So as far as the comments about maples being unable to grow/thrive in this environment, well, I'm not sure true; there are many around...appreciate all of the comments but sort of getting conflicting advice. Do I spray or not? [Systemic] or spray? It sounds as if the majority believes that the tree should be saved. 1. You think you are getting conflicting advice because we can't tell what is wrong with your tree yet. 2. Chemicals may be a waste of money until it is identified what is wrong with your tree. 3. As for the statement maples being unable to grow/thrive in this environment , No. We are talking about the environment immediately surrounding the tree - the horrible lawn. It is likely the tree is getting insufficient water and gases. 3a. This means that the tree may be attacked because it cannot get sufficient water and gases in its roots. 3b. This means fix this and you may not need to spray. 3c. However a request was made for you to check for wilt. You have not responded to that. 3d. This means that it is unknown whether your tree has a bad pathogen. Until you check for this everything else is just speculation 3d(1) If you have it, the tree is done. 3d(2) If you do not, the immediate problem is that horrible lawn that is stressing the tree. Until you get that under control, you likely are going to have issues with that tree. 3d(3) From here you need to not only aerate numerous times to alleviate compaction but likely need to add amendment as well. Until you get that under control, you likely are going to have issues with that tree. Dan

When you planted it, did you thoroughly tease out the root ball and double dig the hole around it, amending the soil, making sure drainage underneath was good? If you didn't, the original container soil will allow water to drain rapidly to the bottom of the root ball, and accumulate until it gradually seeps into the surrounding soil which is very bad, gradually killing the tree. This a very common mistake in horticulture. Give her a good foliar feeding to green her up in the meantime, and dig down carefully and take a peak to see what the problem is.

"My tomatoes have some of the bottom branches turning brown/yellow and dying. These are Homestead variety, my favorite. Is this common/natural? is it a fungus? can I do anything? The plants are full of beautiful green tomoatoes ready to turn red. They are in a raised bed with good soil and plenty of water." [Alan] Alan, Most of the Homestead selections are determinate, so you may be near the end of new fruit production depending on how much fruit set you've got at this time. And with daylight hours shortening, you might not have time to ripen any future new blossom sets this late in October even though you are far south and a mild winter is predicted. But then you may like fried green tomatoes and chow chow, so while topping the vines might force earlier ripening of the full sized green tomatoes now on the vine, I'm not necessarily advocating topping your vines ... just saying your full term production may be limited this late. If your bottom leaves are yellowing evenly ... like fading from dark green to a lighter green and then fully yellowing without black spots, dark brown blotches, bullseye rings, or other definite signs of fungal disease, it may simply be a nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen is mobile in the plant, and when the top shoots growth require nitrogen for cell division and new growth, and insufficient nitrogen is availabe via the roots, the plant will rob N from the older leaves first and transfer it to the new growth. Did you side dress your plants with a high nitrogen fertilizer after they set green fruit? If not, a good boost of a liquid high nitrogen fertilizer, or a band application of high nitrogen fast release around the plant in the root zone then watered in, might stop the yellowing of lower leaves. If indeed it is a fungal disease, and you can identify it either by looking at photographs of several Websites specific to tomato desease diagnosis, or you can take some leaves in to your county extension agent and ask her or him to identify the disease, then there are a few steps you can take to contain the fungal disease. 1. Do not move among your plants when they are wet with dew or rain drops as that will rapidly spread the fungal spores. 2. When the plants are dry, slowly snip or pinch off all diseased foliage and dispose of it by bagging or burning it. Dip your snipping tool in a solution of one part Clorox and ten parts water as you move from plant to plant to minimize transmission of the fungal spores. 3. Do not overhead water or splash irrigation water up on the foliage as dry fungal spores lodged on the plants need water to hydrate and become "live" and enter the interior cells of the leaves where they destroy the structure. These steps may buy you time until your green tomatoes ripen, but if you indeed have time to extend fruit production, you may wish to use a fungicide. If so, first identify whether it is a fungal disorder as you're just wasting your time and money applying fungicide if it is something other than fungal disease. Click this link and look at the photos of FUNGAL DISEASES After looking at those photos, if you have doubts, call your Alabama County Extension Agent or the Alabama Master Gardeners Help Hotline for advice and diagnosis. I'm hoping it's just a nitrogen deficiency that's yellowing your older foliage. That will be easy to fix with organic nitrogen or quick release chemical N. Bill

Ok I am not being clear at all. The "bad trunk" is the one with the sad branches at the top. In the pictures, it is the left trunk in the pic of the base of the tree and in the picture of the whole tree, it is the center trunk. I bought the tree at a nursery in a small pot I think about 7 years ago. They told me it would get up to 15ft tall. It was brushy with a lot of trunks so I picked out some to keep and as it got bigger, I chose these 3 trunks to keep. I repotted it to a bigger pot for a couple years until I put it in the ground. All of the trunks have thorns, it is just the one that seemed to only have thorns on the branches as they reach higher. I noticed that that trunk didn't have flowers even on the lower branches with normal leaves. I am really shocked today to see the leaves growing very fast on that branch just with the rain all day. There were tiny leaves starting that took off today. Just at a glance all the branches on all trunks look the same but I will take some pics of the leaves for you. I don't usually water the tree because I run my air conditioner drip to a rose bed and banana trees about 10 feet away and we get rain regular. I can start treating the bottom with daconil if you think that might help. It is planted a little higher than the rest of the area so it never sits in water. The nursery said to plant it high so I did so you can see some the root. We do have a lot of clay in the soil here. Last Year I thought the shape was not so good and when I looked online at pics, it seemed that all the pics looked messy in their shapes so I decided to see if I could train the tree to take a better shape and cut off a lot of the branches that were clumped together and crossing each other. If you think it is too big, I can cut off the top where the sad branches are anyway. I had hoped to get a little shade from it but that really doesn't matter. With our erratic winters lately, my hopes aren't high to ever have edible fruit. We usually are still hot into november. thanks again, Joan