Maple tree sapling leaf burn - Ask Extension
Hi, we planted a maple sapling 2 years ago, last year it didn't have any problems but this last few weeks of this year in his experience a great deal ...
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Maple tree sapling leaf burn #872651
Asked June 11, 2024, 3:37 PM EDT
Hi, we planted a maple sapling 2 years ago, last year it didn't have any problems but this last few weeks of this year in his experience a great deal of leave drying out around the edges and eventually falling off of the tree. Could this be caused by anything other than a lack of water?
Hamilton County Ohio
Expert Response
Hello and thanks for letting me help you with your silver maple. Do the spots ever start out like this pic below? You could have a virus or bacteria causing brown spot, or could be the beginnings of tar spot. Can you plz send a picture of the whole tree. I’d like to be able to make a correct diagnosis
Hi, thank you so much for your time!
I don’t think the spots start out like that picture, but there does seem to be some yellowing.
Hi Carrie,
Thank you for sending me those new pictures, they really helped with the diagnosis. Your little maple (silver, I believe) has anthracnose. It is due to the wet, chilly spring that we had this year in Ohio. It is a fungal infection exasperated by overhead watering (rain or human). The fungus can be in the soil or on other trees or plants and bounces onto the new plant.
Everything I have read in my research says that anthracnose will not kill a tree, only weaken it—but if it is a young tree, it can be more serious. Leaves will probably drop, and if early enough in the year, new ones will grow in their place.
The best thing to do is good sanitation. Clean up all dead leaves from the ground and destroy them. It is suggested to burn them, but if your town does not allow that, I would not recommend it. I would also not burn in the open, something like a fire pit or even a metal waste basket (your tree is so small). In the spring, before leaf break, when there are buds, give your tree a spraying (the research based articles always mentioned spraying not systemic) with a fungicide containing copper. The articles which I am attaching will give you other recommendations of chemicals along with copper.
Think back to when you planted the tree. How did you do it? Did you just dig a hole and plop the tree in? Or did you dig a hole, shake some balanced fertilizer in the bottom, water the hole, replace the soil with topsoil, putting a little at the bottom, then the tree, then fill in with more top soil? You need to give this tree as much help as you can, it is still a baby.
I would increase the area between the tree and the grass. Make the radius of the circle around the tree larger, putting in some good top soil. Try to work some of that in closer to the tree if you can. Give the radius a nice edging (my son in law would call it trenching). Remove the mulch you have, and purchase some mulch that will increase the wellbeing of your plants. I like triple ground organic mulch. It breaks down into the soil, and you won’t see most or any by next year. This increase the quality of the soil. You have a couple options. Use a fertilizer with a ratio of 6-3-2. Something like Tree Tone. Work it into the surrounding soil per label directions. The label is the law. Normally I would suggest a soil test pre fertilization and you would do this in early spring, but this tree needs a shot of vitamins now. In the fall send some soil out for a soil test. You can get a kit at the Hamilton extension office. Go to Hamilton.osu.edu for phone and address.
Again, and very important is to practice good sanitation. Cleaning up of those diseased leaves.
Hope this all helps. Please ask any other questions that you have by replying.
https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/maple-anthracnose
https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/anthracnose-trees-
https://plantaddicts.com/fertilizing-maple-trees/
Thank you for sending me those new pictures, they really helped with the diagnosis. Your little maple (silver, I believe) has anthracnose. It is due to the wet, chilly spring that we had this year in Ohio. It is a fungal infection exasperated by overhead watering (rain or human). The fungus can be in the soil or on other trees or plants and bounces onto the new plant.
Everything I have read in my research says that anthracnose will not kill a tree, only weaken it—but if it is a young tree, it can be more serious. Leaves will probably drop, and if early enough in the year, new ones will grow in their place.
The best thing to do is good sanitation. Clean up all dead leaves from the ground and destroy them. It is suggested to burn them, but if your town does not allow that, I would not recommend it. I would also not burn in the open, something like a fire pit or even a metal waste basket (your tree is so small). In the spring, before leaf break, when there are buds, give your tree a spraying (the research based articles always mentioned spraying not systemic) with a fungicide containing copper. The articles which I am attaching will give you other recommendations of chemicals along with copper.
Think back to when you planted the tree. How did you do it? Did you just dig a hole and plop the tree in? Or did you dig a hole, shake some balanced fertilizer in the bottom, water the hole, replace the soil with topsoil, putting a little at the bottom, then the tree, then fill in with more top soil? You need to give this tree as much help as you can, it is still a baby.
I would increase the area between the tree and the grass. Make the radius of the circle around the tree larger, putting in some good top soil. Try to work some of that in closer to the tree if you can. Give the radius a nice edging (my son in law would call it trenching). Remove the mulch you have, and purchase some mulch that will increase the wellbeing of your plants. I like triple ground organic mulch. It breaks down into the soil, and you won’t see most or any by next year. This increase the quality of the soil. You have a couple options. Use a fertilizer with a ratio of 6-3-2. Something like Tree Tone. Work it into the surrounding soil per label directions. The label is the law. Normally I would suggest a soil test pre fertilization and you would do this in early spring, but this tree needs a shot of vitamins now. In the fall send some soil out for a soil test. You can get a kit at the Hamilton extension office. Go to Hamilton.osu.edu for phone and address.
Again, and very important is to practice good sanitation. Cleaning up of those diseased leaves.
Hope this all helps. Please ask any other questions that you have by replying.
https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/maple-anthracnose
https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/anthracnose-trees-
https://plantaddicts.com/fertilizing-maple-trees/
