A along-distance diagnosis is iffy, at best. I suggest you take the professional route to determine your trees' problem(s). Suggest you contact a Certified Arborist. Look in the Yellow Pages under the heading of Trees or something similar. A Certified Arborist must pass and exam and must take continuing education.

Yes, Jwvideo, I'm finding the vocabulary stumblesome (how's that for a new one?) Space is definitely a part of this consideration. Our kitchen isn't ginormous: It's 13' x 14' 7.5", with 2 of the walls being partially unusable because of doorways and walkways. This is where my thinking (at the moment anyway) leads to a 48" range being the best choice for this space. We'd get 8 burners. We'd get 2 ovens, too, without the sacrifice of the space taken up by wall ovens. I'm not sure where to put wall ovens without compromising the layout in some way.That's probably a question for the kitchen forum. I don't mind not having a self cleaning oven. I've read too many horror stories of oven failures after using the self clean function, so I would avoid using it even if I had an oven with self cleaning ability. And I still remember the awful smell of trying to use that feature in a townhouse oven in college. Yuck. Ventilation is the mystery component to me. I'll probably need some help with that further down the line once we decide what to get. Make up air, oh my. I feel in over my head. Glub, glub. Nycbluedevil, my current thought is similar to what I stated above: A 30" oven plus and 18" oven under the 48" cooktop might be the most efficient use of the space. I could go down to a 36" 6 burner stove, but...I'm not sure I'd utilize the 36" oven any better than I would a 30" oven if the 30" can hold full size baking sheets already. With the 36" I'd be increasing the preheat time for little benefit in the larger size. I'm not sure that we'd use all 8 burners at once (doubtful, really), but I do think we'd benefit from the large space to spread out some bigger pans: giant stock pots, 15" skillets, etc. that might be crowded if they were sharing a 36" rangetop. Does that sound like clear thinking?

Looks like scale, all of it. Neem oil applied repeatedly will smother the scale. This little tree is very heavily invested, so this will take multiple applications. You don't mention if the tree is indoors or outdoors or where you live, so Coleen's advice is good - do not apply any hort oil if temps are above 85 degrees F. Patty S.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. The neighborhood has a lot of great trees- some oaks in front of the building that are more than 6 stories tall. Very interesting theory about the gas leak. Other maple trees seem to have the same problem (but less bad) but other species of trees in between them look fine, which is why I thought that an infection specific to maple was likely. It sounds like it's likely it's a goner but possible that it's a leaf problem that may resolve on its own? I'm thinking i should water it and just wait to see what happens in the spring. If it's not seeming healthy then get it cut down. Is there anything else I could do, tree fertilizer or any other suggestions? Thanks very much!