Looks like a serious/severe disease or an insect infection, I would reccomend replacing in the fall

Looks like a serious/severe disease or an insect infection, I would reccomend replacing in the fall

That is something I would definitely get checked out by the local extension office, especially before planting a replacement.

John

Just in case, did you just plant this? Do you have a pic of the trunk near the ground?

Did you use a weed killer on the lawn?
Maybe string trimmer damage to the trunk, as in completely girdled?
It looks too sudden for lack of water to cause this.
Mike

Here is a picture of the trunk. We did use weed and feed on the lawn a few nights ago during the evening hours before the leaves died. However our other maple trees were not affected.

I have had this happen on 3 maples and all ended up being girdled by some disease process during our extreme temps and drought last year. Although I watered all trees the same and most made it with no injury, the red maples that were poorly sited on raised (drier) areas were the ones that died. The leaves were literally fine one day, dry looking the next, and all were completely dessicated and shriveled by the third day. I initially thought it was verticillum wilt, but upon close examination, the bark on the trunk in the lower 2' always ended up being completely girdled by dead tissue.

This seems an unlikely scenario because your tree is so old and looks to be well established.

Did you apply more than the recommended amount of weed and feed around this tree? Which one did you use? I have to think this application had something to do with it.

John

let's see...maple...dried leaves staying on the branch...and this one is hard?

verticillium. it's a fungus that plugs the vascular tissue.

on the positive side it could just be a bad case of physiological scorch.

scrape bark in a few different places. you want to see bright green

"let's see...maple...dried leaves staying on the branch...and this one is hard?...verticillium"

Let's see...green and lush 2 days ago...totally wasted now...weed-and-feed a few nights ago. Verticillium...seriously?!?!?

Verticillium wilt usually takes one or more years to take out a tree of that size. In rare, severe cases, larger trees can be taken out over a period of weeks. In no cases, of which I am aware, has it ever been reported to convert a tree from lush green to crispy brown in two days.

Multiple herbicide chemicals (and depending on application specifics) could have a much more rapid effect on a tree than verticillium wilt and could result in what we're seeing here.

IMO, if the OP's descriptions are accurate, I'd say verticillium wilt could be crossed off the list of possible causes. I also realize that sometimes symptoms can be overlooked until they become severe. Now, we need to know what chemical(s) were used and, possibly, application details to determine whether they are likely to be the problem.

P.S. I might consider plants of some of the more rare banana cultivars as payment (-:

It is probably leaf scorch. If you fertilized close to the tree the fertilizer will draw moisture out of the tree. Also, if you are experiencing dry/ windy conditions and high temperatures the leaves lose moisture faster than the tree can replace it. The leaves are scorched by the lack of water and dry up. To prevent this from occurring do some deep watering during excessive dry spells.

It was correctly ID'd as verticillium wilt 9 years ago (despite brandon's protestations to the contrary). It is classic VW pathology.....a seemingly healthy tree one dayand a mass of wilted, dried up leaves in peak season the next. Maples of all species are extremely prone to VW and it can take out even large, mature trees almost overnight. I've seen it happen too many times to even pretend it is something other than verticillium. 2 days is not at all out of line for a VW takedown!!

OTOH, while weed and feed could potentially cause some minor chemical damage to the tree, it is by no means strong enough to kill it and certainly not in the time frame outlined.