Questions & Answers

Q&A – What are those white blotches on my tree?

Posted by MLF Webmaster on
 August 22, 2019

Recently we had a question come to our mailbox about white spots on their trees’ bark.

MLF Tree Expert Carl Mansfield replied:

Your tree appears to have lichens growing on the outer bark.

Lichens are colourful crusts found growing on trees, rocks and other objects. They are often thought to be a pest or disease of trees and shrubs, but not so.

Lichens are non-parasitic plant-like organisms that pose no harm to the trees on which they grow. They use the outer bark of trees as a place to live and grow. They do not penetrate into the inner bark of trees and take no nourishment or water from the trees. 

A lichen consists of two different organisms engaged in a symbiotic relationship. One is a fungus, whose job it is to anchor the lichen to an object where it will grow. The other is a bluish-green algae that turns sunlight into food for the lichen. There are many kinds of lichens. They are spread by spores and tiny bits of lichen, blown on the wind.

Lichens aren’t often noticed until a tree appears to be unhealthy or dying; don’t blame the lichens. The only thing they’re killing is time.

  • Carl Mansfield, MLF’s Tree Expert
All About Maples Caring for your maple News Questions & Answers

Early Fall leaf colour change indicates failing health

Posted by MLF Webmaster on
 August 1, 2018

Some maples exhibiting premature leaf colour change. Note the other healthy (green) maples.

Some maples exhibiting premature leaf colour change. Note the other healthy (green) maples.

Our Tree Guy answered a call from a concerned landowner with a tree problem. Several of the maple trees that lined his laneway were showing an out-of-season ‘fall-like’ colour change.

Premature leaf colour change is a reliable indicator of failing health.

First thoughts were that the trees were suffering from extreme drought stress. The trees hadn’t been watered this year. Trees that don’t get enough water, or are stressed for other reasons may stop producing chlorophyll causing the other pigments within the leaves to begin to show.

Further examination revealed the cause of the stress.

Severe damage to base of tree trunk caused by string trimmer.

Severe damage to base of tree trunk caused by string trimmer. The bark at the base of the tree has been stripped away, exposing the xylem tissue.

Routine property maintenance included the use of a string trimmer to cut the grass around the trees. Repeated use of the string trimmer had completely cut through the bark at the base of the trees that were showing the leaf colour change.

The”xylem” tissue, found under the bark, was exposed and had been damaged as well, reducing the tree’s ability to move moisture and nutrients from the roots to the rest of the tree.

A less severely damaged maple showing random leaf colour change.

A less severely damaged maple showing random leaf colour change

Five of the 22 trees were damaged beyond saving and will be expensive to replace. Several others will require attention to avoid additional losses.

An action plan was discussed. References were provided to help the landowner as he begins to make repairs to the remaining trees and attempts to improve their health.

All About Maples Caring for your maple News Questions & Answers

Shades of Red: What is a Red Maple Tree?

Posted by MLF Webmaster on
 May 15, 2017

Native Red Maple - fall foliage

Native Red Maple – fall foliage

In the nursery and landscape industry, saying the words “Red Maple” can apply to several distinctly different tree species and the many cultivars developed from these species. The average homeowner can get confused reading the labels tied to the trees at a nursery or garden centre. He just wants a red maple tree that will improve his property’s curb appeal and have attractive fall colours.

“Red Maples” fall into two basic groups. The first grouping is Native Maples consisting of Red Maple and Freeman’s Maple, a lesser known native maple that grows in parts of southern Ontario. Both species have green leaves throughout the summer  months and attractive fall foliage with colours ranging from yellows to orange-red and red. The second group is a collection of “red-leaved” cultivars of the non-native Norway maple that have showy burgundy to reddish-purple leaves all summer long. Their fall colour is unimpressive. These groups are distinctly different.

Native Red maple (Acer rubrum)

True red maples (Acer rubrum) are impressive shade trees that grow to a height of 16 metres with a spread of 15 meters. Some get much larger. Red maple gets its name from the clusters of small, red buds and flowers that appear on the tree in early spring. The flowers become reddish-green winged fruits (samaras) by early-May. The fruit matures in mid to late-May and is used as a food source by some wildlife.

