plagues come and go over the years ...

one year JBeetles.. one year cicadas .. one year ladybug knockoffs .... etc ...

my bet is that you will not have a repeat plague this year.. you might want to call your county extension office and ask their local opinion ...

also.. presuming it is a deciduous maple.. last years damage should be gone.. and i am not aware of aphids hurting bark or wood ...

next.. i wouldnt waste money on a maple.. lol.. but that is a personal hatred of maple in general ...

finally ... i would call no non-JMaple.. foo foo ... so i would presume it will grow like the weed it is this summer ...

IMHO.. save your money.. unless the extension office suggests otherwise..

good luck

ken

ps: and i would NOT rely on the guy who wants your money.. to tell you that spraying is necessary .... his interest is vested in taking your money.. whether there really is a threat ...

If your maple has not yet clothed itself in new leaves, I'd spray it with a horticultural oil. Aphids over winter as adults if you've had a mild winter, and certainly as eggs in the nooks and crannies of deciduous plants. Horticultural oil applications do a mighty fine job of interrupting the life cycle by smothering the eggs, at the very least. It is extremely likely that the progeny from last year's infestation will cause a rapid infestation this spring.

Please ignore ken's silly hatred of all maples. His very vocal opinions about maples is not shared by most.

rhiz if you werent such a good GW friend.. i would be pissed on telling peeps to ignore me.. lol ...

call your county extension office.. and see if they agree with me or rhiz ...

in my z5.. winter would take care of this usually ...

i will defer if warmer zones are different ...

ken

ps: i still wouldnt waste money on this .. maple or not.. this is not a fruit tree ... where proactive measures are requisite ... this is a weed tree [as in.. grows like a weed] ... and aphids.. except in the worst plague are a nuisance.. not a threat ... and the nuisance would be honeydew on the driveway/car/deck or some such thing .... i just dont see a need for chemicals.. nor organic oils ... nor spending money on having it professionally applied if the tree is large

Ken, do you differ with me on the aphid situation? Do you not believe that aphids overwinter as eggs in your location? And that those eggs (which are porous, after all) can be smothered by applications of horticultural oil? One of the many reasons that tree fruit growers and other caretakers of woody trees and shrubs use oil at all is to interrupt the life cycle of pesky aphids.

Enduring and repeated infestations of aphids can set even a healthy tree up for subsequent problems. Plants use precious carbon resources to wage an internal fight against insect infestations....resources that might be diverted from other important physiological tasks. Thus, it's important to bring a pest population under control. Using dormant season oil will probably do the job well enough that the many beneficial species out there can better do their job.

If you're differing with me on maples, you'll have to shout louder than that! Maples have been, are, and always will be a favorite urban, rural, and suburban addition to our yards, our parks, campuses, greenways, and streets. Green Mountain maple is a fine Acer saccharum cultivar, and is happily grown in all but the hottest climates.

emmi, I also can't help but be a little concerned about the treatment your tree received last year. Many broad spectrum insecticides (systemic and/or contact) can cause a real explosion of pests down the line. If you are going to call on the services of a professional, ask that they simply spray with horticultural oil. The oil will also help if there are any scale insects on the tree, too, which can sometimes be a problem on maples.

Rhizo and Ken, thanks for your input! Now, whose advice do I follow LOL!? I will call the county extension office, as suggested - they've helped with many things in the past.
Ken, any plant can qualify as a weed, if it's something you don't want in your yard or garden. I qualified irises as weeds when they drove me nuts with their overpopulating!! Other people love irises and thought I was nuts. I can't agree about not treating a maple - it is true they're not fruit trees, but they are planted for the beauty and shade they offer (for some of us, anyway) in our yards. There nothing attractive about a maple with shriveled, blackened leaves sitting in your front yard.
Rhizo, I used Bartlett Tree Service, a national company which has a good reputation in this area. The treatment for the maple and my burning bushes (which had scale) was effective. I'm not sure what they used, but I will ask. I do remember they offered to spray on something that would keep the aphids from returning the following year - could that have been the oil? Unfortunately, I declined. We have had a VERY warm winter, so I'm concerned about the pesky critters still hanging around on the tree.
Last thought: The Green Mountain maple is beautiful, but if I had it to do again, I would NOT plant it, as I didn't realize A. It is the last tree on the block to leaf out in the spring, and sits there bare-nekkid in the middle of the yard practically until May; B. It is a maple that is actually NOT attractive in the fall - it begins changing colors at the top and loses them immediately, the leaf loss working its way down the tree until the tree is HALF-nekkid and still changing. Not a great choice - at least not in this zone, where there are plenty of other maple varieties that are in full color top to bottom during October.

emmi, in the future, you should keep records of anything a plant professional applies to your yard in the way of fertilizers, weed control, and critter control. Bartlett will be happy to supply you with the MSDS (material safety data sheets) on whatever was applied. That information won't actually tell you a whole lot of instantly useful data, but you can use it to look the chemicals up.

this has nothing to do with what the tree is ....

i am simply a cheapskate.. and dont think it worth the money .. of course.. i dont think OP has ever told us how big the tree is ...

i have had neighbors spray 40 ft picea pungens .. blue spruce.. and frankly the pressurized stream of chemicals wafted all over the place.. i made the kids hide in the house ...

rhiz is very intolerant of any chemical exposure. personally i mean ... so i find it hard to believe that she is arguing for aerial spraying of chemicals ...

yes.. please call the extension office.. and see what they have to say about it ...

if this is one tree ... in the entire county.. i am wondering just how bad this infestation can be.. leading me to a simple one time plague ...

if the entire county is inundated with aphids ... well that another thing ...

get at least 3 estimates as to cost .. etc ... insurance.. etc ... the sprayers will gladly take your money.. regardless if your tree actually needs it ...

and BTW.. if this is some 6 foot tree.. and you can do it yourself.. just go for it .. if this 15 year old tree is 45 feet tall.. think long and hard about the cost.. and the exposure ....

ken

ps: i have a brain cramp .. i set aside the maple hatred.. and now.. just for the record.. i have to say ... i would not spend a single penny on any maple... for any reason .... they are simply not that temperamental.. and a few aphids are NOT going to hurt them ... in fact.. you could cut it to the ground.. and with no insult to the roots.. it will probably be 10 feet tall by fall .. what can some aphids do to it????

Thanks to both for all the good info. I will call both Bartletts and the county extension tomorrow, and post here to let you know.
Ken, I understand your antipathy concerning the maples - there are some trees and shrubs I really dislike and would fall on my pitchfork before putting them in MY ground. BUT, while I know that aphids don't do horrible damage to the roots or any such thing, their munching on the leaves makes the entire tree totally ugly, which is why I want them O-U-T!! I'm hoping you're right that it's unlikely they'll return.