Acer rufinerve failed to come into leaf...

[SDDavid]

As the title says...Planted a fairly large, (4-5m) Acer rufinerve for a customer last year, at which point it seemed very healthy and was apparently sourced from a reputable nursery. This year it has failed to come into leaf, and while some buds still look healthy, there are dark lesions all over the stems and some dieback, I think it's probably Verticilium wilt, but i've yet to cut a stem to check for discolouration. I'm not particularly familiar with this pathogen; as it's a recent planting, is it likely to have been infecte when purchased? I ask because the customer paid £700 for the tree, and is understandably unhappy. I know the disease spread from the soil to the roots, but there were, and are, no signs of disease in other plants in the area.

 

Thoughts please?

[Paul Cleaver]

I would be straight back to the nursery - they may quiz you about your planting technique etc - I would want a replacement. Why was is so expensive? How big is it?