Question
I know I'm not in your area at all, but no experts of your expertise are listed as being from around here. I'm in SE Texas, 40 mi. north of Houston. I'm concerned about a couple of landscape trees I planted several months ago. On is a redbud, a native of this area. It has developed dark spots on some of its leaves, which seem to be growing until they nearly cover the leaf. A friend had this happen and the leaves on her tree started to curl, and it eventually died. My tree still looks quite healthy, but the spots seem more numerous and larger as time passes.

My other tree is a Japanese maple. It, too, was going very well until about 2 weeks ago, when the leaves started to turn brown on the tips of the points. The brown area grows until the leaf dies, and I've lost about 30% of the foliage now. All leaves seem to have brown tips now.

I water both trees liberally, but I don't think more than required. No pests are evident. For you FYI, it does get quite hot here, even more so than normal this year. My yard is completely covered in light, semi-dappled shade, but the nursery told me that should be fine.

I'm writing to you because the nursery had no phone and is located quite a piece from me. I do intend to ask, but thought I'd try you first, and maybe find out sooner. Does either problem have anything to do with too much or not enough water? What do you think? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer
Tom,

First I would check to see that the trees are not planted deeper than the soil level when they were in the container. Next I have to tell you that I have not run across the problem with your redbud. I've always considered redbud as pretty much bulletproof. There are a lot of fungal problems that match your description, so take a sample to a reputable nursery and see if they can direct you.

As far as the maple tree goes, I would take a waiting position. If it is not planted too deep, then probably what is happening is that the tree is "weathering in" to it's new location. I have a couple of new J. maples in my own yard that appear to be suffering, but our summer is hotter than usual too. Just don't overwater trying to fix these problems. Remember that Redbud, as a natural plant in your area, is quite drought tolerant. Allow it to dry out between waterings. The J. maple is the same. After a couple of years in it's location it will acclimatize itself.

Larry