Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Advice on planting sugar maple, 1 by shortleaf

shortleaf wrote:
Something I always thought was too bad about Sugar Maples, well 2 things actually is:
Grass seems to have a difficult time growing underneath them.
The second one I guess is related to the first, but many times it seems like the very large width of the crown is not very well planned for when the tree is mature. Of course,
on the other hand, my Mom had a big yard full of trees, and little grass, when she moved in and she put down grass seed constantly for a long time, and now she has the large trees and a yard full of grass!
She didn't have a Sugar Maple though. I remember mowing grass (usually over roots) under Sugar Maples and sticks and dust came up in abundance. Sugar Maples (and I'm sure all the selections VV noted) have outstanding Fall color and more than likely those selections don't have the width dilemma. Many fastigiate, narrowly upright forms have been selected. Among them are: 'Barrett Cole' (Apollo™), 'Newton Sentry', 'Steeple' and 'Adirzam' (Adirondak®). I got those names from a more northern source in CT., I'm not sure if these narrow selections are hardy here.
I think the Fall color on Sugar Maples is number one to me. I bet the Black Maple is nearly as awesome.
And no doubt they all much better than all those soft Silver Maples or crosses between Silver and Red Maples.
Happy planting!