Sunday Rock Maple
08-13-2011, 08:36 PM
I've pasted the test of an article from our extension office below --- wondering if others are seeing the same thing in your area (and if it will have any impact next spring....)?
Fungus, wind causing some St. Lawrence County maple leaves to turn brown
Saturday, August 13, 2011 - 5:33 pm
By PAUL HETZLER
This summer, many people have called Cooperative Extension asking about maples with browned leaves, and the short answer is good news-bad news: your trees aren’t dying, but they are ugly.
If the maple leaves are brown primarily along the edges, it’s “leaf tatter” from those windstorms in late May and early June. Most leaves hadn’t hardened off yet and got battered and, yes, tattered. They’ll look pretty next year.
If leaves have brown patches on the interior as well as around the edge, and some (or many) are falling, it’s the fungus anthracnose. Remember our so-called spring, a.k.a. that nonstop *#@ rain? Prolonged wet periods favor fungal pathogens like anthracnose, and bruising from high winds created lots of openings for it to establish itself. And, as with many tree disorders, symptoms took a while to show up. Anthracnose (not as scary as it sounds) is rarely of any consequence to a tree’s health unless it’s already under stress and gets defoliated several years in a row. At any rate, the only time it can be treated is in April.
The crimson Norway (“red”) maples, however, seem very prone to anthracnose. Keep trees well-watered during dry spells like we’re having now, but don't get the leaves wet, which furthers the infection. It’s also important to rake up fallen leaves regularly and either put them in the garbage (sorry, composters) or take them offsite. So long as next spring isn’t extremely wet, anthracnose shouldn’t be a problem next summer.
Fungus, wind causing some St. Lawrence County maple leaves to turn brown
Saturday, August 13, 2011 - 5:33 pm
By PAUL HETZLER
This summer, many people have called Cooperative Extension asking about maples with browned leaves, and the short answer is good news-bad news: your trees aren’t dying, but they are ugly.
If the maple leaves are brown primarily along the edges, it’s “leaf tatter” from those windstorms in late May and early June. Most leaves hadn’t hardened off yet and got battered and, yes, tattered. They’ll look pretty next year.
If leaves have brown patches on the interior as well as around the edge, and some (or many) are falling, it’s the fungus anthracnose. Remember our so-called spring, a.k.a. that nonstop *#@ rain? Prolonged wet periods favor fungal pathogens like anthracnose, and bruising from high winds created lots of openings for it to establish itself. And, as with many tree disorders, symptoms took a while to show up. Anthracnose (not as scary as it sounds) is rarely of any consequence to a tree’s health unless it’s already under stress and gets defoliated several years in a row. At any rate, the only time it can be treated is in April.
The crimson Norway (“red”) maples, however, seem very prone to anthracnose. Keep trees well-watered during dry spells like we’re having now, but don't get the leaves wet, which furthers the infection. It’s also important to rake up fallen leaves regularly and either put them in the garbage (sorry, composters) or take them offsite. So long as next spring isn’t extremely wet, anthracnose shouldn’t be a problem next summer.