Were your winter low temperatures considerably colder than usual? It does happen that plants suffer severe but hard to detect injury due to cold, leaf out and grow normally in the spring only to succumb over the summer. Late July and August are the months this most commonly becomes apparent. The fact that the bark is falling off is also typical of this phenomenon and is likely to happen with the maple as well as the elm. Sad to say, there is nothing you can do if the above is undeed the source of your difficulties.

All my jms are in containers, so my .02 here may be worth about that much. In moderate weather, I do only water 2 or 3 times per week. However, our weather is scorching right now and I am watering well at least every other day. I would only pull mulch away temporarily, to test whether soil is drying out. DonÂt pull the mulch away permanently, as it keeps the ground and roots cool. The soil should have been amended prior to planting to allow it to drain and not pool at the roots. We also have yews planted in the front of our home, which get afternoon and evening sun. I am watering them at least every other day as well. I do not soak them, mainly due to lack of time, but I do give them a drink. From what I have read, yews do not like wet feet, however they do need to be watered well the first couple of years in order to get established. Hope that helps a little

If the tree gets full sun, it could be scorched from high heat/baking sun, which will cause that browning and curling at the edges. Though some of the pictures look like somebody might be chewing this guy up. Have you noticed any bugs? Any dead wood in the center of the tree? Does one side look worse than the other? And where are you located? Sorry....lots of questions!

Actually, the product name is Sevin and it is an insecticide with the active ingredient of carbaryl. 'Eight' is an entirely different product (permethrin). Both are broad spectrum insecticides, registered for Japanese beetles (among a large number of other insects) and both are available as a dustable powder. If you are treating J maples for J beetles, a dustable powder or a systemic is the only way to go. Japanese maples have very sensitive foliage and will typically respond to anything sprayed on their leaves with a phytotoxic reaction. It is unlikely the dust caused the leaf problems you are seeing. I'd guess that too much hot afternoon sun and insufficient water is the cause - newly planted maples are best with protection from strong afternoon sun and need frequent, deep waterings through summer until well-established.