Most Japanese Maples, like almost all of them, are pretty cold tolerant and since it doesn’t even get cold in Georgia, the thing has a disease or something ate its roots or the soil is bad or bugs got it or too much water or not enough water or too much sun or not enough sun or…
The growth, such as it is, was probably fueled by last year’s storage. No buds equals a lost cause. 4 years is long enough for the tree to have acclimated to your sub-tropical swamp climate.
Cut bait and run.
This is a Green Cascade Japanese Maple. It’s a weeper so the growth is mostly horizontal. This year, after sub-zero temps it grew about 8 inches. It’s about 4’ tall and wide. Most Japanese ornamental maples are weaklings when young like up to age 8 or so. At that point the problem is too much growth. Lots of people plant them where they outgrow their location.
