How To Keep Your Maple Alive in Utah
Many times the maple tree has a hard time thriving in Utah's hard clay soil. The roots cannot easily push through the heavy clay and their growth is deterred.
Maples also have a hard time getting nutrients from the soil. Many times maples are the first trees to show signs of iron deficiency such as yellow leaves or browning on the edges of leaves during the hot part of summer. In such cases, your maple can be a canary in a coal mine. Over time, all of your plants will show signs and suffer from iron deficiency (the leaves turn yellow but the veins remain green until all the leaf turns yellow and even white), not just the maples. In time, the lack of proper nutrients can potentially kill the tree, which may be the reason so many of us lose our trees and shrubs, maples or not.
The problem is often known, but many times the cure is not known. In reality, the cure is an easy remedy -- add iron to the soil. The iron will act as an quick fix and give the trees and shrubs part of the nutrients they lack. The way to best prevent iron deficiency from happening is to regularly add fertilizer enhanced with iron (Arbor Day recommends a 16-16-16 fertilizer here in Utah), gypsum and organic material to break down the clay soil. Then the roots can grow and help the plant not absorb destructive elements from the water, especially irrigation water. Add minerals to supplement the lack of them in the soil, and add organic materials to help the composition of the soil and slowly feed the plant.
Add iron and Arbor Day's 16-16-16 fertilizer in the springtime, but during the hottest months only add the fertilizer. Adding mulch, such as Nutri Mulch, and compost annually will over time also add more nutrients to the soil to help all of your trees and shrubs thrive. Mulch and compost can also be thinly added to your grass to improve it as well. It will quickly sink and dissolve into the grass and give it nutrients for a uniform healthy green look.