Hi my name is Beth, my husband and I have lived here for 9 years we have a red maple on our front lawn, in the past 3-4 years we have noticed two things, first some of the lower leaves are getting a white film on them about August, the other is we have notice the leaves are more of a dark green colour then what use to be a beautiful dark red. Can anyone tell me what is happening sincerely Beth Berry We live in Bridgewater Nova Scotia Canada
Hi Beth, Do you know the actual species name of your maple? "Red Maple" usually means what we call Acer rubrum, one of the native maples of your region, but it actually isn't red (except for the flowers), so from context I know that's not what you mean. Sometimes the red-leaved maples that are widely available in commerce (cultivars of the Norway Maple A. platanoides or red leaved cultivars of the Japanese Maple A. palmatum) can have a hard time holding their red color if they don't get enough sun. I wonder if this is what might be happening to your maple? Are the leaves on the interior and shaded, or has another tree grown up to give more shade? Not sure what the white film might be, maybe "calcaire" (sorry can't remember the English word) deposit if someone is wetting the foliage with a hose, or perhaps some sort of caterpillar residue? -E
Thank you for the info. The tree holds the full morning until about 2p.m. so I cannot see shade being the problem. I do not know much about trees, it was here when we moved in. Thank you anyway. Sincerely Beth
Beth, if you could post a picture of your tree it might help to identify any potential problem. (Certainly would help us determine what you've got). To me it sounds as if, with sunlight until only 2pm -- and not in the afternoon -- might not be enough to keep some maples fully red. If your maple has 5 or seven long "lobes" or "fingers" for leaves, it is probably what we call a Japanese Maple, and many of these have a hard time staying fully red, even with good sun. Again, a picture will help. cheers, -E
Thank you so much, as soon as my leafs come out I will send a picture of my red maple. Again Thank you Beth
