Hi guys, I don't overly have much plant knowledge so I hope I am posting things in the correct places! I am doing this on behalf of my mother. She has very poor eye sight, and no clue on using the internet! Bascially, she has 15 Acers in total in her garden. Plus another tree, acer looking leafs that are a dark brown almost black. Very beautiful! She moved them around 2 years ago from one side of the garden to the other. Same soil type. They have been fine, and most still are. We have 2 that seem to have issues. 1 of them appears to me, like it's almost dead on the top half. It is nothing but stick. The bottom seems to have new growth trying to come through but isn't looking great in itself. The other seems to have these dark brown spots or patches appearing on the leafs. I did take photos. Basically, my mum wants to know a few things. What is wrong with them and, if anything can be done? I would be so grateful if anyone could give us some insight into her problem. All the other 13 are perfect. We do have a lot of mixed looking types. We also get a lot of sun in that part of the garden. Not sure how that will affect the plants.
I googled (USFS) and found a disease that affects trees, called ANTHRACNOSE. It looks very much like what the tree with spots has. It states it is severe on Sycamore, White Oak, Black Walnut, and Dogwood. May lose leaves, but in spring and early summer the tree will usually produce a second crop of leaves. The other I found was "leafspots" (didn't think it looked as close...but) and is caused by bacteria or fungi as a result of wet weather. For the tree that is a stick. Luckily you have growth at the bottom of your tree. Whenever I have had a tree give out, but had some growth left, cut it a few inches above the notch where the growth is still thriving, so the tree can focus its energy to this area and come back. What I thought I noticed was variation in color on the branches of this tree, so wondered if those upper branches are dieing or not. See the leaves on the ground around the tree as well. It could grow leaves back, but if the branches are going too, then save the lower part of the tree if you can with conserving energy to this part of the tree perhaps with the prior suggestion of pruning back. Hoping this is helpful. Do some research on the tree "spot" disease and how to properly prune a tree back to promote growth.
Concerning the one that looks like a stick, the most likely scenario is that it is a grafted tree that has died back above the graft point. If so, the leaves growing out of the bottom will be from the rootstock and will likely be different in shape or colour to the original grafted tree. The rootstock will now try to form a new tree and whether or not it is worth keeping depends on how much you (or your mother) like the new leaves that are coming from the base.
Hi Rae, I agree with Maf about the stick. Can't tell from the picture, but it sure looks that way. The other one looks to me like it has sun burn and nothing worse, although I could be wrong. Does not look like anthracnose, which I have had on a dogwood but never a maple here. Yellow leaved forms often burn if you move them, because the root can't keep up with transpiration. If it were my tree I'd make sure it was watered (hardly necessary this year I know!) and see if it works itself out. -E
