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I planted a small 30" October Glory red maple sapling, and the very next day all of the leaves were missing. The following day put a cage around it to protect it from deer, but nothing has happened yet.
There are, I think, some tiny leaf buds at the base of two pairs of branches. It's been about 10 days since I put the cage around it and nothing noticeable has happened. Are these buds for the following spring? Or is the thing just dead? I'm not sure when Red Maples bud out.
Any way to tell if the thing is alive? I don't want to leave a cage in my front yard for 7 months if it's dead. But I don't want to toss it if it's still fighting to live (I'm a softie for half dead struggling plants).
That tree is going to go dormant for winter now so you can forget about new replacement leaves. The deer just gave it a head start. The tree is still alive and is no where near dying but at this time of year maples are preparing to drop all their leaves and go dormant, they don't grow new leaves. So it's unlikely you'll see any new leaf growth between now and next spring. Any little buds you see now are called "resting buds" that will "rest" dormant over the winter and will be growing next spring and summer.
That tree is going to go dormant for winter now so you can forget about new replacement leaves. The deer just gave it a head start. The tree is still alive and is no where near dying but at this time of year maples are preparing to drop all their leaves and go dormant, they don't grow new leaves. So it's unlikely you'll see any new leaf growth between now and next spring. Any little buds you see now are called "resting buds" that will "rest" dormant over the winter and will be growing next spring and summer.
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Just in time to provide a mid-Spring salad snack for the deer.
Make sure your fencing is far enough away from the tree or high enough that the deer can't reach over to snag the top.
Just in time to provide a mid-Spring salad snack for the deer.
Make sure your fencing is far enough away from the tree or high enough that the deer can't reach over to snag the top.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimAZ
Be thankful they didn’t strip the bark.
Good points!
OP, you need to keep a cage around the tree so the deer can't come back and strip the bark and twigs off the tree too. If they get at the bark the tree will be toast.
If they're messing with your sapling, then the area is over-populated with deer. We need more hunters to keep the populations in check now that we've screwed up the natural predator-prey balance.
It should be OK. Leave the cage. If its a hard winter and even if its mild, its a tasty treat for the critters. I have two maples and the cages have been around them since I put them in, one was two years ago. Don't worry about the aesthetics since in the long term it will pay off and anyone who knows trees will know you are doing it right.
OP, you need to keep a cage around the tree so the deer can't come back and strip the bark and twigs off the tree too. If they get at the bark the tree will be toast.
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Sage advice, we had bucks in my old neighborhood that loved nice saplings to rub their antlers on that would leave them bark stripped and soon to be dead.
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