One of the hallmark trees of autumn foliage is the maple tree. Maples turn a variety of reds, yellows and oranges. Even when other trees do not have colorful foliage, maple trees always seem to find a way to put on an eye-catching autumnal display.
Even after the leaves of the maple tree have faded, many maple trees also provide winter interest in the form of textured and colorful bark. Maple trees grow well in the Ozarks, so let’s look at some choice varieties for providing fall and winter interest.
An excellent landscape maple is the “Trident Maple,” Acer buergerianum. This maple on reaches 25 to 35 feet in height at maturity and 15 to 25 feet in width. It is drought tolerant, and the leaves will not scorch when water is lacking.
The leaves on this maple are yellow and red in the fall. The bark is made up of light and dark gray scaly plates that peel back to reveal an orange and brown trunk.
If you’re looking for brilliant red leaves in the fall, the Acer griseum, Paperbark maple, is the tree for you. The paperbark maple’s name implies that it’s highly regarded for its exfoliating reddish-brown bark. Instead of hard scales, this bark curls into soft “paper-like” tendrils. This tree’s bark is also beautiful when framed against snow cover. Paperbark maples reach 20 to 30 feet in height and width at maturity.
“Striped maple,” Acer pensylvanicum, has show stopping bark that is also called “snake-bark.” The name refers to white lines that develop on the dark green bark. This is an understory tree that provides glowing yellow leaves in the fall.
This tree reaches 15 to 20 feet in height and width. There are many similar species of striped maple in cultivation if the native cannot be obtained.
The most commonly utilized maple in the landscape is the “red maple,” Acer rubrum. This is the tree that probably pops into your mind when you think of the colorful yellows and reds of the maple tree in autumn. Indeed, red maple foliage is spectacular, and the smooth gray bark is also attractive, especially when the tree is young. The red maple is massive, growing 40 to 60 feet tall with a variable width depending upon the cultivar and growing locale.
Maple trees cannot be mentioned without also mentioning Acer palmatum, the Japanese maple. There are hundreds of varieties of Japanese maple, but they also have smooth gray bark and unique silhouettes that are exceptionally appealing in the winter. Most Japanese maples are yellow and red in the fall, but some have red leaves throughout the year.
It’s important to note when shopping for a maple tree for your landscape that you purchase maple trees from climates similar to yours. Maples have very thin bark on their trunks, and some will not tolerate extreme changes in temperature when moving from one climate to another. In fact, when transplanting a red maple, the north side of the bark should be planted in the same direction as its location in the nursery to prevent the bark from splitting with temperature changes.
Questions or comments related to gardening? Contact Joleen at missourigardener@hotmail.com.
