My Italian prune leaves curl every year, and have some small, brown fungal spots. The leaves eventually dry out and fall off prematurely. I tried dormant sprays of sulphur and Kocide, but it apparently hasn't had any effect. Predictably, the tree produces almost no fruit. I don't want to get rid of it cuz the Imperial Epineuse prune right next to it benefits from the Italian Prune's pollen and I get a good crop of those. The Imperial Epineuse gets the same fungal symptoms but much less severly and never drops many leaves, although some. My Seneca Prune gets *none* of these symptoms but sady produces only small amounts of fruit, although increasing. Here's a pic:

Bananas are tough. You can split now if you'd like while they're still small.

Sorry on the zone thing...farmland south of San Antonio, Tx is our location. Thanks for trying to help and responding so quickly. Tis not cold here...quite the opposite. I've tried sun, half-day sun, semi-shade over the past month (each method about 7-10 days at a time) with no improvement where ever I put them. I think am correctly watering (moist not soaked) and fine-mist spray my fuchsias each morn as it is very dry here. Fertilize once every 7-10 days. This is very frustrating. Should I cut it back hard, bring inside, and hope? Only the top 1/3 of each stem/branch has leaves and blooms and this "strange leaf problem" is continuing to progress upwards to the remaining leaves. :-( On another topic, I recently purchased "diatomaceous earth-organic grade" (dust form) and "beneficial nematodes" (spray into soil form) to help control fleas, June bugs, and other nuisance pests from my yard. When I get ready to use these products, are my fuchsias safe? Can I dust/spray them with these?

Browning or curling leaf tips are rarely a sign of fungal infection. Usually the only thing fungal this time of year would cause spotting on the leaves, or a powdery look (powdery mildew). A good anti-fungal like Safer products should take care of anything like that. Usually the tip browning is because of stress. This can be under-watering, over-watering, too much sun, too much heat in general, or hot dry winds. Just use common sense with your plants and they should be fine. A little leaf tip damage is not going to harm them. If all the leaves dry up and fall off, that can be more serious, but even then they can recover fully - they have an extra set of leaves they can push out. However, if they use the second set of leaves and they get stressed again during this season, the plant will die. So its better not to let them get too stressed. Remember, Japanese Maples are not full sun plants normally speaking. If you have them in full sun it may just be too hot for them. Most of them do best with morning sun and afternoon shade. Even in hot, muggy climates like mine they thrive with morning sun, afternoon shade. Also be sure they are planted in good soil. They hate clay, and will quickly decline if planted in a poorly drained location. I plant all my JMs in raised beds with good top soil. I mulch well and have an inexpensive irrigation system that comes once every 4 days and gives them a good drink. In this heat they can quickly dry out, so I prefer some automation to help me keep on top of the watering chores. Good luck with your trees - I'm sure they'll do fine with a little TLC.