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By Barbara Elmore,
HCMG
Shantung Maple, a Dressy
Little Tree |
If you are looking for a
tree to dress up a
smaller landscape,
consider the Shantung
Maple (acer
truncatum).
With a mature height of
25 feet and a width of
about 20 feet, it’s
perfect for a compact
area and offers enough
color and bark interest
to dress up either back
or front landscapes.
An added plus is that
horticulturalists with
Texas A&M University
have deemed the tree a
Texas Superstar. They
tested it for 12 years
of testing before
deciding it was a good
tree for most parts of
Texas. The only part of
the state it does not
like as well is far west
Texas because of the
lower humidity there. |
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The
Shantung Maple is native
to northern China and
resembles another Asian
favorite, the Japanese
Maple. You will see the
difference in the
Shantung Maple’s
delicate-looking,
five-lobed leaves that
make for a dense canopy. |
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Don’t be fooled by the
pretty leaves, however.
This grower is Texas
tough. It likes full
sun, tolerates the Texas
heat well and likes acid
and alkaline soils. |
Other bright spots of
the Shantung Maple:
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Although it likes full
sun, it does fine in
partial shade.
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It is drought- and
cold-tolerant
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It presents no disease
or insect problems,
which means
minimal maintenance
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Its water needs are
average.
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The mature bark is a
rough, tough corky
texture.
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Its tough limbs can
withstand a damaging
Texas ice storm. |
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The tree produces blooms
in mid-spring. In late
fall, the leaves turn
from yellow to orange
red. It is deciduous,
meaning it drops its
leaves, but cleanup is
easy. The Shantung
Maple’s size, beauty,
and tolerance of our
often-harsh summers make
it a hard tree to beat. |
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Photos courtesy of Keith
Johannson
www.metromaples.com |
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