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erin_g_gw

Help!! Need advice on varieties...

erin_g
15 years ago

I live in the high desert of Yucca Valley in southern California. I've seen "maples" for sale at the local Home Depot, but I want to do the maple syrup thing. I know that normal "sugars" are only recommended to zone 7, and I live in a weird zone. Zone 9 according to the charts, but apparently they have "sunset zones" here, which makes it all too confusing for me. Can you tell I'm not from here? I'm transplanted from the east coast where everything was pretty cut and dry in terms of what would grow and what wouldn't. I plan on irrigating, and the area is also moving into a "wetter" period, where even the local park rangers are saying that this area has been transforming from desert to grasslands. We even received 18" of snow in December!

I think that even though "recommendations" are sound advice usually, it cannot be refuted that the area is changing. I desperately want a maple that I can tap when it gets large enough, (actually, I want several). My searches online are aggrivating, which has led me here. I've read a few posts of folks who seem to know a lot about maples, and also have information of hybrids being developed. Please, can anyone help? I need some advice on which cultivars (along with where to buy them) could survive here. Hot, dry, windy summers, with cold, sometimes wet, windy winters. Nights are always comfortable in the summer, which is really nice after a 100 degree day!

Comments (5)

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    15 years ago

    I doubt the traditional sugar maples, Acer saccharum, would be very happy in your location. It's a tree that prefers some more distinct seasonal variations and doesn't tolerate high heat or very dry conditions well. I wouldn't recommend it for a high desert setting. Many species of maples will produce a lot of sap during the course of the early growing season but whether these can be tapped to produce enough to bother with, what it would ultimately taste like and whether your climate even encourages that highly seasonal production of sap is kind of up for speculation. Maple syrup production and the high California desert just don't seem to fit well together :-)

    I'd look at the maples that could be expected to perform best in a hot, dry climate......maybe a shantung maple (Acer truncatum).

    I'm all for zonal denial but sometimes we just have to accept that certain gardening situations will create limitations that are difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. I truly do not think your climate and location will be the slightest bit suitable to the production of any kind of maple syrup.

  • erin_g
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks gardengal! My logic tells me that what you've said is all too true. However, there is one thing that sticks out in my mind that I just can't seem to get past. Out here, grapes are a big thing, as everyone knows. What isn't known by a lot of folks, is that the hotter and drier it is, the sweeter the grapes turn out, which typically lead to "a good year" for wines. Don't ask me to define it in scientific terms, because I couldn't. But the sugars in the grapes are apparently affected a great deal (in a good way) when the heat is turned up, and they are allowed to be somewhat drier than usual, (not to the detriment of the survival of the vine, though).

    Now follow me here for a moment...if sugars behave in generally the same way in all plant life, then wouldn't the same be expected of tree sap in maples? Would hotter, drier weather create sweeter sugars in the sap? Of course, I don't want to try and reinvent the wheel, but I've not seen any instance of where anyone has tried this either. Of course, there's really only one way to find out for sure, and that's to just suck it up, plant a few, and hope for the best, right? :)

    Anyway, thanks for the advice....I was hoping desperately that someone had information of a devoloped hybrid....a sugar maple crossed with a drought tolerant variety, and gorgeous fall color wouldn't hurt, of course! :)

  • kaitain4
    15 years ago

    You might try Acer barbatum - the Florida Maple or Souther Sugar Maple. Not sure how much value it has for sugar production, but it will definitely grow in hotter areas. See link below:

    http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/ACEBARA.pdf

    Regards,

    K4

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    15 years ago

    I'm no expert on maple syrup, but my understanding is that it's the cold that concentrates the sugars in the sap. Actually cold will concentrate sugars in grapes as well. Cold harvest grapes - those that have been left on the vine and allowed to go through a couple of decent frosts - are those used to create some of the sweeter desert wines, called "ice wines" :-)

    Heat can also affect fall coloring as well and not necessarily in a good way.....those areas which don't experience a sharp seasonal turn in the weather in late summer/early fall may not develop much color in their trees either.

  • jayco
    15 years ago

    I'm also no expert, but I believe you need freezing nights in winter in order to induce sap flow.

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