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Issue No. 133 - October 10, 2004
by Sue Sweeney
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A Norway maple has three effective ways of destroying your
lawn: dense summer shade, a smothering blanket of fall
leaves, and a choking network of surface roots. There are
mosses that will survive this onslaught, so treasure them.
The prolific Norway seedlings also wreck havoc in the yard
and surrounding garden. No one doubts that Norway maples
are beautiful: delicate lime-green flowers in spring,
handsome leaves in summer, butter yellow, or sometimes red
or orange in fall, graceful branches and trunks for the
winter. The Norway maples hold their leaves longer in the
fall than our native maples, providing late-season yellow
accents for bare tree branches and winter evergreens. (FYI:
Order of leaf turning: sugars, reds, Norway, silvers, then
Japanese) |
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Picture: Here’s a leaf just fallen to the
ground in the Hoyt Street Alley, Stamford, CT. Autumn 2003 |
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Norway maples aren't so bad in Norway because it's too cold
for them in most of the country but they have become one of
the most widespread trees in Europe, as well as being a
major pest in North America. Since the way we nurture our
lawns in the USA tends to be worse for the environment than
Norways are for our lawns, Norways wouldn't be so bad except
for their winged seeds (called “samaras”) that float off
into our woodlands and wreck havoc there. What kills your
lawn is also doing in our treasured woodland wildflowers. |
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| Picture: a host of baby Norway maples along the
Hoyt Street Alley, Stamford, CT. Spring 2004 |
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Norways were introduced to North America in the late
1700's. George Washington is said to have bought two
from a Philadelphia importer. They became widespread
around World War II when many were planted to
replace elms stricken by the Dutch Elm disease. It
seemed like a good idea at the time because Norways
are one of the faster growing hardwoods that do well
as street trees (handle pollution, live a long time,
have strong branches). The problems didn’t show up
until decades later when the mature trees and their
grown-up, escaped decedents proved themselves to be
lawn and forest killers. So many, many Norway
maples were planted along streets and in yards.
Years later, the average home owner sees the trees
gracing the neighbor’s yard and thinks: "nice tree,
but why don’t they take better care of their lawn?
They should put lime on the moss and re-seed under
the tree." The same person goes hiking in the woods,
and wonders about the lack of wildflowers. The
Norway maple's culpability only becomes clear once
it's been pointed out. |
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| Picture: Classic-shaped Norway leaf in mid-summer
rain, Bedford Street Stamford CT Summer 2003 |
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Recently, a reader wondered why garden and
landscaping professionals continue to recommend
environmentally-unsafe plants like Norway maples.
Equally intriguing is: why do homeowners buy them?
Of course, every person acts for his or her own
complicated set of reasons. But there are some
identifiable trends. In this area, I suspect
ignorance is a big one.
Plant nurseries and landscapers are no different
than other retailers: their first concern is to make
a living; not save the planet. They stock what they
think people will buy. And they have to consider
price. Fast growing, hardy plants are easiest to
mass produce, cheapest to sell, and have the fewest
returns and complaints. However, if they're aliens,
they also have the best chance of overwhelming the
more delicate local flora.
The plant retailers know that most homeowners
aren't expert horticulturists and are more
comfortable in choosing already familiar plants.
Just think of the overuse of Impatiens. Since baby
trees are relatively expensive long-term
investments, people are even more likely to want to
stick to the "tried and true". So, popularity begets
popularity, regardless of actual wisdom. This tends
most pronounced with trees because the problems
often don't show up for 20 to 50 years. Sort of like
smoking.
What we need to do is to demonstrate to our local
retailers ever chance we get that we want
sustainable agriculture and are willing to pay for
it. That means buying the organic, local-grown
produce in the store and farmers' market, and
planting non-invasive, low-chemical and water using,
wildlife-nurturing plants in the garden.
So how do you tell the Norways from our lovely
native sugar, red and silver maples? This is tougher
than you'd think because maples interbreed and
"cross-dress". For example, red maples are supposed
to have red stems but sometimes so do Norways,
sugars and sycamore maples. See Issue 134 (coming
October 17, 2004). |
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| Picture: Lime green Norway maple flower cluster
Strawberry Hill, Stamford CT, Spring 2004, |
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| Picture: spent Norway maple flowers carpet the
moss in a Stamford CT vest pocket park in late spring, 2003. |
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| Picture: Norway maple leaves blanket a Stamford
CT vest pocket park in autumn, 2003 |
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