I only have one maple,and it is a red maple,and this is a pic of hostas growing by the trunk. Other maples may not be as good as many people on this forum have told me. There others growing under this tree,but not visible in this picture. The rest of my hostas are under oaks,poplars,and dogwoods. Hope this helps. BTW,the gold-colored one is Gold Standard,and the other is some unknown NOID. Phil
{{gwi:925261}}

maples ..... as a group .. are the WORST trees to grow a garden under ...

only the most aggressive hosta will thrive under them ....

I HATE MAPLES ... because i am a hosta gardener ...

if you use the search function.. you will find hundreds of posts about such ...

ken

From what I've read, most varieties of maples have their roots growing near the surface, but Japanese maples are supposed to be ok. I had silver maples (weed tree in my opinion), and those roots were above the ground. I read that honey locusts, oaks, or anything with deep roots are good for planting perennials under as the roots shouldn't interfere with the plants nor compete for water. The only hosta that somewhat thrived under my silver maples were the common plantingenea (spelling?).

i had a bloodgood JM ....

after 5 years.. i couldnt even get a shovel through the fibrous root mass ...

locust are not favorable .... but i am not familiar with honey locust ... usually you cant even run a lawnmower over the surface roots ...

and lorain.. its plantaginea ... i hope.. lol ...

plant-ta-geh-nay-ah ....

ken

Jess,

I have had better luck (by trial and error) with small size hostas. For example the Tiaras, AP McConnell, etc.. Their roots don't grow as deeply and they have a little better chance of surviving under my silver maple. I have 2 huge maples which were in the yard when we moved here. They provide all my shade in the center of the yard so I have to leave them.

Good luck.

Connie