As dry weather persists nationwide, nurseries are turning their attention to drought-tolerant plants. On a list extolling the virtues of five drought-tolerant trees, I was pleased to see a favorite denizen of my garden, Acer rubrum, the red maple.
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Red maples are among the most abundant and widely distributed trees in eastern North America, ranging from Quebec to Minnesota and south from Florida to Texas. The reddish haze we see blanketing forests in late winter or very early spring is their dense flowering, and the flush of crimson we admire in the fall is the turning of their leaves.
Small, red samaras, those entertaining, whirligig seeds, follow bloom. (Did you
know that during World War II, the US military developed an airdrop system based on the maple samara? ‘Skyhook’ could carry 65 pounds, twirling to the ground with minimal drift. It was more accurate and slightly quicker than a parachute drop but was doomed to
oblivion by its unwieldy form.)
The leaf stalks, young twigs and newly emerging leaves are red or red-tinged (rubrum means red). The mature leaves are medium to dark green and have three main triangular lobes, toothed edges and light tan undersides.
Variously known as soft maple, scarlet maple, Carolina maple, and swamp maple, A. rubrum is an attractive, quick-growing shade tree of medium size, commonly reaching 40 to 70 feet with an upright, spreading crown. They are quite adaptable, growing in a wide range of soil types, textures, moisture conditions, pH values, and elevations throughout their range, all of which is to say they will probably do well in your garden.
Plant them in full sun (partial shade is okay) and give them some space–their thin bark
is easily damaged by lawn mowers. They can withstand some air pollution and are drought tolerant once established, an important quality in these days of irregular precipitation. A red maple would be a good choice for a rain garden or a flood-prone area of the yard.
Like most maples, A. rubrum typically has a shallow surface root system, which may
buckle driveways or walkways: be mindful when placing your tree. If you would like
understory plants (plants growing under the tree), you should put them in when you plant your tree as later on the
surface roots will preclude underplanting. Interestingly, their root systems can develop
differently depending on site conditions; swampy sites yield short tap roots and
well-developed lateral roots while in dry areas the tap root is deeper and the lateral roots minimalized.
My red maple is growing near (but not too near) the driveway, about 10 feet back from the road. A pleasant tree, it puts on a spring show of deep red flowers and samaras, and its leafy green canopy shades the driveway in summer and glows red in fall. I spread leaf duff over the roots to conserve moisture and keep down stray weeds. Every winter, at the first glimpse of a snowflake, the DPW enthusiastically sprays the environs with salt, but my tree seems unfazed.
In addition to being a good shade tree, red maples are important for wildlife. Their early
spring blooms provide a valuable food source for native bees; birds feed on the flower
buds and the seeds. When the leaves finally unfurl, some five weeks later, the caterpillars have something to eat: red maples are larval hosts to a pink and yellow confection, the rosy maple moth, Dryocampa rubicunda, and to a silk moth, Hyalophora cecropia, the largest moth in North America, among many others. Do not begrudge these caterpillars their leafy diet! They, in turn, are food for baby birds whose frantically busy parents must feed them hundreds of caterpillars a day. Your nice shade tree is supporting all this life and you will be hard-pressed to spot any damage.
Dorothy gardens in Belmont where she lives with her husband, Steve, and their two dogs, Rosie and Jasper. She has six grandchildren — all perfect by definition — and has enjoyed introducing them to gardening. She has an abiding interest in nature and is always amazed by the wonders to be found in her own backyard.