Mid-summer is the easiest time to tell native red maples from the “red-leaved” non-native maples many people mistakenly think are “red maples”. The leaves of red maples have a blush of red when they start to open in the spring, are green all summer long and turn to shades of yellow, orange and red (sometimes on the same tree), lasting for several weeks in the fall. Red maples are amongst the earliest trees to show colour changes in the fall. In nature, red maple trees vary greatly in fall colouration and intensity.

The nursery industry has developed many Acer rubrum cultivars (Trade names), each with its own distinguishing characteristics of form, growth rate, adaptability to habitat, hardiness and fall leaf colour. Cultivars of red maple are more consistently fall coloured than naturally occurring trees.

Click images below for more information on Native Red Maple trees [or download PDF].

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Native Freeman’s maple (Acer freemanii)

Freeman’s Maple is a lesser known native maple species found growing naturally in parts of southern Ontario and the Lake States. It is a naturally occurring hybrid of two native maple parents – red maple   (Acer rubrum) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum). The hybridization takes the best qualities of both parents – the solid structure, attractive form and showy fall colours of red maple and the adaptability and faster growth from the silver maple.

Acer x freemanii prefers moist, acidic soils with good drainage and is more tolerant of high pH soils than native red maple. It is less susceptible to chlorosis symptoms than either red or silver maples. Their green summer leaves change to yellows and red-orange hues in the fall, varying from tree to tree.

Freeman’s Maple is produced as Acer x freemanii cultivars by the nursery industry. Cultivars are grown from cuttings or by grafting (not from seed), producing near identical offspring of the parent tree. They are given Trade names, some have been patented – like Jeffersred Maple, more commonly called Autumn Blaze Maple. Their consistent form, faster growth rate and brilliant orange-red fall colours have made cultivars of Freeman’s Maple popular in the urban landscape.

Every Autumn Blaze Maple will look very much like the parent it originated from, whereas Native Freeman’s Maple trees grown from seedlings planted into nursery fields will have the varying morphological characteristics common to the species.

Click images below for more information on Native Freeman’s Maple trees or [or download PDF].

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Non-Native Norway Maple and its “Red-Leaved” Cultivars

In the nursery world, many “other Maples” display vivid burgundy, maroon and reddish-purple leaves all summer long. They are called “red-leaved” maples. The most popular variety being “Crimson King” maple, which is not a red maple at all. It is a cultivar of Norway Maple (Acer plantanoides), a European tree that has leaves that look similar to native sugar maple. Crimson King maple was introduced in the US in 1947 as a seedling of A. plantanoides ‘Shwedleri” nigrum.

The brightly coloured leaves begin to unfurl  shortly after clusters of yellow flowers appear in spring. The flowers become reddish-purple samaras with horizontally spreading wings by late summer. Crimson King Maples have a dense maroon red foliage all summer. The fall colour is a dull brownish-yellow.

It has a moderate growth rate. Height to 12 meters with a spread of 10 meters.

The seed has a low germinative capacity causing many to consider Crimson King as a potentially less invasive species than its parent – Norway maple.

Click images below for more information on non-native “red-leaved” cultivars of Norway maple [or download PDF].

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

The “Royal Red” Maple is a more recent cultivar of Norway maple. It is rumoured to be slightly smaller at maturity, a bit faster growing and hardier than the closely related Crimson King. It also has slightly better colour than Crimson King with glossy deep maroon foliage all summer long turning reddish-bronze in the fall. Both varieties provide dense shade, have a straight trunk and a well shaped canopy.

Many other red-leaved Norway maple cultivars are available from your local nursery or garden centre, each with its own landscape potential. They vary in form, growth rate, mature size and seasonal colour characteristics.

Native Red and Freeman’s Maple qualify for Rebate consideration when planted under the provisions of the Maple Leaves Forever “Thank You Rebate” program.

Cultivars developed from Native Maples, non-native maples and their cultivars are not eligible for Rebate consideration.

Compiled and written by Carl Mansfield, Arboreal Consultant, Maple Leaves Forever
Editing and layout by Mary Bella, Webmaster & Communications, Maple Leaves Forever

 

News Planting Advice Questions & Answers

Autumn’s Colourful Display – Why do tree leaves change in the fall?

