I have a deep red almost puple maple tree with a base of 5+ feet in diameter which is showing signs of being sick. I found small white bugs with little eggs on the under side of the leaves and small ants which appear to be eating the bugs. The leaves have holes all in them and the ends are curling. any help would be greatly appreciated. John.
hello - i read your post - and is it really 5 (five) feet across (diameter) at the base? - that is a huge tree! In any event, I wonder if it is a Norway Maple (very common street / garden tree in past decades around Vancouver) is this the first year you have taken care of it - if you've been looking after it for many years, is this the first year you have seen this symptom? the past few years have been difficult what with long hot, no water, etc - so that is a consideration - and when it is stressed, then other aspects of nature move in to the vulnerable plant. I am not an expert - just curious - I had a norway maple at former home - but nowhere near as big can you post a photo of the shape - overall appearance of the tree?
It is a Norway maple (Acer platanoides, probably 'Crimson King' or 'Crimson Sentry'). It is probably not really in difficulty. You could treat with some ant powder around the base which will help control the ants from cultivating the aphids, if that is indeed the bug issue. Otherwise a tree that big is hard to manage, but usually works things out for itself pest-wise. HTH. -E
Sorry, 5' in circumference. I have been at this location for 5 years, and last year is when I noticed it was not looking good. Things were different last year, there were no insects on it, the leaves curled and dropped earlier than previous years, but no bugs or ants. But now I see most of the lower leaves have signs of bug and look worse than last year. I think it was lacking water last year and I have rectified that problem this year,,, I hope.
