I LOVE maple trees and planted them all over my yard and farm but they are slowly dying. I've lost 3 already. They are from different places, and planted at different times. They are the sugar maple that have the colored leaves in fall. They die slowly, seems like a branch or two at a time, and then finally the whole tree dies. Something is going on. I am in Wisconsin, near Milwaukee. They are all native, replanted from this area. Some I dug up from our woods, and replanted, some are from nurseries, and they are planted in different places in my yard, some on the north side of my house, some out in the open near a field, etc. They are more mature trees, not just samplings, and some are 25 years old. HELP!!! I don't want to lose any more! I can email pictures to anyone who can help. thanks so much!

It doesn't seem to have any single cause. Seems to be a highly variable combination of weather patterns, bugs, molds, soil problems, and any other stresses that could affect a tree. Just an interacting jigsaw puzzle of things that, in most years, are minor irritations. Some years, they just plain gang up on the trees.

Some recover fully, with no apparent ill effects. Some die. Some lose a limb or three. Come spring, cut out dead limbs, fertilize gently, and water when they might need it.

Contact your local county extension agent for info on what has been happening in your area. And don't panic. Many may make it through. It just may have been a really bad concatenation of weather and pests working together this year.