Posted by MLF Webmaster on
 October 18, 2016

In the fall, the leaves of deciduous trees turn yellow, orange, red or mixes thereof. The vivid yellow and orange colours that we see in the fall are present throughout the spring and summer, but are not readily visible to our eye.

Tree leaves contain three primary pigments: carotenenoids, anthocyanin and the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll, which captures the sun’s energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen.  As the most abundant pigment, chlorophyll gives leaves their green hues in the spring and summer, while masking the other pigments.

As the hours of sunlight decrease in the fall, the veins that carry sap into and out of a leaf gradually close. With the approach of cooler weather and daylight hours getting shorter, the tree’s growth processes turn to preserving food for the winter months. The tree stores the available nutrients and food in the tree’s roots, branches, stems and trunk until next spring when they are recycled to re-leaf the tree.

With the loss of chlorophyll, other pigments present in the leaves become visible to the human eye. Carotenoids, already in the leaves, shine through as the yellows of maples, birches and aspens; the browns in autumn leaves are the result of tannins, a chemical that exists in many leaves, especially oaks.

The yellow, gold and orange colours created by carotenoids remain fairly constant from year to year. That’s because carotenoids are always present in leaves and the amount does not change in response to weather.

Red maple flaggingIn some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves to turn this glucose into red pigment bearing anthocyanins. Anthocyanins provide the oranges and reds of maples, sumac and oaks. Most anthocyanins are produced in the fall, and only under certain conditions. Not all trees can make anthocyanins.

When a number of warm, sunny autumn days and cool nights come one after the other, with low moisture levels, we can expect vibrant fall colours with an abundance of reds. The frequency and amount of rain during the year also affects the autumn leaf colour.  If there’s more cloudy days with less sun, anthocyanin isn’t as chemically active and the maple leaves are more yellow or orange than red. Colours are muted, subdued.

"The leaf is expendable and falls."Before they completely die, the leaves take the nitrogen, nutrients and sugar… and move it back to the trunk for storage. A cork-like barrier forms at the base of the leaf stem, separating the leaf from the tissue that connects the leaf to the branch. The leaf is expendable and falls.

Credits:

  • “by EarthSky in Earth” – September 2016
  • Trees Inside Out – virtual museum – Montreal
  • Science Daily – UW – October 2007
  • Globe and Mail – Nicole Mortillaro – September, 2015
  • Wisconsin Dept. Nat. Resources – Why do Leaves Change Color?
Photos property of Maple Leaves Forever
Written by Carl Mansfield, Arboreal Consultant, Maple Leaves Forever
Layout by Mary Bella, Webmaster & Communications, Maple Leaves Forever
News Questions & Answers

MLF Guide to planting small seedlings

Posted by MLF Webmaster on
 September 21, 2015

The following question came in to the MLF inbox, and we thought the answer might interest fellow maple advocates:

To plant or not plant saplings over their first winter?
Hello, I discovered 16 saplings under my maple tree this spring and transplanted them into containers to protect and preserve them from meeting their demise due to my lawnmower. How should I care for them during the winter months as I live in Zone 6? I have heard to bring them inside or plant them. However as a novice I am not sure what to do!

I have become so protective of them as they are not 6 inches tall (most on average) and want them to flourish for next spring/summer. Any advice you can give will be most helpful.

Many thanks,
Michele

Here’s a “How to” for transplanting your small sugar maple saplings:

  1. Plant your maple saplings between now and mid-October. Don’t wait for spring. Maples grow best in a well drained loamy to sandy loam soil.
  2. At the selected planting site, remove any surface litter and dig a hole at least twice a wide and 1 1/2 times the depth of the pot.
  3. Wet the soil in the containers (pots); invert a pot and tap the bottom of the pot to release the small sapling from the pot.
  4. Place a few cm of fertile soil in the bottom of the planting hole before centering the sapling/soil mass in the planting hole to a position that is level with the surrounding soil surface.
  5. Water the sapling/soil mass and the soil surface within the hole; allow to drain before filling around the sapling with soil dug from the hole earlier.
  6. Form a saucer shaped depression around the sapling by using the toe of your shoe to firm the soil around the sapling and in the hole. Rainfall and water will collect in this saucer and soak into the soil to support tree growth.
  7. To check if the sapling is firmly set into place, grasp the stem and gently pulling upward. If there is resistance, the sapling is planted properly and its roots are in contact with surrounding soil. Check that the sapling is in a vertical upright position before watering the sapling for the second time.
  8. Add 3 – 4 cm of mulch to the soil surface around the sapling, extending the mulch to cover an area of 25 – 30 cm square to reduce moisture evaporation and weed growth.
  9. Because of their small size and the reported local ravenous lawn mower, place a small stake (marker) beside each sapling.

