Trees - Maple
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  (January) I have three red leaf maples that are about five years old. I would like to trim the lower limbs to make it easier to mow under them. What time of year is best for trimming them?

  Lower limb pruning can be done whenever it is necessary. It is often easier to see what you are doing when there are no leaves present. Maples can be heavy bleeders of sap, so don't be alarmed if you see sap pouring out in the spring. It won't hurt the tree, and should stop fairly soon.

  Enclosed are some seed pods from a small tree growing in my yard. Can you tell me what type of tree produces these?

  The fruit is technically called a samara, but commonly a "helicopter", because if you throw one in the air it whirls around like a helicopter. These fruits are produced on maple trees. As to which species, it is hard to tell from the seed, and if you enclosed a leaf with the sample it was hard to tell since inside the plastic bag it all turned somewhat mushy. (For future samples, place them flat on a piece of paper.)

  I have several maple trees in my yard, and I can’t grow anything underneath them because of surface roots. People trip over them if they walk through the yard. Are there any solutions to dealing with this problem? What about cutting the roots and reestablishing grass, or putting in a raised flower bed around it?

  Some trees are more prone to surface roots than others, and you have some good candidates. Regardless of your attempts to deal with them, they are a fact of life as long as you have those trees. Do you need to have a lawn or flower bed in that area? Why not simply fill in this area with mulch? It will cover up the roots and prevent accidents, and it won’t damage the tree. Cutting the roots can cause damage to the tree if they are important roots. Putting in a flower bed opens up new avenues for the roots to grow in, and they will always compete for water and nutrients. You are also limited by how much soil can be put down around roots without damaging the trees. Mulching would be much simpler, and is aesthetically appealing.

  Can I start red maple or sugar maple trees from the "helicopter-like" seeds that spin to the ground? If so, please tell me how. 

  The "helicopters" are called samaras, and do contain the seeds. The seeds of red maple mature in the spring, while the fruit of sugar maples mature in the fall. For the red maple seeds, harvest as they fall, and immediately plant. They usually germinate easily, but if you want uniform germination, soak the seeds 2 - 5 days in cold water, then plant. For sugar maple seeds, harvest seeds in the fall as they drop. They are often devoid of sound seeds–(although they make a seed, they are often hollow.) Cut into a few to see if they are sound or not before planting. Sugar maple seeds must be stratified (stored in a plastic bag with moist potting soil in your refrigerator) for 60 - 90 days. Then plant.

  Help. Almost 20 years ago I planted 2 sugar maples. They have beautiful fall colors. Three years ago one died from some sort of blight. This year the survivor has the same thing. Leaves didn't grow and they are brown on the edges. Is there anything I can do? If not when should I cut it down? I'd like to put one of those fast growing Bradley Pear trees in its place. Any problem? Thanks for your help. 

  Sugar maples are not the best suited trees for Arkansas, they do better further north. They are not particularly well suited for drought or heat. If they were not well watered last year and this, that could be leading to their demise. You don't need to remove them this year, but give them a chance to come out in the spring, and then determine whether to keep them or not. As to planting a Bradford pear, I would take a close look at that. They are pretty trees, and fast growing, but in the past few years they have begun to have problems. Because of fast growth, they tend to be weak wooded, and snap off or split during storms. There have also been some disease problems. There are some other flowering pear trees without the problems, but decide what you want. Is flowering important, fall color, etc. Then choose a hardy replacement tree without so many problems.

  I picked the enclosed leaves from a neighbors yard in my home town of Hazen. The tree was spectacular in color and size. It looks to me like some species of maple, but it is much larger than most. I have never seen so many colors as in its leaves. I am a ‘tree nut’ and have 52 different varieties on my land. I would truly like to know what this is. Thanks for your help.

  The tree in question is a red maple, Acer rubrum. While we often think of red maples as a smaller tree, it has the potential to grow up to 100 feet in time if it is a favorable site. As with many of the maples, they can turn a wide variety of colorful shades in the fall.

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