QUESTION
I have a young, Pink lilac tree, that has developed brown patches on the leaves
and the edges have curled...all the leaves are like this...and it happened in
a rather short time...I see no bugs...
The lilac had been planted for a month or more...before I noticed the problem.
ANSWER
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the problem with your Lilac tree.
It sounds like your tree is suffering from wind scorch, similar to spring scorch. This happens because it is a new plant and with the recent warm weather, and wind your plant is losing moisture through it’s leaves but is not able to replace it through the roots as it is not yet established. Symptoms of leaf scorch are crispy brown curly leaves.
Solution – Remove up to ½ of the damaged leaves and spray the leaves with water in the evening.
Another possibility is Lilac Blight. Black angular spots which appear on the leaves sometimes mistaken for frost damage, soon afterwards the young shoots will blacken.
Solution - Remove affected leaves and shoots and spray with Copper Fungicide,
repeat this the following spring as the leaves unfold.