Maple saplings are often browsed by mice, rabbits and other vermin during the winter and early spring seasons. Commercial protective (non-toxic) products are available to protect your saplings from this demise. SCOOT is one of these products – available at most garden centers, TSC and CO-OP stores. Follow label directions.

In nature maple saplings develop (grow) under the the shade of the mature trees around them. They will grow under these conditions for many years waiting for an opening to develop in the canopy above them. When this happens, the saplings grow rapidly and compete with each other to fill the opening.

Young Maples need, at the least, partial shade during their early years of development – until they are 1.2 – 2.0 m in height. Choose a planting location that provides them with at least 6 – 8 hours of protection from direct (full) sunlight during the warmest part of the day. If this isn’t possible, accept that some of your small saplings may die from exposure, some will have suppressed growth for many years and some may develop a bush form rather than a tree if exposed to full sunlight during the day.

Written by Carl Mansfield, Arboreal Consultant, Maple Leaves Forever
Caring for your maple Questions & Answers

MLF answers question about sick maple tree

Posted by MLF Webmaster on
 November 13, 2014

A few weeks ago, we received a Tweet from one of our contacts asking:
@MLeavesForever any ideas why the top branches of my #maple grow well at first then top most leaves brown buds die?
sick maple treesick maple tree

A tree expert and friend of Maple Leaves Forever, Carl Mansfield, looked into this question for us:

I checked a few references to confirm my  best Guess as to what may be causing the terminal die-back, dead twigs and discolored, curled and dead  leaves  that are evident in the photo that accompanied the email you shared with me. From my experience with maple trees lined out in the nursery environment, there are several insects that can cause this type of damage when the buds break and new growth begins in the spring time on Maples and several other deciduous species. Two pests that we monitored for were:

  • The potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae attacks a wide variety of native and ornamental plants. It produces symptoms of injury on both leaves and twigs. Several generations can be present on the tree at the same time. When it is sufficiently numerous, it can cause curled, dwarfed and distorted leaves, and can kill twigs and small branches, most often in the upper crown of the affected tree.  In birches and maples, the potato leafhopper feeds on the terminals and tender twigs. This injury may result in dead twigs and shortened, swollen internodes as well as pale distorted leaves that often exhibit dead margins. This leafhopper overwinters in the egg stage on the twigs of the host trees. When  laying eggs the ovipositor of the female cuts slits into the twig tissue often completely circling the twig. This damage injures or kills the twig. The leaf hopper, Alebra albostriella is not as common as E. fabae. It feeds on birch, hickory, oak and maples. Some authors have given it the common name, maple leaf hopper.
  • The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris also causes damage to maples. The adults go into hibernation in the fall, and become active in the early spring, about the time the first leaves begin to form. The nymphs suck plant sap from newly developing leaves which later turn into distorted shapes. They continue to feed on the host plants until they mature as adults.  Enzymes secreted in the siliva are thought to cause the effectsdamage to the buds and leaves.  Adults are capable fliers and readily move about to lay eggs on a variety of hosts. There are two to five generations per season depending on geographic location.

My suspicions are that leafhoppers may be the primary cause of the leaf/stem damage reported. They caused the most significant damage to our maple limers and larger trees.  I cannot suggest a control measure as there are very few products (pesticides) available to the public. One reference suggested that leafhoppers were not an annually reoccurring pest (populations can be cyclic) and that controls may not be necessary. My experience has been otherwise.

Your customer may be able to Google these insects to find more information on these pests and to determine if the damage is comparable.

Carl Mansfield

Caring for your maple Questions & Answers

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