Plant Library

Other Names:  Hard Maple, Rock Maple

Description:

Possibly the best shade tree for fall colors ranging from gold to burnt orange to red; shapely and neat, a truly stately tree; adaptable to soils, but dislikes air pollution and compaction; every landscape should have a place for one of these aristocrats

Ornamental Features

Sugar Maple has rich green deciduous foliage on a tree with an oval habit of growth. The lobed leaves turn outstanding shades of yellow, orange and red in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Sugar Maple is a dense deciduous tree with a shapely oval form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should only be pruned in summer after the leaves have fully developed, as it may 'bleed' sap if pruned in late winter or early spring. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sugar Maple is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade

Planting & Growing

Sugar Maple will grow to be about 60 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 50 feet. It has a high canopy of foliage that sits well above the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live to a ripe old age of 100 years or more; think of this as a heritage tree for future generations!

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is native to parts of North America.