Family: Maple or Sapind. Rod: Maple. Species: American maple (Acer negundo) or Ash-leaved maple.
Found in the wild in North America. Refers to light-loving plants. Prefers nutritious, medium moisture soils. Requires moderate watering. Plant height reaches 20 meters and a little more. Life expectancy in the wild is up to 100 years. Reproduction method: seeds.
American Maple Tree and Leaves
American maple belongs to deciduous trees. The tree has a short, brown trunk branched at the base. The older the tree, the darker the bark of its trunk. Young maples have small cracks on the surface of the bark. As the tree "matures", they become deeper, gradually turning into grooves.
Long, spreading, smooth branches of green or olive color extend from the branching of the trunk. On the branches of the tree, you can often see a bluish, less often purple bloom. The crown is wide and spreading.
Leaves are compound, pinnate, petiolate. Each leaf consists of 3 or 5 long (up to 10 cm) leaves. The leaves have a serrated edge and a pointed, sometimes lobed, apex. The upper surface of the leaf is darker than the lower. The lower part of the leaf is slightly pubescent. In autumn, the leaves change color to shades of yellow and red.
The leaves of the American maple are similar in appearance to the leaves of an ash tree, hence one of the "names" of this plant - the Ash-shaped maple. Maple is a dioecious plant. On the same tree, but on different branches, there are both female and male flowers. Male flowers are collected in hanging bunches. Their anthers are colored reddish. Female inflorescences are green and are collected in a brush inflorescence. American maple begins to bloom in May. Flowering continues until the first leaves appear. In autumn, white fluffy buds form on the tree.
The fruit of a lionfish, containing one seed and two wings, is about 4 cm long. Lionfish ripen in late summer (August, September) and remain on the plant until spring. Mature trees are highly frost-resistant and easily tolerate low (down to -35 ° C) temperatures. Frost resistance of young trees is much lower.
The plant is characterized by rapid growth and rapid development. Easily tolerates high air pollution, adapted to growing in urban conditions. Life expectancy in outdoor conditions is approximately 30 years. Differs in high fragility. Propagated by seeds (self-seeding) and pneumatic shoots.
Distribution of the American ash-leaved maple
In the wild, American maple is found in tugai (forest along the uninterrupted river banks) in Canada and the United States. It can be seen in the Far East, in Central Asia, in deciduous forests on highly moistened, even swampy, soil.
In Russia, in a wild state, it is widespread in the Central region and Siberia. American maple successfully coexists with various types of poplars, willows, as well as oak and ash.
Maple use
Due to its rapid growth and unpretentiousness, American maple is widely used for landscaping city streets, when creating parks and alleys.
However, this plant, as a gardener, has disadvantages:
- short life expectancy in urban conditions (up to 30 years).
- fragility caused by strong wind, rain and hail.
- the presence of a rapidly developing root growth that destroys the asphalt and requires correction.
- the formation of a large amount of pollen during flowering, which can cause allergic reactions in humans.
- a very large, wide crown shading the streets, which is a habitat for insects, including ticks.
- Roots and decaying leaves release toxins that can inhibit the growth of other plants growing near the maple.
- Abundant self-seeding leads to excessive growth of growth, which has to be dealt with like a weed.
Thus, the use of this plant as a landscaping plant is not always justified.
In decorative terms, American maple is of little value. It has a beautiful crown, picturesquely painted by nature in the autumn. Thanks to the different shades of the leaves (green, yellow and reddish), it looks very impressive.
In landscape design, the plant is practically not used. This is due to the structural features of its trunk. It is short, branched, and often curved. The branches are very fragile. American maple is not suitable for hedging and is most often used as a temporary breed used for quick landscaping in combination with other, more decorative, but slow-growing species.
The wood of the ash-shaped maple is short-lived and does not differ in strength, therefore it is suitable only for the manufacture of wooden containers and some household items.
The lower, widest part of the trunk (butt) and growths on the trunk (burls) of this plant on the cut have an unusual pattern, therefore they are widely used for making creative works. Vases, sculptures are cut out of them, handles for knives are cut out.
In the spring, the plant produces abundant sweet juice. In some countries, for example, in North America, maple began to be used as a sugar plant.
In the wild, the plant is popular with birds who like to nest in its dense crown, and in the fall they eat lionfish. They love to feast on the fruits of maple and squirrels.
The plant has a breeding value. On its basis, scientists create new decorative forms of trees and shrubs. The result of selection is the Flamingo maple, which is of great decorative value.
Tree care
American maple does not require thorough maintenance. If you pay close attention to the plant and pamper it with your attention, it will thank you with a gorgeous crown and give you shade and coolness on a hot summer day.
Planting care consists in applying mineral fertilizers directly to the planting pits. After planting, it is desirable to carry out mulching of the trunk circles. Mulching is done with a five centimeter layer or peat.
In the spring, the plant is fed with a solution of potassium and sodium fertilizers. Summer feeding is carried out with the fertilizer "Kemira-wagon".
American maple easily tolerates drought, but thrives and grows better when watered. Watering rate: 15 liters under a tree. For young trees, the rate should be doubled. It is advisable to water the plant once a month, dry summer - once a week.
During the summer period, weeding and loosening of the soil is desirable in order to enrich it with oxygen. Summer care includes pruning dry and diseased branches. In some varieties, lateral branches are actively growing; it is also better to remove them.
In late autumn, the root collars of young (annual) plants should be covered with dense material or spruce branches. They are sensitive to frost. Mature plants are frost-hardy and do not need winter protection.
Growing
Plants are planted in spring or autumn.Planting with seedlings is carried out in specially prepared pits, at a shallow depth. The root collar of the seedling should be at ground level. If groundwater passes near the landing site, or planting is carried out in swampy soils, it is necessary to loosen the bottom of the pit well. Drainage containing sand and construction waste is introduced into the recess for planting, with a layer of up to 20 cm.
When planting, seedlings are placed at a distance of 3-4 meters from each other. To create a hedge - every one and a half, two meters.
Ash-leaved Maple Flamingo
It grows wild in North America. The tree was brought to Europe in the 17th century. It has been cultivated in Russia since 1796. Outwardly, this type of maple is a low deciduous tree or shrub with many trunks. Plant height 5-8 meters. The distinctive features of this species are the leaves and crown.
The Flamingo maple has complex, pinnate leaves, consisting of individual petiole leaves (from 3 to 5). The length of the leaf is 10 cm.The color of the leaves changes as they bloom:
- leaves are silvery-gray on young shoots.
- in summer, a white - pink border and spots of the same shade appear on them, unevenly distributed over the entire area of the leaf blade.
- closer to autumn, the color of the leaves becomes bright pink with dark pink and greenish stripes.
The crown of the tree has a round shape with a diameter of up to 4 meters and an openwork appearance. It is distinguished by an unusual color. The tree looks very beautiful and becomes a real decoration of streets, squares and gardens. The plant retains its decorative effect throughout its life.
Like other members of the Maple genus, the Flamingo maple is a dioecious plant. One plant contains both male and female inflorescences. They are quite small and have a greenish tint. The fruits are gray lionfish.
This type of maple grows well in illuminated areas, loves fertile, well-moisturized soil. Resistant to low temperatures.
