the tree. Then take Craigs advice on the rest of it.

Thanks! That sounds good. Looks like the Japanese Maple is getting a new "do".

[craigw60]

Don't prune it too hard Japh, its already very stressed
Craigw

[Japh]

Don't prune it too hard Japh, its already very stressed
Craigw

Yeah, I'll try and just prune back the dead bits, possibly not even all the way to live wood. I assume that won't stress it too much, as dead is dead, right?! (Maybe not?)

[craigw60]

HaHa, that should be fine.
Craigw

[Ash Barns]

Hi Japh it might be a good idea to try the scratch test on the Maple to determine if it has any green showing on the lower trunk. Then if it has,work your way up to find out where it goes to brown.

[Japh]

Hi Ash,

Hi Japh it might be a good idea to try the scratch test on the Maple to determine if it has any green showing on the lower trunk. Then if it has,work your way up to find out where it goes to brown.

That sounds like a pretty good idea, actualy. I cut back a lot of what appeared to be dead branches, and didn't hit anything green the whole time... here's what it looks like now:

japanese-maple-pruned.jpg

What should I do if I don't see any green??

[Matthew]

Japh if you havent hit green thats a worry id use the scratch test with your fingernail just to lift the bark slightly and see if you can see green . try it in various parts of the tree working from the outer branches to in. if you get to the trunk and no green the tree might have gone to the other side

[Graeme]

If there isn't any green on the Maple, sorry but it's off to the bin for that baby. If there is some green, give the tree a good dose of Superthrive, another dose of Seasol plus a couple of drinks of sugar water. Keep the trees sheltered until strong growth is evident and all will be well.

[Emoska]

Don't prune it too hard Japh, its already very stressed
Craigw

Hey Japh, it sounds like you're getting some good direction, hope your trees recover well

Craig, your comment reminds me of interesting question in general about recovering really stressed trees. It may be a silly question, but can you pinch off new shoots spouting in spots you'd rather they didn't, as it's first growing back? Or is styling/pruning in any way not recommended at all until the tree grows out completely?

[craigw60]

if a tree is recovering from a really stressful situation then the best thing you can do for it is just let it grow unchecked until its really strong. The more foliage its carrying the more quickly the recovery will be.
Craigw

[Ash Barns]

if a tree is recovering from a really stressful situation then the best thing you can do for it is just let it grow unchecked until its really strong. The more foliage its carrying the more quickly the recovery will be.
Craigw

Solid advice from Craig here. You must get the patient breathing again before any other consideration. Did you try the scratch test on the main trunk? If that proves to be brown under the bark (use your thumbnail) then it has passed and we can move on to giving guidance on your next live tree. If it is green then we have hope for recovery. Minimize water and don't give any fert. until you see signs of re-shooting.