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We planted a sweet gum tree in the Spring. It grew great over the Summer. We kept it watered until we had a rainy period where it rained everyday. The tree now looks like this. Is this normal for Fall in Florida? We live in zone 9a. (North FL) Or is this some kind of fungus or black spot? Some of the leaves are turning brown. Our other trees haven't started turning color yet. Should we start watering again or is this normal? Any help would be greatly appreciated. We don't want to lose our tree.

Not normal. The leaves are showing some fungal disease. That by itself would not be a big problem. The tree will drop those leaves pretty soon anyway. The new leaves that appear in the spring will not be diseased. Just be sure to rake up the fallen diseased leaves and dispose of them not in the compost pile.

I would worry a lot more about all that bark peeling off. Some trees like sycamore do that naturally, but I'm not sure about the sweet gum. Hopefully someone else will come by and tell us if that is a disease indication or if your tree is OK.

I’m thinking the corky bark structure is normal for liquidamber — sweetgum — and even young branches will start to develop them as the outer bark hardens....? I would have to verify.

Thank you. I'll be sure to rake the leaves up. The bark may be normal, not sure tho. I was more concerned about the black spots on the leaves. Thanks again

I just looked up the corky bark on a sweet gum tree and it appears to be normal for that kind of tree. Makes me feel better.