One Of My Acers Has One Dead Main Stem And One Healthy. Help!

Question

Well established Acer ( I have many) has two main stems. One has died, the other looks healthy. What, if anything, should I do?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, your photo did not come through. I am unable to see the issue in question. One of either two things comes to mind, though.

Either, the tree's grafted top has died off and was replaced by the root stock, or the scion has produced another shoot from above the graft point.

This can be verified by the location of the living branch. If this is coming from closer to the ground, than there is a good chance that the tree is reverted back to its rootstock. It will be a different type of maple than the one that you have purchased.

Here are some article that will help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/can-grafted-trees-revert-to-their-root-stock.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/japanese-maple/japanese-maple-care.htm