Tree Talk: Maples

School is back in session! That marks the traditional end of summer and beginning of fall, with iconic smells of pumpkin spice and changing colors of the landscape. In North Dakota, we see lots of brown and gold fall foliage on the trees, but the vibrant reds and orange colors we see in the photos and autumn views of the New England states or Blue Ridge Mountains are contributions of species we cannot grow here – including many maples.

That is a disappointment to many, but soils dictate what will and will not thrive in a specific site. In this state, we have only ONE native maple – and it is boxelder, also known as Manitoba maple. While we see plenty of mature boxelders in parks, yards, and occasionally along a street, it is not generally the first choice for planting. Boxelder is native to riparian areas, along streams and rivers, providing wildlife habitat and food for pheasants, deer and squirrels, which feed on the seeds. While boxelder does not exhibit the typical simple maple leaf (envision the red maple leaf on Canada’s flag) – boxelder has a compound leaf with three to five toothed leaflets – it is identified as a maple by the fruiting structure called a samara. Samaras look like tiny helicopter blades, and they function to perpetuate the species by whirling as they drop from the parent tree, swept by the wind to an open, favorable planting site. With a bit of luck from Mother Nature, another boxelder is born.

Silver maples are not native, but are very common across the state. They can grow to be a very large and wonderful shade tree, but when you see a silver maple expressing light green or yellow foliage in the middle of the growing season – that is evidence that the tree is suffering from a lack of iron, a function of soil alkalinity. So, the tree is growing and surviving, but it is not thriving. Remember, large trees like silver maples do best with an area that can support a large root system – a big backyard or a park setting. Roots can grow out to a spread that exceeds the height of the tree, not so deeply into the soil as you might expect.

See ‘Recommended Trees for North Dakota Communities’ on the ND Forest Service website: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/ndfs. Besides silver maples, there are cultivars of other maple species that have been selected that can do well in carefully selected planting locations. Try ‘Fall Fiesta’ or ‘Green Mountain’ sugar maple. Yes! These sugar maples will grow in North Dakota. Amur maples and Tatarian maples are small-statured trees, but they do provide some fall orange to red color, especially cultivars like ‘Hot Wings’, ‘Embers’ and ‘Flame’. Stay away from red maples and species that simply cannot tolerate the alkaline soils found across the state. Such trees may survive, but they will not thrive. Please do some homework before you invest in a tree that will not survive beyond the nursery guarantee timeframe.

Take a Look: See a sugar maple tree planted this year as part of the grant project on the 1200 block of 4th Ave North. Two newly planted Freeman maples (these are hybrids of red and silver maple) are doing well just east of the school, on the 300 block of 1st Ave. North. Use organic mulch around the base of the tree and water when the upper few inches of soil are dry. This is critical for new trees, especially during this current drought.