Enlight

Thank you for your thoughtful responses.

In response to Bunenza... I, too, am surprised that the tree was happy to grow to such a size before these ailments. It is still mid-late spring and it will be summer before the scorching begins - it has suffered from scorching in the past. I am fairly confident that the tree has good drainage as we have sandy free-draining soil here. It does not receive any runoff from the drive as it is up slope. I have thought about removing those paving stones in order to create a "swale" to capture more water during rain events. There is never any standing water here due to the topography, I am almost certain this tree is not waterlogged.

10 hours ago, Bunzena said:

Likewise, the planting medium/position looks pretty tough - set, as it is, in a block paving circle with a slightly raised soil level.

...

One way to check would be to look at one of the affected branches and see if there is a colour change of the younger bark, near the top and near the die-back.  If so this is a good indication of fungal infection.

Is there anything I should be aware of with soil levels? What kind of colour change should I be looking for. I haven't seen any so far, just lichen.

7 hours ago, Stubby said:

The fact that the previous mulch caught fire won't of helped the roots .  Could pine bark mulch be too acidic for this species ? I'm no expert .

Luckily it was spotted quickly by a delivery driver. What had happened was the small dendritic roots of the tree grew so dense that it trapped the heat from direct sunlight. In any case, it was put out quickly and didn't touch the trunk of the tree or any large roots. I later loosened up the soil with a handrake. What I've read is that pine bark rarely changes the pH of the underlying soil, though Japanese Maples prefer slightly acid soil anyway.

I've also attached a picture of my healthy maple.

The other tree receives more cover from the afternoon sun. I've come to accept the site location is not ideal. Unfortunately, that's where the tree was when we purchased the house. Perhaps there were other trees giving it cover in the past.

Hi folks, thank you in advance for any advice.

I have a Japanese Maple that has been losing limbs and branches. It receives full day sun and has nothing shading it from the south. Its brother on another side of the property is flourishing. We hired an arborist a few years back and his assessment was this tree was not getting enough water. I have since undertaken some rainwater harvesting measures in the form of storing rainwater for hot days, redirecting our downspout to feed the trunk of the tree, and also re-routing runoff to infiltrate into nearby earth.

While I have spotted some new tender growth (spotted on the ground after squirrels gnawed them off), I'm not certain the overall health of the tree is improving. Is there anything in the way of soil assessments I should be looking at in order to help this tree? The pictures shows bare soil at the base which I just aerated before putting down pine bark nuggets. The mulch that was previously there completely decomposed and even caught fire last year.

General View

Westerly Facing Dead Growth

Easterly Facing Healthier Growth

Trunk (will soon receive pine bark nuggets)

Trunk Bark

New Growth

Water Harvesting