I live in northern westchester county NY and there's a very old very large red/green japanese maple on the edge of the property where we live. we've been living here 5 years and we rent one-half of a house and our landlord and his wife live in the other half. they moved here 5 years ago as well. the tree is right on the road level (winding 35mph double yellow line country road) that was planted probably in the 1920s when there wasn't any traffic. The trunks (3 of them) are at least 1 1/2 feet in diameter each and it's grown in a leaning position its entire life. Everyone knows the red maple who drives by it -- it's greenish-red in the summer, but brilliant red in the spring and fall. It's always been very healthy. This year, we've had a ton of rain and a very cool spring and unseasonably cool summer nights. It gets a lot of direct sun and wind, but that never seemed to bother it before since it's been here a long time. Just this week, I noticed all these dry brown shriveled up leaves and seedlings on the ground. I thought it maybe was from one of the hail storms we had a week ago, but then noticed that all the new growth from the spring is gone and has left bare twigs. The leaves have light tan thin irregular angular spots on them and it's affecting the entire tree. I looked at a bunch of branches for aphids or other bugs, but can't see anything. There are no bore holes in the trunk and the ground underneath the tree is free of debris or mulch. The lower branches seem to be unaffected so far. I read on the internet that this could be ANTHRACNOSE!
That sounds so serious and terminal for a tree this large and old. before I convince my landlord to call a tree expert, I wanted to see what I could find out. it's on our side of the house and shades a lot of my perennial garden. we're not typical renters as I am the primary gardener of the property. I'll try and post some pics if that will help (before and after). any insight would help. Thanks!