On the tree panel specify the 'cls':
PHP Code:
{ xtype: 'treepanel', cls: 'my-tree-panel', store: 'MyStore',
...
}
With that, the DIV that contains the tree panel will have the CSS class 'my-tree-panel' applied to it. Then in your css file define the selector as follows:
PHP Code:
.my-tree-panel .x-tree-icon-leaf { background-image: url("images/newicon.png") !important;}
The icon change will be applied only to that particular tree panel. Thus, you can have different tree panels in your applications and you'll be able to customize the icons for each.