I live in Nova Scotia, where the lay of the land is mainly clay. I have a red maple, actually 2 of them, one has nice full leaves and the other has leaves half the size. Both are planted in my backyard and get plenty of sun. I was wondering if it might be just trying to root itself better, however last year it got normal sized leaves. Not sure why the difference in leaf size, should I just move the tree or is there something else I can do?:confused:

Hi! ns101, and Welcome to AMHD :)

I was going to answer your question earlier this morning along with dbteeitup, but something was "bugging" :rolleyes: me 'bout it, and I wanted to sleep on it.

If you check; Maple Tree Decline , and scroll down to Nutrient Imbalances, the part 'bout soil Ph is what caught my eye.
If you can get some sulfur give that a try.

This may sound silly, but when I was having trouble with my White Birch I mentioned it to a friend at work, and he suggested planting a lump of coal 'bout a foot away from the trunk. He even brought some in the next night, I went home and planted it.

Well Sir, It didn't happen overnight, but the birch held its own the rest of the year, and is now doing quite well.
Depending on the size of your coal...my buddy gave me 'bout a pound of Pea coal - 9/16” - 13/16”...you could crush it up.

Try that for this year, and decide next.

Hi KUX, your coal suggestion makes sense because diatamaceous earth (crushed rock) works the same way because of the nutrients in the rock. The reason being the rock is so darn old, it has picked up much during its lifetime. There is a company in BC Canada that crushes rock for this purpose. People use it to enhance compost. Also good to put around plants to keep pests away; it has a bad habit of cutting off there little legs and whatnot. Also good for ants coming the house, just spread a thin line across a door or window and it deterrs them.

Tick