The paperbark maple tree is a stunning ornamental tree well suited to even smaller yards. The modest sized tree has cinnamon colored peeling bark and rich green leaves that turn vibrant orange in fall. Other than the tree's beauty, a major selling point of the paperbark is its relative resilience against tree diseases.

Resilience, however, doesn't mean immunity. There are still diseases you need to watch for in your paperbark maple and many ways that a landscaping service can help you contain the symptoms or disease itself.

Here are a few of the common tree diseases that can strike a paperbark maple.

Verticillium Wilt

The fungus-borne verticillium wilt disease causes the paperbark maple's leaves to prematurely wither, brown, and fall from the tree. In other trees, the wilt can continue to kill off leaves until there is no way to save the tree. But paperbark maple's usually aren't severely affected and the wilt mostly presents as a cosmetic issue.

If your leaves begin to die and you suspect wilt, call in a tree trimming and services company, such as Greatland Tree Service, as soon as possible. The tree service can trim away the already affected leaves, sanitize the soil surrounding the tree for any remaining fungus, and, with regular appointments, keep an eye out for signs that the wilt is returning. 

Crown Gall

Crown galls are scabby, sore-like markings on the bark that appear due to a bacterial infection. The galls will only form near areas of damage and can be harder to notice initially on a paperbark maple due to its naturally shedding outermost bark. But that shedding bark also means that the galls are often fairly easy to remove on this type of tree.

Your tree service can either remove the bark with the galls, if they are on the outer layers, or treat the deep galls with a chemical solution that prevents the problem from worsening. Surrounding soil can be treated with heat, sanitization, and increased fertilization.

Anthracnose

Does your paperbark maple show signs of dieback that don't match either wilt or gall? Your tree might have anthracnose, which is a blanket term for several types of fungal infections that cause general symptoms of dieback. The symptoms can cross over the symptoms of gall and wilt but tend to be more varied in nature.

Your tree service can determine if the problem is really anthracnose. Pruning off dead leaves and twigs, cleaning up shed material from the ground, and frequent tree health care such as watering and fertilization are simple ways that a tree service can help eradicate symptoms of anthracnose faster and prevent them from coming back.