A red maple that is over 10 years old, but less than 20 in the Mid-Atlantic region of U.S.A. has dropped some leaves. I did not see any change in the leaf color before these leaves started dropping. It's more than a few at this point.
I looked up yesterday and noticed some red leaves at the top of the tree. The tree isn't tall, maybe 15 feet. All the red leaves are at the top, every one at about 6 feet is green. Thus I'm picturing height divided into layers so to speak, with the top of the height as the top layer. Not sure how many layers I would divide from the top to 6 feet, but that's irrelevant, given the generally short stature of the tree.
This tree is open grown and isn't overshadowed by any buildings. I was never aware of a difference in height from where leaves drop from a tree. Am I witnessing a known phenomenon of trees or is this some kind of anomaly? The tree is otherwise healthy. Last winter two limbs were removed by an arborist and the wounds are healing fine. The tree also got some irrigation over the summer.
