Sugar Maple Pros & Cons

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slowmoe

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Hello all,

I would like to know the pros and cons of planting a sugar maple. Its fall color is just so wonderful.

Thanks in advance.
 
Well, I'm no expert but I am a maple lover. The Sugar Maple, from what I know, doesn't have a whole lot of "cons". Except a lot of leaf cleanup after they drop for the year. I think however, that a lot of people get the Silver Leaf and Sugar Maple mixed up. If it's the silver leaf, it is probably one of the weakest of the maples. The wood is not strong like most maples. Very prone to storm damage. Proper pruning can greaty reduce the problem.

In my experience the Sugars have gorgeous orange leaves in fall and the Silver Leafs have more of a yellow. The Silver Leaf is so named because the back side of the leaves have a silvery appearance. Their leaves have more jagged lobes than a sugar maple.
 
Cons;
need acidic soil, can get chlorosis

tight branch unions, can have storm damage

tend to have large low limbs if grown in open wich lead to center crown dieback in mid age

this all adds up to a little extra prunning cost if a healthy tree is wanted for decades to come. Current theroy is that it takes 25 years to train a tree for final structure (Dr. Ed Gilman)

Pros;
preettyyyy
all those cool tree guys you'll meet over the years.
 
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