What tree is this and are the brown leaves a sign of poor health?

Question

Last year I moved into a new-build house and a few months later in November the development company's landscapers planted a tree in our garden to match the plans.

When it was planted we were told that it's an acer tree but I haven't been able to find any perfect matches. The closest match I've found is a Field Maple, but those seem to have shiny leaves which ours does not.

The reason I'm wanting to identify the tree is so that I can determine whether it's suffering. I'm in the UK and we've just had a very wet and windy week followed by a very warm and sunny week. A few days ago its leaves started turning brown/yellow.

Is anyone able to tell me what this tree is and if we should be concerned about its health?

Answer 1

You are right, it would appear to be Acer campestre, the field maple. Given where you are, I suspect the explanation is not the very wet weather we had during May, but the very dry and warm 6 weeks or so that preceded it. It's a tree that's been planted less than a year, and for the first two years, it will need copious watering during dry spells,especially if temperatures are warm or hot or windy. As we've had an awful lot of rain throughout May, it will not need watering now, but as the summer goes on, try to be sure to water it well if the weather stays dry and warm for longer than a couple of weeks at most, and if any rain we do get is sparse - it needs to be enough to keep the roots moist, which means heavy or persistent rain.

Once it's been in for two years, you will not need to soak it regularly when there's no or little rain.