What’s wrong with this tree?

[maldivemoment]

Tree been in the garden since we bought it. Perfectly healthy until now but now it looks like this.

Anyone know what type of tree it is & what may be wrong with it?

We’re west coast of Scotland. Exposed location. Lots of wind & rain.

Is it dry where you are? Maybe it needs water?

Needs more water.

Thank you. I started another thread saying the ground around it is covered in this stuff. I wonder if that’s preventing the tree getting enough water? I’m currently removing it.

West of Scotland. Definitely not lacking water!

You'll need to remove all the root of that greenery, it will be taking water the acer needs, it will come back next summer if not.
Lack of steady watering, too much sun and strong frequent windy weather will be scorhing your leaves.

Salt scorch? Definitely not in need of water. I'm in the west of Scotland too. It's been an oddly windy spring and summer. My garden is sheltered, but we've actually had a tree down because of summer winds. Looks more like a condition caused by exposure to me.

Agree with @Bideshi . Wind rather than lack of water. Agree with @TomatoSandwiches that it looks like some species of Acer. I wouldn’t have thought the green stuff was troubling it.

Thanks all. You might be right re exposure. We previously had a fence hard against the tree(previous owner) but the wind blew it down so we’ve moved the fence further away from the tree. I hadn’t considered that we might have made the tree too exposed to the elements.

Also, had no idea it was an acer!

That looks like a field maple to me (native to the UK and as tough as old boots) and it is probably suffering from leaf scorch caused by wind damage, and probably also attack by pests. It will shrug all that off no problem.

The green weeds will be having no effect on it whatsoever.

@Yamadori thank you. We have a larger one next to it and a maple seems much more likely. I’m definitely a novice but it’s not similar to any type of acer I’ve come across.

Also good to know it’s fairly hardy. Should I just leave it be for now?

Maple trees are Acers.

@TomatoSandwiches 😆🤦🏼‍♀️

So are sycamores. Acers are very varied.

Yes, just leave it entirely alone to get on with things. Field maples (acer campestre) are part of the acer family, and are the only one truly native to the British Isles. They are as hardy as anything.

Looks like quite a few plants in my garden (sw england so also extra wet and extra windy this year) My personal theory is that there has been so much rain, the leaves on everything have grown extra fast and are extra soft and tender as a result, then when the wind bashes them about they get bruised and damaged like this.

Thank you all once again. You’ve been enormously helpful.( Especially for someone who doesn’t know their acer from their elbow! 😆)