Diagnosis guide
What’s Wrong With My Maple Tree? A Symptom-by-Symptom Guide
Start here if a maple looks wrong: leaf spots, scorch, wilting, a thin crown or late leaves.
Tree Problems & Diagnosis
Most tree problems show up as something you can see: spots on the leaves, a branch that wilts, sap running down the bark, or a tree that never leafs out. This page sorts the common ones by symptom, so you can start from what is in front of you instead of guessing at a disease name.
Many leaf problems look alarming and do little harm. Others, like fire blight or a borer in birch, need action this season. Each guide below says which is which, and when a problem belongs with a certified arborist.
Guides by Nick Robinson
Start from what you can see
| What you see | Usual cause | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Raised black, tar-like spots on maple leaves in late summer | Tar spot, a fungus that is mostly cosmetic | Black Spots on Maple Leaves: Tar Spot and Its Look-Alikes |
| Shoot tips black and bent over like a hook on pear or apple | Fire blight, a bacterial disease | Fire Blight on Pear Trees: How to Prune It Out and Prevent It |
| Thick, red, puckered leaves on peach in spring | Peach leaf curl, a fungus | Peach Leaf Curl: When to Spray and How to Stop It |
| Bright orange spots on pear leaves | Pear rust, a fungus that also lives on juniper | Rust on Pear Trees: Orange Leaf Spots and What to Do |
| White cottony tufts under hemlock needles | Hemlock woolly adelgid, a sap-feeding insect | Treating a Hemlock With Woolly Adelgid |
| Birch dying back from the top, with D-shaped holes in the bark | Bronze birch borer, often after drought | Birch Tree Diseases and Pests: How to Tell Them Apart |
| Few or no leaves weeks after other trees leafed out | Winter injury, drought stress or root problems | Maple Not Leafing Out in Spring? What to Check First |
| Amber gum oozing from peach bark | Borers, canker or an old wound | Why Is My Peach Tree Oozing Sap? |
Not sure? The Tree Symptom Checker narrows it down by tree, symptom and season.
The guides to read first
Identification
Black Spots on Maple Leaves: Tar Spot and Its Look-Alikes
Raised black patches in late summer are usually tar spot. How to confirm it and what actually helps.
Troubleshooting
Maple Not Leafing Out in Spring? What to Check First
Frost, last year's drought and root problems can all delay leaves. A scratch test narrows it down.
Step-by-step
Fire Blight on Pear Trees: How to Prune It Out and Prevent It
Blackened shoot tips bent like a shepherd's crook. Where to cut, when, and why you clean the pruners.
Disease profile
Rust on Pear Trees: Orange Leaf Spots and What to Do
Bright orange spots on top of the leaf and odd growths underneath. What causes them and what to do.
Treatment timing
Peach Leaf Curl: When to Spray and How to Stop It
Red, puckered leaves in spring come from a fungus you can only stop while the tree is dormant.
Roundup
Birch Tree Diseases and Pests: How to Tell Them Apart
The usual birch troubles, from bronze birch borer to leaf miners, and the sign that points to each.
Pest guide
Treating a Hemlock With Woolly Adelgid
White woolly tufts under hemlock needles. How to confirm adelgid and what treatment involves.
More diagnosis guides
- Why Is My Maple Tree Dying? Causes, Signs and What to Do Maple
- Why Is My Peach Tree Oozing Sap? Peach
- How to Tell if a Birch Tree Is Dying Birch
- Why Is My Juniper Turning Brown? Causes and Fixes Juniper
- Why Are the Leaves on My Pear Tree Turning Brown? Pear
- Why Are My River Birch Leaves Turning Yellow? Birch
- Why Are My Oak Trees Turning Brown? Oak
- Why Is My Weeping Willow Losing Leaves? Willow
- Why Is My Dogwood Tree Dying? Dogwood
- Why Is My Red Maple Tree Dying? Maple
- How to Tell If an Elm Tree Is Dying Elm
- How to Revive a Dogwood Tree Dogwood
- Ginkgo Tree Problems: 7 Common Issues and What to Do Ginkgo
- Apple Tree Leaves Turning Yellow: 6 Causes and What to Do Apple
- Are Cedar Trees Bad for Apple Trees? Cedar-Apple Rust Explained Cedar
When to call a certified arborist
- A large dead or cracked limb hangs over the house, the driveway or a play area.
- The trunk has a new lean, a long crack, or mushrooms growing at the base.
- The work is anywhere near power lines.
- A large tree needs a trunk injection or soil treatment. Those are usually applied by licensed professionals.
The International Society of Arboriculture lists certified arborists by location at treesaregood.org. Your state or county extension office can also identify a leaf or insect sample.