A killer is stalking Vienna’s streets, leaving at least 30 of the town’s Norway maples dead at an alarming rate.

“We’ve noticed a lot of dead and dying Norway maples,” said Town Arborist Gary Lawrence. “These deaths are not slow. They’re sudden and in groups.”

Leslie Herman, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, said the mysterious deaths of Norway maples comes on the heels of the emerald ash borer completely wiping out the town’s supply of ash trees.

Lawrence said the Norway maple deaths aren’t anywhere near the magnitude of the ash tree deaths — that became a nationwide epidemic that started in Detroit and has since spread nationwide, killing millions of ash trees. But Lawrence said the spate of ash tree deaths did initially obscure the impact on the local maples.

At first, Lawrence said he made the assumption that the clumps of dead foliage were ash trees. The two share some visual similarities. While most trees have alternating branches, like steps up the tree, ash trees and maple trees are among the few trees with opposite branches. But on closer look, Lawrence realized the trees were maples and didn’t have the telltale signs of ash borer infestation — holes where the bugs emerged from the trees and stripped bark from woodpeckers in a feeding frenzy.

After realizing the dead trees were maples, Lawrence said he began to see more of them around the town. So far, whatever is killing the trees has targeted only the Norway maples, leaving others — like the town’s red maples — untouched. There was a group of six Norway maples that were healthy and strong last year, but Lawrence said when he returned to them this year they were all dead.

“There’s still plenty of healthy Norway maples, but I’m concerned by how quickly [this is happening],” said Lawrence. “There’s a pattern here. It’s not random.”

One of the most confusing aspects is that the phenomena seems isolated to Vienna so far. Lawrence said he’s been keeping his ear to the ground for buzz about Norway maples being killed in other parts of the country, but hasn’t heard anything.

So far, Lawrence said his suspicions about what’s causing the deaths are still a hypothesis.

“I have no answer for the maples,” said Lawrence. “A wild guess is that it’s some kind of soil-borne disease. I’m guessing it’s soil-borne because it seems to affect the root system, because of the quickness of death. Usually insects, other than the ash borer, are a secondary problem.”

The topic came up during last night’s Vienna Town Council meeting during a request to increase funding for tree removal as a result of the ash tree epidemic. Lawrence said the ash trees were scattered in small batches throughout the town and native, rather than town-planted.

“It’s a substantial amount of trees,” said Lawrence. “It is a major impact to the budget. The trees die quickly, and because of the quickness of their death they become brittle and fall apart quickly.”

In addition to the beetles and mysterious maple killer, Lawrence said the record-high rainfall has also made it a difficult year for local trees.

Photo via Flickr/F.D. Richards

What to Do With Your Christmas Tree — “Residents can leave out trees for regular trash collections after removing decorations… Fairfax County collectors will be taking Christmas trees left out at homes on Jan. 1-11. Trees should be put out separately and be less than 8 feet tall. ” [Patch]

Local Malls Still Busy — “Christmas may have passed but shoppers are still swarming the malls to spend gift cards and return unwanted gifts.” [Fox 5]

Vienna Man Wins Big in Md. Lottery — “A man from Vienna is getting some help to open a restaurant with a lucky lottery win. The scratch ticket won the restaurateur $50,000, according to the Maryland Lottery… He plans to use the winnings for finishing touches on the restaurant.” [Patch]

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of Tysons, Vienna is known for its small town, closer-to-nature feel.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), the Hunter Mill Tree Forum will help educate Vienna residents on how to care for and maintain that greenery.

The event will start at 7 p.m. in the Vienna Town Hall (127 Center St S). The forum is free and open to the public.

Representatives from the Town of Vienna, the Vienna Community Enhancement Commission, Virginia Department of Forestry, and Fairfax County are all scheduled to speak about the benefits of trees and how they are impacted by increasing development.

The forum will also look at pests and diseases affecting trees in the area.

Photo via Visit Fairfax

Weather-Related Road Closures — Amid windy weather, several roads are closed around the area due to downed trees. [FCPD]

Bank to Hold McLean Grand Opening — MVB Bank is planning a grand opening for its new banking center at 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd., Suite 100, McLean. The location opened in early September. [Virginia Business]

Vienna Conducting Resident Survey — “The Vienna town government is in the process of taking the pulse of town residents through a new survey, which is being sent to 1,600 randomly selected households.” [InsideNova]