Yesterday, I returned home from a 4-day business trip to Missoula and found my barely 3 year old “Kamagata” hanging off my back patio in a cliffhanger-esque fashion, completely brown and crispy. It appeared that sometime between Sunday and Thursday, a large storm or gust of wind had tipped over the container so that the trunk of the tree squeezed right between two deck banisters and all of the soil poured out, leaving the tree hanging by its root ball. With Atlanta’s blistering heat this Summer, it would be surprising if the tree survived through one afternoon, let alone the 4 or 5 days while I was gone.

I guess technically speaking, this death can’t be blamed on my brown thumb. However, with “Shaina’s” root rot and passing 6 months ago, combined with “Kamagata’s” death-by-drought, I’m starting to wonder if I should move my remaining 9 Japanese maples to my parents’, where I know they won’t die, or continue to care for them here, and risk learning many more lessons the hard way…

I keep thinking that if only I could move to a new house with a large semi-shaded and fenced backyard, all my concerns with leaf burn, container-planting, West-facing afternoon sun, and tree-theft would be alleviated and I could grow my trees as successfully as any nursery. Luckily, I’m not so blind as to see past my own mistakes and I realize that a change in location can only fix a small percentage of my tree-killing issues. There’s never an easy solution to anything is there?

UPDATE 8/11: My coiled Hawaiian umbrella bonsai at work has been inflicted with some sort of white mold/fungus-looking spots on its leaves and has maybe 1 week left to live. Not sure what kind of chemical I need to spray on it, but given my luck recently it probably won’t matter what I try.