So, What Exactly Do I Have Going On Here?

[wnybassman]

My large yard tree has this going on from top to bottom.........

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/wnybassman/mapleproblem_zpsb5uk1ftx.jpg

Some sort of blight? I am not noticing it going on with other nearby maple trees, but I have not got as close to them either.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Glad you posted this. There's a sugar maple in front of my house that has the same problem. It started out as pale, whitish spots that have evolved into what you pictured here. I'm concerned that last year's drought left the trees susceptible to disease.

[DrTimPerkins]

It looks like a combination of things: anthracnose (brown patches), Maple velvet erineum gall (red patches), perhaps a touch of frost damage (curled, tattered appearance of leaves) -- hard to say for certain. The first is due to wet conditions in the spring. The second is just a common pest. The frost is variable from year to year. Not a lot you can do about any of it. If you rake up the leaves, compost them well (in a hot compost pile...add a good bit of manure) or better yet, burn them or dispose of them off site to get rid of the inoculation source of the anthracnose.

[wnybassman]

It looks like a combination of things: anthracnose (brown patches), Maple velvet erineum gall (red patches), perhaps a touch of frost damage (curled, tattered appearance of leaves) -- hard to say for certain. The first is due to wet conditions in the spring. The second is just a common pest. The frost is variable from year to year. Not a lot you can do about any of it. If you rake up the leaves, compost them well (in a hot compost pile...add a good bit of manure) or better yet, burn them or dispose of them off site to get rid of the inoculation source of the anthracnose.

Well, we have certainly had a wet spring, and that is a big understatement. Where that tree is, there has been on and off standing water there for many weeks right after maple season. It was also my first tree that showed very early bud swelling and opening of the buds, which probably led to it getting hit by frost.

Looking through my pictures, I found this shot of the same tree in 2010, so I guess it has history of leaf problems. This must have been in the fall by the looks of the ground.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/wnybassman/maplespots.jpg

Most of the leaves of this tree are collected and kept for the following year as a mulch for my potato patch, which is literally 10-15 yards from the base of the tree. By the sounds of it, I could be adding fuel to the fire here?

[wnybassman]

So far this year the leaves on the trees look great. Large full unblemished leaves and a nice healthy looking color of green. Let's hope this lasts most of the summer!