Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Thursday - June 09, 2011

From: Denver, CO
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Diseases and Disorders
Title: Problems with maple in Denver
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I live in Denver, CO and planted an Autumn Blaze maple three years ago. It has done very well until about a week ago. The leaves are drying out and falling off and earlier today I noticed some bugs on the trunk, which I believe are red-headed ash borers. Can I save my tree?

ANSWER:

"Autumn Blaze" maple is a commercial trade name given to a hybrid of Acer rubrum (Red maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver maple), neither of which is native to Colorado, although both are native to North America. From the Growing Conditions of the Red Maple, we extracted these Growing Conditions:

"Soil Description: Moist, slightly acidic soils.
Conditions Comments: Though usually found in moist woodlands and wet swamps, also found in drier Post Oak woods"

And on the Silver Maple:

"Soil Description: Rich, wet to moist, slightly acid soils."

Since we are dealing with a hybrid, we don't know which characteristics of each tree are dominant, but their soil and moisture preferences are practically identical. We don't know what the pH of your soil is, but are guessing alkaline, although probably not enough so to kill the tree.

From the Entomology Department of Oklahoma State University, Redheaded Ash Borer, here is a description of the trees they attack:

"Redheaded ash borers will attack nearly all dying and dead hardwoods, but chiefly ash, oak, hickory, persimmon, and hackberry."

From about.com, courtesy of the United States Forestry Services, here is a discussion of common pests and diseases of the maple.

The puzzle here is whether there is a sudden decline of your tree. It is pointed out in the articles on the redheaded ash borer that it only attacks dead or dying trees. The other article, about pests and diseases, also says most of them are not serious, but rather opportunistic pests taking advantage of an already weakened tree. If you noticed no problem earlier than a week ago, it's hard to see how any of these things could have been the cause. We are wondering if it could possibly be aphids, which are small bugs that pierce the leaves and draw nutrition out of them. Please read this University of California Integrated Pest Management article on Aphids, and see if that might be your problem. A good hard spray of water on the leaves, as suggested in the article, might alleviate your problem.

In that does not prove to be the case, we suggest that you contact a licensed, certified arborist and have the tree examined; it is beyond our abilities to diagnose from a distance.

 

 

 

 

More Diseases and Disorders Questions

White specks on unknown houseplant from Ridgeway SC
June 20, 2013 - I have an unknown houseplant that seems to have some sort of pest or disease on it. It has white snowy specks atop its leaf. I bought this purple fuzzy leafed houseplant from Walmart in Winnsboro, SC ...
view the full question and answer

Possible mildew on standing cypress
May 29, 2008 - My mother-in-law took some standing cypress seeds from Texas to Virginia several years ago. They have always done very well, but this year they are growing very tall, but the bottom half of the stalk...
view the full question and answer

Fasciation in Houston.
March 29, 2008 - I live in Houston and have had a rather large flower garden for many years. Most of the flowers are just gorgeous but over the last two or three years I have noticed that occasionally some of the flo...
view the full question and answer

Problems with a two year old persimmon tree in Fredricksburg, TX.
May 22, 2013 - Hi Mr/Ms Smarty Plants, We planted a 4-ft Texas Persimmon, Diospyros texana, 2-years ago, with wonderful leaf and fruit production since. We recently had a hail storm (5/9/13) and although mos...
view the full question and answer

Yellowing leaves on young bur oak
August 06, 2007 - I saw your response on 7/25 about leaves on mature live oaks turning yellow, then brown because of excessive rain. The same thing is happening to our young burr oak. Leaves are turning yellowish, th...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.