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I need advice regarding maple trees...

14 years ago

A few years back my husband planted three maple trees together in hopes that they would clump. Believe me when I say we are landscaping ignorant and have no clue! So recently I decided we need help in all areas landscape. Well I have had two landscape designers come out to make a plan. The first guy informed me that we would have to divide them because maple don't clump. Well today another guy comes out and informs me that he likes clumped maple and they will be fine. He just told me to clean up and mulch the area underneath. So I am hoping someone here can give me more insight. I tried researching but came up with nothing.

Comments (7)

Embothrium
14 years ago
They are liable to grow together OK. A problem with tree clumps in the garden is that when they are planted in the open they are prone to leaning away from one another over time. This produces an appearance of structural instability that may become bothersome to the viewer.

In the woods or in a grove the competition for light causes tree clumps to grow more vertically, same as the other trees.
iforgotitsonevermind
14 years ago
They way clump maples are normally grown in the nursery is they are cut off at the base to create multiple stems sprouting out of a single root system.

I just recently found out that multi stem maples are actually grown on purpose. I don't know why you would want one as multi-stem trees are normally much smaller species than maples so there is no potential hazard with a very large leaning tree, and maples don't have showy bark unlike birches, aspens, crepe myrtles and so on and so forth.
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As well, looking at the mulch around the tree(s) - you have too much mulch piled against the trunk - and may well end up with rot problems before the tree has a problem in an ice or wind storm. The general rule of thumb for mulching is to go as widely as possible, no deeper than 4", and NO mulch in the 2-4" next to the trunk. Scrape the mulch back from around the trunk, and the trees will be healthier. You should be able to clearly see the root flare - the area where the trunk turns into roots, and flares out. A wider area of mulch, out to the drip-line if you can give up that much lawn, wouldn't hurt either. The roots of most trees go out beyond the drip line, so the benefits of mulch extend out to at least that point. If you are worried about grasses growing back up through the mulch, you can smother the grass by putting a layer of either flattened cardboard or 4-6 sheets of black-ink newspaper under the mulch. Make sure all edges are covered if you use either - drying paper edges can wick moisture out of the soil - 'been there, done that! With reasonable rain/watering, the paper will break down in a few months, certainly by the end of the summer. Deep-rooted perennial weeds may still need to be hand dug, and wire grass/Bermuda grass can grow up into the mulch and need hand pulling also, but most other plants will die off.
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A limiting factor in Acer rubrum growth is soil pH. It must be on the acid side for this tree to thrive. I'll bet you've got such soil in NJ though. Where I live, our soil is underlain by dolomite-a type of limestone. As such, we don't do well with A. rubrum here, although just a county away, they're fine. For us it's the Freeman maple if we want red fall color, that being a hybrid between red maple and silver maple. They do great here. +oM
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Your tree looks great there is no right or wrong form of JM..that being said ( to may make mowing easier) i would cut off all the vertical very low branches ( two on right one on left) As well as any other lower ones that seem to be ( but it's hard to tell ) ;>) coming out in mass along with a much larger branch or where a branch that was cut ...just keep the biggest one in a branch forest. Otherwise i wouldn't mess with it ... I have no idea where you be from but if still cold there and dormant you'd better get going if you want to do it now ...or wait til next fall after leaf drop David
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
knowing what maple we are talking about could really help expand the conversation ...

if we are talking a J. Maple... or some small version.. thats one thing ...

if we are talking the potential 100 footers... 2 of which will eventually be leaning over the house.. thats another thing ...

the size of your property is also important ....

ken
melaz
Original Author
14 years ago
So I thought I would post a picture for a better understanding of our situation. Please excuse the overgrown grass underneath. We were planning on just separating them soon and mulching afterward. Now my husband just wants to leave them as is in light of the new "professional" opinion. So what would you guys do in our situation? Separate or leave them? Oh and my husband said they are some sort of red maple. I hope the visual helps. Thanks so much for the advice, we really appreciate it. Especially since I am now more confused than ever!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:357231}}
iforgotitsonevermind
14 years ago
That's not going to work out.

This link shows probably what you were trying to do.

Try again, this time give it plenty of room to develop a strong branch structure. If you want something multi-stem, there are plenty of large shrubs or small trees to choose from.

Those look like norway maples by the way.
melaz
Original Author
14 years ago
So what would happen if we left them as is?
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
So what would happen if we left them as is?

You should expect limb and bole failure over time.

Dan

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