I bought a red Japenese Maple tree a couple of months ago. It's turning green now??

Question

When I bought the tree it had a few greenish leaves on the inside of the limbs. The nursery guy said it was because where it was grown, they probably had it in the shade. He said it needs sun to be red. My tree gets enough sun, but now it is mostly green leaves.

I thought the leaves would stay red! What's happening?

Answer 1

For the "type" of Japanese Maple you have, it may be normal for it to change from red to green in the summer & then turn back to red in the fall, especially if it was grown from seed.

"Trees grown from seed lose their red leaf color in summer, which may be disappointing to the homeowner. " (1)

It's also true that Japanese Maples lose their red color if they're shaded too much.
"Japanese red Maple leaves turn from red to green when the intensity of light is decreased.
Most if not all varieties of red leaf plants lose the red color if the leaves are in a shaded area. Our trees are grown close together to conserve water and help keep plants standing.This causes the new upper most leaves to become very red and the leaves that are shaded by other leaves to become green. Once these trees are given more space the red color comes back." (2)

If your tree is NOT shaded too much & is turning green, then it seems possible that it could have been grown from seed, & you'll have to wait until fall to see it turn red again.

Sorry if this is disappointing news.

Answer 2

It does sound slightly like a jap Maple type - is it a smallish (tremendously much shrub-like) tree with deeply-cut back, feathery leaves? no remember what, your superb wager is to gather a number of the leaves and pass to a close-by nursery to confirm in the event that they have something like it. in any different case, ought to you positioned up a image of the leaf and of the tree?

Answer 3

juvenile leaves emerge green and turn red in the fall