Description
Acer rubrum – red maple
Quality: 1/1 P 30-50
Short description: The red maple from North America delights in three ways throughout the year: bright red flower clusters appear in March even before the leaves emerge, in summer the foliage impresses with a rich dark green, and in autumn the crown turns into a blaze of scarlet, orange and gold. With its fast growth and exceptional soil tolerance, it is one of the most versatile deciduous trees for larger gardens and park landscapes.
Climatic characteristics & site conditions: The red maple is very frost-hardy down to −35 °C and copes with all southern German winters without any problems. Particularly valuable is its tolerance of moist and periodically waterlogged soils—making it one of the few suitable tree species for floodplains, lowlands and groundwater-near sites in the Alpine foothills or the Rhine Valley. On dry, lime-rich soils of the Swabian Jura or the Muschelkalk region, however, it is not the first choice.
Advantages: Three-season colour effect, very frost-hardy, soil-tolerant even on moist sites, fast growth, impressive habit.
Disadvantages: Not native and therefore of lower ecological value for native insects, hardly suitable on dry calcareous soils, requires a lot of space, strong root system can affect paving and hardscapes.
