Question
We have a 12 year old autumn blaze maple (Lafayette, IN 47905).  We have noticed similar trees in our neighborhood (older than ours) and throughout the county) in similar condition.  Small number of leaves, leaves are smaller in size, and leaves are starting to fall (August).  We have had a relatively wet year (our grass is still green).  We noticed some similar issues with this tree last year.  We have several other maples nearby which are fine and out littleaf linden, pear, and other trees are fine.  Doyou have any thoughts as to what would be the problem and most importantly is there anything we can do to offset the probelm.  Thanks for your expertise!  Sherry

Answer
For some reason, red maples are bad about having leaves that will turn brown and fall off before they should.  I would not worry too much about it as long as the tree leafs out good next spring.  There are fungal diseases of the leaves that can also cause this symptom.  If you can spray the tree, you may try using Daconil fungicide according to label instrutions for ornamental trees.  It may be too late for this to do any good this year, but would be a good idea to make an application next spring as the new leaves just reach their full size.  I hope this helps fix the problem.  Good Luck.