Our lace leaf Japanese maple appears to be having problems. It is probably 15 years old or so. We live in Central Va. The lower leaves are drying up and falling, and the lower branches appear to be dead. Usually it does not lose its leaves so early . So I don't think it is Fall related. The leaves have tiny grayish spots on them.
Two things come to mind:
1. Lack of regular water (drought?)
2. Lack to sunlight to those lower branches.
I was seeing quite a bit of leaf-tip burn on my Japanese Maple and know it is due to weeks without rain. I started watering every few days and the tree looks better now.
Consider verticillium wilt as a prime suspect. Read up on it and see if the symptoms match.
Al
