Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
Sugar Maple is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
This entry comes from our curated library and has not yet been independently checked against outside sources. Curated is not unreliable: a standing audit keeps every entry internally consistent, and the source-by-source check is working through the whole library in the open.
Growing Sugar Maple
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–8. Expect it to reach about 59 ft tall and 39 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 25 years.
When to plant Sugar Maple
Plant Sugar Maple in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. For the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 8 range, spring means April to June and fall means August or September.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar: for the middle of its range, start with zone 5 in April.
Good to know about Sugar Maple
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.
Worth knowing
The classic syrup maple, and the only tree used commercially for syrup today. Tapped around age 40, roughly 32 gallons of sap make one gallon of syrup. per NC State
Zone range varies by source
NC State lists zones 3a to 8b for the full native range; Illinois narrows to 4 to 7 for reliable landscape use. Treat 4 to 7 as the sweet spot. per NC State and University of Illinois
A poor street tree
Unlike tougher maples, it can't take compacted soil, heat, pollution, road salt, cramped roots or drought. These cause leaf scorch and decline; give it a park or large yard. per NC State
Verticillium wilt is incurable
A soilborne fungus enters through the roots and plugs the water-conducting xylem, causing sudden wilting and one-sided dieback. Maple is a top host, and there is no cure. per NC State and Wisconsin
Not the horse-toxic maple
Despite the myth, this is the syrup maple, not the red maple ASPCA flags for horses. Red maple's wilted leaves are the hazard, not sugar maple's. per ASPCA
Unusually shade tolerant
Grows best in full sun but is remarkably shade tolerant for a big shade tree: a seedling can establish and climb up through an existing canopy. per NC State
What pairs well with Sugar Maple
Good companions share its growing conditions and add something it lacks: an earlier or later bloom, a lower carpet in front, or structure through winter.
Perennial Sunflower
Shares full sun and moderate water; both offer pollinator forage; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; both are native plants.
Joe Pye Weed
Shares full sun and moderate to high water; both offer pollinator forage; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; both are native plants.
False Sunflower
Shares full sun and moderate water; both offer pollinator forage; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; both are native plants.
Trumpet Vine
Shares full sun and moderate water; both offer pollinator forage; both are native plants.
Arborvitae
Shares full sun and moderate water; evergreen, so the bed keeps its shape through winter; both are native plants.
Feather Reed Grass
Shares full sun and moderate water; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
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