I planted this beautiful Autumn Blaze Maple last December and despite this horrible drought and 3 month spree of 100°F+ temperatures we've haad up here in the DFW area, the tree grew marvelously this Summer until about three weeks ago. It appears the bark around the root of the tree has begun to peel, and some of the leaves have begun to turn red and or begin to die. Before this, this tree was like a prize fighter in his prime, now I'm concerned for it's health! I try to keep good dirt around the stem, but it seems like that washes away somehow (the only water it has been gets is when I've been watering it twice a week.)