To repeat what has been said a number of times before, there are Red Maples (Acer rubrum) in varying cultivars and then there are other cultivars of maples whose leaves turn red in the fall. There are also maples, mostly Japanese maples but other species as well, whose leaves come in red or reddish, some of whose leaves stay red and some turn green. The TRUE Red Maple is the A. rubrum, so called, as far as I know, because the flowers, which are very early before the leaves, are very red, as are the early stages of the samaras. Any other tree, if of another variety of maple (Norway, silver, etc.) MAY have the word red somewhere in its name, or have red leaves all summer or in the fall, but it will NOT BE a Red Maple, although it may be a red-colored maple, for example, the above mentioned Crimson King Norway Maple. Sorry for the lecture, but it's a pet peeve, and so you got the rant....

Bill m-n - when weve completely upended mother nature by planting copious amounts of wxotci plantings and taken away habitat for native wildlife and plants then you can no longer play the mother nature card. i strongly encourage everyone to take a stewardship approach to gardening. if you like norway spruce so much - why not just move to Norway? if you want to be in north america then please try to support North American ecosystems. And please stop killing just because someone ate your shrub. they’re hunghungry because you took their land and food. Sandra, You've taken a 'Shoot first and ask questions later' approach by coming onto a public forum and accusing people that you don't even know. The people here for the most part are the most conscientious people I know where nature and conservation is concerned. Why do you just lump everyone into the same bag and figure your job is done? There are people here that have dedicated their lives, working the forefront in the battle for conservation. And where did I say anything about killing? Killing is nature's way. It's how things survive. The weak and sick get thinned out leaving room in the gene pool for only the best and healthiest. It you want things to change, then get together with people that are doing the same and help them to achieve the same common ends. That's what we do.

Chester: Part of what you say is confusing. You have certainly not, I hope, cut back three or four "years" of growth--you mean you cut back to 3 or 4 side shoots. Right? These weevils seldom eat down past the prior yearÂs growth. Where Norway spruce are reasonably fast growing I would say they destroy about 2/3rds of the prior yearÂs growth, and after they stop eating, the best side shoot usually grows beyond the top limit of that prior yearÂs growth. You may not find any grubs because they may have exited. After they reach a certain growth stage they leave the shoot and drop to the ground where they live until they mature and fly or crawl up another (or the same ) tree the next spring to continue their devilish work. If you don't find grubs at the lowest level where the shoot looks like its inner bark has been eaten out, they have all left, and there is no point in doing any more trimming--you can just leave the damaged top with its dead shoots, and after the next year's growth, that will not really be noticeable. Also, these weevils like really strong fat leaders, so after one top is weeviled, they usually donÂt come back to infect the same tree two years in a row. Sometimes they do, but not usually. As for the relatively wide trees: that could have several causes, including intentional pruning back, possibly for Christmas tree production, possibly for height control, possibly to cut out disfigured tops from weevil damage. I donÂt know. Also, there is considerable genetic variation in NS, and what you see could also be partly the result of that. In any case, how wide a tree is now will not ultimately affect its shape as it grows and matures. It will revert to its basic genetic "programming" in combination with the effects of its current and future growing conditions. --Spruce

hey water management will be hard under a very old super competitor ... but you should be able to do it ... keep the new plants watered VERY deeply for a year or two. none of this spraying the leaves stuff ... sharpen your shovel.. to cut thru smaller roots ... do not amend... or the big tree will invade ... nor fertilize .... the big tree isnt stupid.. it will come take the fert ... and if you find a root bigger than one half inch.. just move the hole a few inches to get around it.. i simply ask.. why would you need to cut a lot of larger roots???? .. let me put it this way.. if you cant cut it with hand pruner.. work around it ... as your babes grow.. them being a few inches off a perfect siting is going to make little or no difference ... get over precise engineered/architectural spacing ... finally ... generally ... broadcast all water ... instead of soaking individual holes.. why 'call' the trees roots.. to each babe ... BUT!!! ... come july/august.. do insure the babes remain moist deep thru the whole root zone.. and if that requires such.. do it ... but generally.. broadcast water ... they should need about one deep watering every week or two.. and then allowed to NEARLY dry ... DEPENDING ON YOUR SOIL AND ITS DRAINAGE ... and do insure a good mulch job ... it is and will be a natural desert under a monster like this.. the whole trick is water management ... long enough for the transplants to take hold.. and start competing ... good luck ken ps: i would not go with large transplants ... say something in the 1 to 3 foot range ... or smaller. .. pps: when i lifted the canopy on mine to 6 feet.. within a few years.. it had drooped back to about 4 feet ... plan ahead in that regard ... its easier to take an extra whorl now.. rather than doing it with plants under ....