We have a northern catalpa tree in our front yard, planted 7 years ago, where it's leaves are wilting and dying off. The onset was sudden, starting about a week ago, and while different branches did not start wilting simultaneously, it now appears as though the whole tree is affected. We lost an Amur maple tree planted in that same location about 10 years ago under similar circumstances, branches dying off one at a time over the course of one season. We suspect verticillium wilt. Questions: 1) How can we get it tested to see if our hypothesis is correct? 2) What can we do to save/ prolong the life of the tree? 3) if we lose the tree, are we ok to plant a non-susceptible tree in that location or better off not planting anything? 4) We have two maples in the same yard (red maple varieties), about the same age as the catulpa; how concerned should we be about them? 5) I had been planning on converting that section of lawn to a bee lawn (clover, thyme yaak yarrow) later this season. Should I rethink this plan?