Planted a Japanese Maple last Spring(Rhode Island Red). This season it looks like this. help!

[evident]

https://imgur.com/a/jRIGpHV

This was planted beginning of last spring and lasted all spring and summer in what seemed to be in good shape. In the beginning of this spring leaves came but were very wilted and then fell off. The stems are white at the end. Only a few leaves still left as seen in pics. It's in a rock mulch bed with landscaping fabric about 1.5ft away from the center of the tree. We will turn the sprinkler on later this year but we haven't yet due to frost warnings and it's been raining fairly frequently.

What can I do now to help this tree?

 

[herm0016]

is the fabric permeable? when exactly was it planted? last fall? spring? did it leaf out nicely last spring? what climate zone are you in? example, my linden, hackberry and locust trees are not leafed out at all yet here. the Hackberry looks dead. but i know they are later than most other things. did you dig the hole 2x size, mix in compost? did you winter water it?

you really gave us very little info.

 

[evident]

is the fabric permeable? when exactly was it planted? last fall? spring? did it leaf out nicely last spring? what climate zone are you in? example, my linden, hackberry and locust trees are not leafed out at all yet here. the Hackberry looks dead. but i know they are later than most other things. did you dig the hole 2x size, mix in compost? did you winter water it?

you really gave us very little info.

Sorry for not so much info. my first time posting about plant stuff and i'm a total noob when it comes to this subject.. I updated the original post. But it was planted last spring, roughly the same size. Climate zone 6, northern philly suburbs. We had the landscaper plant it so not so sure about whether it was 2x sized the hole and mixed in compost or not. I did not water the plant in the winter. It leafed out and and looked healthy all last year.

 

[turtile]

Sorry for not so much info. my first time posting about plant stuff and i'm a total noob when it comes to this subject.. I updated the original post. But it was planted last spring, roughly the same size. Climate zone 6, northern philly suburbs. We had the landscaper plant it so not so sure about whether it was 2x sized the hole and mixed in compost or not. I did not water the plant in the winter. It leafed out and and looked healthy all last year.

It could be a lot of things but since we've had a lot of rain recently my first assumption would be root rot since it's a common disease for Japanese maples. You'll need to check the roots for that though. It will hurt the plant long term to add compost into the soil. The roots will circle around the rich soil and not into the native soil.

 

[Gardener]

Looks like it could be verticillium wilt, which is common in Japanese maples, and is frequently present even in nursery stock. The definitive tell in a dead plant is coffee-colored staining in the wood. The more infection, the more vascular sytem is blocked, the weaker the tree.

You will see wilted leaves, and thinner twigs will turn dark brown in patches...again, the coffee-colored staining. Not just your typical bleached dead wood. I think I see some stained in the dead wood near the dead branch tips in your picture.

Sometimes the plant can compartmentalize the infection, and outgrow it...laying down more new wood than it loses, so it stays ahead of it. Talk to the nursery where you bought it, some retailers have a 1 year guarantee.

With maples, go light on the pruning, use a hand pruner, make clean cut, no shearing which just ruins them. A parking strip is a little hot for one, so make sure adequate water during season.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Honestly I hate planting stuff and hate caring for plants but I will say a shovel full or two of Cow Manure typically fixes most problems