Can We Save Our Japanese Maple Or Should It Be Cut Down?

Question

Last year our Japanese maple was damaged by a late frost. The bark split and fell off, there are currently no new buds. At the base of the tree there are new red shoots/ sprouts. Will it come back?

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Answer 1

Most Japanese maples are grafted which means the lower branches or suckers are from the graft, which won't look like the upper tree. Your upper tree does look like it expired. You can tell by scraping off a little of the bark on a branch. If it is green underneath it is still alive. If not, I would cut it down and replace it.
You can try digging up a couple of the suckers and growing them to see what you've got.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/planting-a-tree-shoot.htm