Thanks to everyone who helped.
I had never paid attention to the buds on the maple before in regards to the
changes they go through when opening.
As mentioned in my OP, the larger buds were turning furry, smaller ones
seemed ok.
Well the smaller ones were a dark red/maroon colour and still are. However
some of the larger ones that had gone furry are now larger and you can see
leaves in them. Well I think anyway, they are opening.
So it was just a matter of I was taking more care, looking at them closer
this year, and what is a normal change I thought was some disease.
Also, the Elm's buds are showing signs of green popping out today.
It might be worth adding the past 2 days have been unseasonally warm, with
temps reaching around 28 degs celcius. Below average for summer, but for the
first month of spring, very hot.
Cheers
Andrew
--
Mid North Coast
New South Wales
Australia