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nuxx

Silver and Autumn Blaze Maple Questions

nuxx
13 years ago

We just planted a Silver and an Autumn Blaze Maple trees and are wondering what to expect for the spring / summer in terms of growth.

The Silver is around 7 feet and the Autumn Blaze is around 10 feet.

I've heard they won't grow or even change color in the fall for 2-3 years. On the other hand I heard they will ground 2-4 feet the first growing season.

Just curious what people who own these maples actually saw :)

Comments (8)

  • Embothrium
    13 years ago

    Both are fast growing large trees. Stunted top growth after transplanting is due to adversities like cutting of roots and poor handling after digging. So, someone who has happier specimens will see better growth after transplanting. Healthy plants should resume normal top growth the second spring after being dug. Almost no top growth after transplanting = a very unhappy specimen.

  • gardningrandma
    13 years ago

    You may have read the phrase around here... "sleep, creep, leap?"
    The first year you probably won't expect much growth. Slightly more the next and then they take off.

    I manage a lot of maples. In my area, the red maples seem to establish much faster than the freeman/autumn blaze but this varies depending on where you are located. We don't use silver maples so can't comment on their establishment rate.

  • whaas_5a
    13 years ago

    Agreed, with the statement above.

    My Autumn blaze grew maybe 6" the first year?
    It put on about 4' this year.

    Silver Maple is only a good choice if you require quick shade in a large area (and don't plan on gardening under them). They are extremely aggressive and grow very fast when young/juvenile.

    Previous owner planted 2 at my current house! I cut down one. The other I kept because it was nice shade in a large crappy soil area.

    Its 12-14 years old and is 35-40' tall...that is in crappy, clay subsoil and it gets very little water as its at a peak of a slope.

  • Embothrium
    13 years ago

    The automatic, universal 3 year wait (sleep creep leap) is a falsehood. See my previous remarks. You can observe the quick recovery interval in the structure of many specimens large enough to show it, that have been transplanted on an occasion prior to the most recent one (for final sale). Growers are often using sites or techniques that keep the stock coming on as fast as possible. I've seen long internodes underneath and on top, with one set of short ones between, indicating a growth made after transplanting which was followed the very next cycle by another long growth.

  • nuxx
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks guys, can't wait for them to shoot up a bit more :)

  • tree_oracle
    13 years ago

    Here is my Autumn Blaze when I planted it in 2003 and then six years later:

    2003
    {{gwi:409717}}

    2009
    {{gwi:450568}}

    The fall color wasn't very good for 3-4 years after it was planted but it puts on a good show now. The color never has been the intense scarlet that you see in a lot of pictures. The tree was roughly 8 ft tall or so when it was planted. I would guess that it's around 25 ft tall now. It's easily putting on 2-3 ft of growth per year and my area doesn't have a long growing season.

  • whaas_5a
    13 years ago

    What happened to all the trees in the back six years later!?!

  • tree_oracle
    13 years ago

    Unfortunately, the lot across the street and the one next to it were cleared and two homes were built there. I really hated losing the woods. Not only was it more private, but the wind had this really cool eerie sound blowing through the trees over there. The bright side to losing the woods is that it reduced my deer problem. I used to come home to 20-30 deer in my front yard and they would eat just about anything I planted. They even mowed down my rose garden. I would think that would be like eating glass but not for them. I still have them around but they aren't as much of a problem.