please save my maple

[greatness]

Hello all,

40' maple (uncertain of variety) in front garden had very limited foliage this year and dumped a lot more samaras than usual. At this time of year last year the central branches would be hidden by foilage (second image for sparsity comparison). Over the past few weeks the leaves have started to curl and turn brown or black.

Any ideas what it might be and what I should do?

 

[ATH]

Probably 2 things going on:
1) You said it dumped a lot of samaras. I know in Ohio, we didn't have a hard frost after the maple trees started blooming. That meant more flowers than normal were viable/not frozen off. That, in turn, means the tree puts a lot of its energy reserves into seed development so it, therefore, has less for the first flush of leaves. When this happens, it will often, but not always, fill in a little more as the season progresses.
2) Looks like there is some anthracnose on those leaves. This is a leaf disease that is worse in wet years. I haven't followed Ontario's weather, but much of the midwest US and Lake states had a lot of rain (did it extend that far north?). The longer the leaves are wet, the more likely this fungus will develop on the leaves. Nothing to do about it now...but it is generally not a problem unless the tree is under significant stress from other sources as well.

Bottom line: I don't see anything in those 2 (limited) pictures that I'd worry about.

 

[greatness]

Thank you! I hope that's all it is!

Additional info: there are multiple other maples on the street in various states....one has died althogether, others have been marked with an orange "X" by the city, and these have even more sparse foilage than mine.

Would other pics be helpful for confirming what you're saying?

 

[ATH]

Look closer at the twigs to help gauge tree health. A healthy Silver maple should be putting on AT LEAST 6" of growth each year on the twig. Look for "rough" rings around the twig - that is where it started a new year's growth. You can usually find at least 3-4 years pretty easily to see how the tree has been doing for that period of time.