Maple

Maple, Acer

Red maples are attractive year-round, with delicate flowers in spring, beautiful foliage and hanging samaras (winged fruit) in summer, vibrant leaf color in fall and interesting bark and branch structures in winter.

Growing

Red The soil should be fertile, high in organic matter, moist and well drained.

Tips

Use maples as specimen, shade or street trees, as large elements in shrub or mixed borders and as hedges. A. palmatum is useful as an understory plant bordering wooded areas, and it can be grown in containers on patios or terraces.

Recommended

A. rubrum (red maple) is a Texas native grown as a single- or multi-stemmed tree, growing 40–60' tall, with a variable spread of 20–60'. The fall foliage color varies from bright yellow to orange or red. ‘Drummond’ and ‘October Glory’ are good cultivars. A. x freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’ is an improved hybrid good for urban landscapes. A. grandidentatum (bigtooth maple) is a large native Texas specimen good for the Hill Country area. A. truncatum (purpleblow maple, Shantung maple) is a compact, rounded tree with lush foliage that turns a bright yellow in fall.

Features: rounded, dense, deciduous tree or shrub; decorative foliage, bark and form; samaras; fall color; greenish flowers

Height: 25’-50’

Spread: 25’-40’

Hardiness: zones 4–8