If you are spending more time out in your backyard this week, you may have noticed some of our central Illinois trees are super ugly this spring. Maple leaves have black splotches, sycamore branches are falling to the ground and ginkgoes leaves are sparse and crinkled. All these symptoms are tree issues that link back to the cool wet spring and late frost.
Maples are suffering from fungal diseases like anthracnose and maple leaf blister.
Anthracnose causes new leaves to turn black and shrivel and older leaves to have dark brown lesions. The symptoms generally start at the bottom part of the tree and leaves fall off. Maple leaf blister lesions have a somewhat rounded shape, compared to irregular and angular anthracnose lesions.
Too Much Moisture, More Tree Problems