![]() There's no insects, there's nothing for the birds to eat and the whole ecosystem collapses.”Įric Davies holds leaves from a sugar maple tree (left) and a 'damaged' one from the European Norway maple (right) in Toronto’s High Park. If you get rid of the base layer, the plant layer, and you replace it with invasive species, there's nothing for the insects to eat. “At the base layer you have plants then you have the insects that eat those plants then you have the birds that eat the insects. They may look similar when it comes to their foliage, but one is detrimental to the ecosystems it invades.ĭavies says when you think of ecosystems, think in terms of a trophic food web: a pyramid. SEE ALSO: Can you name these trees? Quiz yourselfīut this native tree is among the many threatened by invasive species, like the European Norway maple. ![]() It's good for just about everything that you would want a wood to be good for.” "You can make cutting boards because there's no toxins in it, you can build beautiful furniture, it's really good for burning in your fireplace. “Maple syrup - this is something Indigenous people taught European settlers, and has become a huge important part of life and also the wood is very revered," Davies explains. “The sugar maple is regarded, actually by many people around the world, to be the most beautiful tree in the world for its colours,” said Eric Davies, with the faculty of forestry at the University of Toronto.ĭavies says the sugar maple is ecologically dominant in eastern North America and plays a huge role in providing a habitat for biodiversity of all types. It’s when nature paints landscapes with beautiful colours of oranges, yellows and reds and perhaps the star of the show is the iconic sugar maple. They can look a bit sparsely branched in their winter form, but fill out very nicely in full leaf, in the summer.Īlthough I am recognizing these two cultivars for their limited width and height, there are other larger full crowned sugar maple cultivars that may be acceptable for larger urban planting strips, so do not limit your consideration to these narrow forms of sugar maples for urban trees if you have the room.Fall is one of the most beautiful times of year. So be wary of that challenge during selection, acceptance and maintenance. Maintaining a central leader is a challenge with these cultivars and their branch structure does not appear to be as predictable or agreeable as the general species. I cannot say they are drought tolerant but I suspect this has to do more with the soils they are growing in, the competition around them and according to literature, the progeny of the parent tree.įrom our experience, they are relatively tolerant of transplanting but rooting does not appear to be quite as prolific at the red maple family. Information indicates they like to be in moist soils but my own experience with sugar maples is they are not overly tolerant of wet soils. It appears they have shallow wide spreading roots in wet or limited depth soils, but develop much deeper and broader spreading roots in well drained soils. Their leaves drop relatively early, which some people like. They appear to be a little darker green in the summer than the species, finishing the season with the typical outstanding red tipped lobes on golden yellow leaves in the fall. The leaves on both of the cultivars are the well-known and generally recognized maple leaf shape (as seen on the Canadian flag). Typical of the sugar maple species, their bark is light brown and slightly rough in youth. Both trees are perfect sizes for most street tree locations. Apollo® will be a little taller at 30 feet tall and maybe narrower at about 10 feet wide. Sugar Cone maple is said to have a mature height of 25 feet and spread of about 13 feet. They are both narrow, miniature versions of the species. ![]() However, two sugar maple selections that are now available to the landscape industry, are a better fit in our more confined urban spaces Acer saccharum ‘Sugar Cone’ and Apollo® sugar maple, Acer saccharum ‘Barrett Cole’. But as a street tree, they are generally too large. Given their size, they are well suited for native forests as well as parks and boulevards. I recall them being tolerant of the understory shade but eventually becoming the dominant tree with huge massive limbs. Growing up in the Midwest, I found the sugar maple, Acer saccharum, to be one of my favorite native trees. Acer saccharum ‘Sugar Cone’ and ‘Barrett Cole’
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