hey dude ... hard name to forget ... "didn't I try to talk you out of that tree a few years back ... lol ..." Yes probably so. Everyone said it was to big for that spot. And I said all the trees in my neighborhood are this big and bigger. "a quick check of the zone info indicates its a 3 to 7 .. and you seem to be zone 9 .... its no wonder you are having problems ..." This is California everything grows here!:) There are thousands of maple tree trees all around and they look great. As mine did just a few weeks ago. I either got behind on the watering or over fertilized around the tree. "how big was the tree when planted [rootball size]... how deep do you figure the roots are ... how much water do you think is actually getting down to the tree roots, before the ambient air and the grass.. suck it all away .... dig a small hole.. and actually see what if any water is 6 inched down ...." 15 Ft. Tall. It came in a very large plastic container. Iv' e been soaking it good yesterday and today. I'm going to clear the grass away around the tree and mulch it. I should have done that a long time ago. "IMHO .. no science here .. all leaves that turn color in late fall .. and even those that dont ... are dead.. and diseased ... that is kinda the whole point of falling off ... its just part of nature .... i would NOT consider any treatment .. organic or not ..." I have seen these Autumn Blaze trees around here and they are a beautiful Red at the end of the year when everything is done right. "is there any impact from the blacktop on the tree ... like the road being on the south or west side.. and cooking it from below... while the sun cooks it from above... maybe that is why only highly hidden leaves perform properly ..." No this is happening all the way around from top to bottom. Just the leaves right on the trunk are perfect. "how long has it been there... is it fully 'established' ... it might be a maturity issue ... i think of trees in terms of hundreds of years.. not along the lines of.. i planted it 2 or 3 years ago ... and it is failing me .... perhaps color will come.. with patience and proper water ....." about 5 years ago I planted it. and mulch and a water meter I should be ok. "every post you have ever done.. is of that little patch of grass ... how about a pic of the rose garden ???" See below. And you can find many of my post over at the Rose Gallery and the GW Fruit and Orchard Forums. "good luck" Thanks to you all for your help! I believe you guys are right. This is not fungus. The ground has felt hard there for a while. I should have known. I think it is a combination of not enough deep watering. The root zone got too dry and than the miracle grow Burt it. I will have to wait till next year for the tree to all turn the Autumn Blaze color. At least you guys help me figure out why this keeps happening around this time every Summer! You would not believe how healthy and Dark Green it looked just a few weeks ago. But we have had a long hot dry Summer here. And we got very little rain in the Spring. And here I thought the tree pretty much found water down there somewhere. I did not realize it would totally dry out down there. Thanks Again All! Dave Here are the roses pics requested. Here is a link to a couple of Thousand more pics if your interested. http://www.fototime.com/inv/F0A2F4D624CDA2A Here is a link that might be useful: My Fototime Album

Looks normal to me. The new leaves normally hang down for a week or so before opening up. At first they look as if they are wilting. Mike

Kent, this post is 5 years old and the leaves in question are definitely NOT black. What may be going on with your tree is an entirely different matter and would be better addressed in its own thread - with photos!! - rather than piggy-backing onto this very dated one. Photos are absolutely essential to determine what is going on so be sure to include. Otherwise, we are only guessing at possibilities.

So what is the answer? Mine is doing the same, SW side, leaves on that side start turning orange yellow in august! White mushroom shelf stuff growing in small places. My neighbor one street over has the same tree. Our houses face the same direction and tree is planted same place. Theirs's is still green. I don't understand. Autumn blaze maples do not always do this. What've I've read is, yeah, it's a goner. But WHAT causes it and WHAT will prevent it. I see plenty of them healthy. Even the garden stores look and say they don't know. Someone has to know. Any ideas would be great or where to go? I know the tree was planted TOO high above ground ---8". So I did infill that with good dirt around 2019 to level it. Perhaps the roots grew up too long since they planted it too high above the soil and just threw mulch on it to hide it. Trees are so expensive to replace. This has been going on for 2.5 years of 4.5 that it's been planted. Soil seems to be fine when checked too.