Monday, October 12, 2009

Fall Colors So Brilliant in The Legacy Sugar Maple

LEGACY SUGAR MAPLE


The Legacy Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum ‘legacy”) is a part of the aceraceae family. It is the maple with the most tolerance towards shade, which is one of the reasons it is in high demand. It has a shape of the oval. This tree would be great in large parks because of the view it provides, especially during fall when the leaves are stunning shades of orange and red. In warmer climates they tend to be a spectacular yellow color. A greenish-yellow flower is produced in 1-3” clusters come the middle of the spring season. The bark is an eccentric color of grayish brown when it reaches its point of full maturity. This type of tree can be tapped for maple syrup, which is another great characteristic.

This tree grows to be very large ranging from 40-80 feet in height, 30-40 feet in width, and at an average of 13-24” per year. This tree unlike many others has a great number of tolerances having to do with climate, weather, soils, even wildlife such as deer and rabbits. Clay, sand, and loam are among the different types of soils that it can tolerate, as long as they are moist with a decent drainage system and contain extra phosphorus for positive root development. Also make sure to fertilize every couple of years. Its leaves have a leathery feel and are able to resist heat, leaf tatter, and drought. It also has environments it cannot thrive in such as areas of high pollution, salt, or leaf scorch. The leaf scorch can be caused by drought resulting in verticillium wilt. To keep the tree in its required moist state, putting a 3-inch layer of mulch will help it with this and can cause it to grow faster than non-mulched trees. Making sure to give it at least one inch of water weekly will help too; make sure not to let it dry out. By adding nitrogen it will make for a deep green leaf growth, but avoid this technique towards the end of the growing season as it will cause a forced vegetation growth leaving it with no chance at hardening before the winter months. Full sun, which is anywhere from 3-6 hours per day, will give it superb flowering capability and luscious fall foliage. The best spots for a lot of sun are at the southwestern parts of buildings if there objects casting shade upon it.

When preparing to plant the tree, make the hole about 3-4 times the size of its root ball with the same amount of depth, putting back at least half of the original soil when filling in the hole. If you live in a windy climate, make sure to place stakes on either side of trunk. When the weather starts to get warm and dry, watch for verticillium or fusarium wilt, which can happen due to soil, previous plants or infected seeds. It results from cool, moist conditions and infected weeds as well. When and if it becomes infected, make sure to remove so it does not cause spreading to other trees.

A pest such as aphids, cause stunting and deformities of leaves and buds by sucking the moisture out of them. They also transmit viruses by piercing the leaves with their mouthparts. They are described as green, brown, or black and with or without wings. A good thing is that it would take a lot of them to cause any kind of serious or permanent damage. They can also be the cause if the tree were to obtain sooty mold due to the aphid’s production of honeydew. You should watch for them in the spring and fall months. You can rid your tree of these pests by using a pesticide treatment.

You can get you Legacy Sugar Maple at our TN Nursery for a low wholesale price, which we offer, on everything. We have all your landscaping needs, from perennials to shrubs to berry trees. At Wetlands you can view all we have to offer of the native type. There are many types of grasses, trees, and others.

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