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By
JUDITH ADAM
Photos by SIMON CHEUNG |
Maple
Leaves Forever |
| You
are likely to see a maple tree from the vantage point of any
Canadian doorstep. In fact, you may see several of your own
and enough of your neighbour's to make a small forest. |
Maples are an arboreal fixation for Canadians. Never has a tree
been loved by so many, for so long. We have abiding tolerance
for the maple's ways and means of spreading progeny, and obligingly
allow maple keys to root into every nook and cranny. Several
years down the road, when shade begins to spread over the garden,
we are still reluctant to remove saplings. Uprooting these aggressive
youngsters is about as acceptable as ruining a sunset. After
all, the profile of the maple leaf is firmly affixed to our
flag, our national character, and our lapels when we travel
abroad.
 You
are likely to see a maple tree from the vantage point of any
Canadian doorstep. In fact, you may see several of your own
and enough of your neighbour's to make a small forest. Maples
are an arboreal fixation for Canadians. Never has a tree been
loved by so many, for so long. We have abiding tolerance for
the maple's ways and means of spreading progeny, and obligingly
allow maple keys to root into every nook and cranny. Several
years down the road, when shade begins to spread over the garden,
we are still reluctant to remove saplings. Uprooting these aggressive
youngsters is about as acceptable as ruining a sunset. After
all, the profile of the maple leaf is firmly affixed to our
flag, our national character, and our lapels when we travel
abroad.
In the Victorian language of flowers, maples symbolize reserve,
a characteristic that reflects Canadian heritage and values,
and is associated with the strengths necessary to build a nation
in the North. But before the maple was an image of national
pride, it was a tangible asset. We were quick to realize the
usefulness of the maple forests, using the wood for axles and
spokes, fabricating Windsor chairs, inlaying mahogany, and as
a major component in the production of potash fertilizer (maple
ash is high in this mineral). The profits from the sugar maple
(Acer saccharum) also included the manufacture of good molasses
and excellent vinegar after the sweet sap was finished.
THE HISTORY
Many of the maples lining our streets and country lanes are
old and weathered relics of a time when big trees were the only
choices. The garden naturalist William Robinson (The English
Flower Garden, 1883) thought the big maples, Norway maple and
silver maple (A. platanoides and A. saccharinum), were "of the
highest value," and wrote, "It is doubtful if there is any finer
tree than this when old," a point contemporary gardeners might
dispute after encountering maple roots in the dahlia bed. The
simple logic of placing large plants in large spaces seems to
have eluded city fathers in many munici-palities and has greatly
increased the ranks of dry shade gardeners on small city lots.
Under ideal growing conditions, big maples can reach 36 metres
and live for up to 200 years on your front lawn. But no tree
lives forever, and moderately sized maples can be big assets
in smaller gardens.
Challenging experiences with large trees shouldn't obscure the
valuable features of the maple family, and most importantly,
the desirable smaller species that are readily available. First,
here are some considerations about growing trees in a cold climate.
Most gardening books calculate mature growth statistics for
hardwood plants on optimum growing conditions in the geographic
centre of North America--and that could be a field in Zone 7.
The growing season in Canada is considerably shorter, with fewer
days of warm growing temperatures. We do have a healthy growing
environment and can produce lovely trees, but they will almost
always be smaller at maturity than gardening book figures for
height and width suggest. (The exceptions to this are the true
northern forest trees such as spruce, pine and hemlock.) Keeping
that in mind, there are several desirable, small maples suitable
for garden use; hybridzers have scaled down some of the large
maples with similar reductions in root mass.
Bigness is not a bad attribute in a plant, but there must be
space for the bigness without consuming all in its shadow. The
Norway maple, A. platanoides, would be happy in a meadow but
makes a terrible obstruction when set down next to a house.
Plant hybridizers have solved this problem (perhaps spurred
by personal experience) and given us a columnar maple, A. platanoides
'Columnare', with a possible height of 12 metres and spread
of four metres. (Sizes in this article are based on Zone 6.)
The shape of 'Columnare' is compact and upright, with branches
extending up rather than out. This is a reasonable size for
a specimen lawn tree, or a string of trees set along a fence
at least six metres apart. It would also find good use in the
corner of a lot to block out sight of a telephone pole.
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