Illustration
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
Sugar Maple is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
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 (not yet checked).
What this means
Written with AI assistance and not yet checked plant by plant against recorded sources, so treat every fact above as a starting point. Its scientific name was checked against botanical registries, an audit keeps its values consistent with the rest of the library, and a July 2026 review re-read the main facts of every plant then in the library against horticultural authorities without recording a source for each, which is why none of that counts as checked here. The source-by-source check is working through the whole library in the open, and a checked plant says so in this row.
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. In zone 5, the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 8, spring means April to June and fall means August or September.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 5, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 5 in April. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Sugar Maple get?
59 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult39 ftwideSee Sugar Maple in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Sugar Maple
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Sugar Maple about 39 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Sugar Maple to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Good to know about Sugar Maple
Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note. A note reports what its source says; where that differs from a fact above, the fact above is this entry's stored value, and its mark says whether it has been checked.
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; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; both are North American natives.
Joe Pye Weed
Shares full sun and moderate to high water; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; both are North American natives.
Arborvitae
Shares full sun and moderate water; evergreen, so the bed keeps its shape through winter; both are North American natives.
Colorado Blue Spruce
Shares full sun and moderate water; evergreen, so the bed keeps its shape through winter; both are North American natives.
False Sunflower
Shares full sun and moderate water; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; both are North American natives.
Feather Reed Grass
Shares full sun and moderate water; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
Maiden Grass
Shares full sun and low to moderate water; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds.
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.