Hi, Homeowner in Milwaukie and wondering if I have verticulum wilt in my acers and what to do if so. I planted a weeping red Japanese maple (Inaba Shidare) ~3 years ago and then last Spring I decided to plant an upright Japanese maple adjacent to it (Coral Bark Maple). I bought the upright from a reputable nursery, but after planting noticed it had a small section of dark black at one limb junction. This then spread to other parts of the tree and out of concern I took pictures to the nursery who suggested I remove it and replace. They exchanged the tree and I planted a new Coral Bark in the same spot. Over this past winter I noticed limb die back on the weeping maple which presented as greyish white limbs that never budded this Spring. I pruned all the dead limbs off the weeping maple (15-20% of the plant maybe) and it actually looked okay the last month with good leaf growth and it flowered/seeded. However today I noticed a fully black limb and then spotted a few other small limbs starting to blacken and show die back. I checked the new upright maple and it has one very small twig showing a bit of black and die back. (Pictures attached of both). I think from my own research I have a verticulum or bacterial leaf spot issue. If it is verticulum I believe I can't cure it and the answer would be to destroy and remove one or both trees. I obviously don't want to do that (at least without consultation) as I love these trees, they are in a prominent spot of my yard, and this would really set back the development of my garden which I began as a blank slate. Can you advise me if this does appear to be one or the other/something different? If verticulum, are there any half measures recommended or do I need to destroy one or both trees? And then if verticulum, I don't think I can plant acers or numerous other trees in this spot for years, so any recommendations related to that? Thanks for any help resolving here and at least giving me confidence to go ahead if the answer is removal! Best