Maple Seeds/sparse leaves

[dheintzman]

Greetings. I have a maple in the front yard, planted about 1980. For the last few years, every spring, the seeds are incredibly abundant and the leaves sparse. After the seeds all fall, it seems that the leaves come back somewhat.

Is our maple dying and trying to send out "it's children" to take it's place? What can we do?

Dan

 

[Deere John]

You are partly right Dan - the tree is putting its energy into seed dissemination rather than foliar growth. Once the seed drops, energy is available for foliar growth, as you've seen.

In times of stress on the tree, more seeds will be dropped, and fewer in good times, as the tree is less "worried" about reproducing prior to croaking. I'm not sure if fertilizer and water, to reduce stress, will reduce the seed crop. It will definitely increase the foliar and wood growth.