Archive for the ‘Maples (Acer)’ Category

Full Moon Japanese Maple Is Very Popular

  The term “full moon Japanese maple” may be confusing. There are actually three species and cultivars of Asian maples that are referred to as “full moon”. The most popular full moon cultivar planted in the Northeast and Southern Appalachian regions (USDA zones 5 thru 7) is Acer japonicum ‘Acontifolium’. A. j. ‘Acontifolium’ is hardy […]

This Korean Maple Deserves To Be Planted More

Ullung-do Island Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum ‘Takeshimense’) is a small deciduous tree which will grow to be 20 -25 feet tall tree, with a spread of 15-18 feet. It tends to branch low to the ground. It originates from the Ullung-do Island in the sea of China. Korean maple is one of the best maples […]

Sapsucker Feeding May Blacken Maple Trunks

You see or hear a sapsucker tapping in a yard tree and pay little attention to it. The bird perforates the tree or shrub trunk and main branches with numerous shallow holes, similar to a riveter working with sheet metal. A sapsucker feeds on the cambium sap and on insects under the bark. The holes are deep […]

Formerly A Tree… Now A Hat Rack

Tree topping continues! The concern about a large tree falling on the house, garage, autos or pedestrians sends out calls to cut the tree back. If the tree in photo does recover (grow), the new branches will be mostly weak suckers. After 2-3 years, the sucker growth will be susceptible to high winds and snow/ice storms […]

Better Choices for Golden Moon Maple

Photo credit: Mr. Brian Upchurch, Highland Creek Nursery, Fletcher, NC A few months back I asked Mr. Brian Upchurch, owner of Highland Creek Nursery*, his opinion of Golden Fullmoon Japanese maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Aureum’) in our Southern Appalachian region (USDA zones 6 and 7).  He responded: “I have grown it in the past and it […]

Trident Maple Has 4- Seasons Interest

Over the past decade residential lot sizes have shrunken. Small and medium sized shade trees are a better choice over large traditional choices of red and sugar maples. Trident maple (Acer buergerianum) is our best mid-sized summer shade maple in the Southern Appalachian region (USDA zones 6 and 7). By mid-November trident has shed its gorgeous reddish […]

Japanese Maple Selections for Mid-South

Photo: ‘Sango Kaku’ coral bark maple in November Japanese maple (A. palmatum) offers a vast array of shrub and tree forms of varying heights and leaf shapes. Spring and summer leaves vary from gold, to dark green, to deep red and some color variegation and either cutleaf or dissected forms. The dissected leaf forms of […]

"My Maple Tree Is Being Invaded"

photo: Dr. Alan Windham, UT Plant Pathologist The following is a real query sent to an Extension agent over the phone: “I have thousands of insects on 8 of my 10 maple trees. I fear they will kill my trees, one has already died. The insects huddle together. I am not positive they have wings, […]

Beware of Storm Damaged Trees

This past weekend Northeast Tennessee as well as most of the coastal eastern U.S. was hit by heavy snow, 7 inches and more of heavy, wet clinging snow. Many of my neighbors lost electric power, telephone and cable. A driveby survey of tree damage around the neighborhood found that the following tree species suffered the […]