Sugar Maples dropping leaves??

[Woody Stover]

I don't recall seeing this before, but I'm paying closer attention to trees over the last couple of years.
They have been dropping quite a few the last couple of days. They're not being blown off and we've had rain. These trees are on the edge of the yard. I haven't looked at any in the woods yet. Any ideas?
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[geoxman]

We had some Norway, I believe, in the neighborhood that did that last year and now they are dead. It must be some sort of disease. I am sure others will chime in but all of the silver maples are fine in the hood. good luck

 

[Woody Stover]

Oh, man, I hope it's not a disease!
I've got several in and around my yard that I would hate to lose. I don't think there are many out in the woods...mostly Oak, Ash and Hickory.

 

[timusp40]

Woody,
I have a 12 year old Sugar Maple that started doing the exact same thing 2 seasons ago. I first noticed the leaves dropping and in the fall found some dead branches in the canopy. Do a search for the Petiole Borer and see if the description matches what you have going on. Some kind of a small nonstinging wasp. They say a otherwise healthy tree will survive this with only some leaf loss. Bummer is, they have no preventative or way to get rid of it.
Good luck,
Tim

 

[Gark]

We have two sugar maples planted as saplings 14 years ago that have done the same for about 5 years. Tim's post rings a bell because looking closely at the fallen leaves, the little stem that connects the leaf to the branch (called the petiole?) seems rotted or bored through the center of its length on ours. They drop some green leaves in spring then by about June 15 stop dropping and keep growing fine through summer. Ours seem to suffer no other ill effects besides the lost leaves because they are growing vigorously.

 

[Woody Stover]

Woody,
I have a 12 year old Sugar Maple that started doing the exact same thing 2 seasons ago. I first noticed the leaves dropping and in the fall found some dead branches in the canopy. Do a search for the Petiole Borer and see if the description matches what you have going on. Some kind of a small nonstinging wasp. They say a otherwise healthy tree will survive this with only some leaf loss. Bummer is, they have no preventative or way to get rid of it.
Good luck,
Tim

By Jove, I think he's got it! Thanks, Tim.
It's a relief to find that it's not too serious. Don't want to lose my yard guards any sooner than necessary. The reason I say that is because the one on the right has the trunk cores rotting out on the side that's not visible in the pic... There is a good-sized Red Maple to the left of these two Sugars.
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[Woody Stover]

Oops, got the jumbo "Dennis pic."
I tried to downsize it but it doesn't work after the fact apparently. I'll figure out how to work with these images soon; It's just that I have so much to do and so little time left.

 

[timusp40]

Woody,
I did a little more research on this Sugar Maple leaf drop problem and kept coming up with the same results. I was hoping for a miracle cure for the little nasties that are the cause, but I did not find one. So if the trees are otherwise healthy and we don't have a real brutal hot dry summer, the sugars should be OK. I for one am getting more and more concerned about all of the problems that our tree species are having. Seems like a never ending story!!.
Take care,
Tim

 

[kettensäge]

Had an oak do that last year. The leaves grew back and the tree seem OK now.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Oops, got the jumbo "Dennis pic."
I tried to downsize it but it doesn't work after the fact apparently. I'll figure out how to work with these images soon; It's just that I have so much to do and so little time left.