The profile states that North American silver maple provides the raw material for maple syrup. Since the deciduous tree is tapped every year to harvest sap, it is therefore used to suffering. These instructions reveal whether the deciduous tree is just as easy to cut back.
How do you properly cut a silver maple?
To properly prune a silver maple, choose fall as the ideal time. Remove dead shoots on astring, oldest branches for rejuvenation, shorten branches that are too long and promote strong central shoots.
Preferred date is in autumn
So that the sap for maple syrup flows freely, the bark of silver maple is tapped in early spring. At this time the juice pressure is at its highest level. Since it is precisely this process that is harmful to professional pruning, autumn comes into focus as the ideal time. At the same time as the leaves fall, the sap pressure in the tree decreases for some time, so that an Acer saccharinum hardly bleeds out. The time window is open between November and the end of January as long as it doesn't freeze.
Cut silver maple carefully – you should pay attention to this
If a silver maple tree has enough space available, it will form its magnificent crown without annual topiary pruning. If the expansive growth was underestimated when planting, regular pruning will keep the tree under control. As long as the cutting area is limited to one- and two-year-old wood, an Acer saccharinum will continue to grow diligently. How to do it right:
- Thinning out the crown at intervals of 2 to 3 years
- Cut off dead shoots on astring
- In addition, cut out the two oldest branches in the sense of continuous rejuvenation
- To control size growth, shorten branches that are too long every year
- Ideally just cut back the growth from the previous year
In the Central European climate, silver maple naturally strives for multi-stemmed, shrub-like growth. In order to train the deciduous tree into a majestic standard, regular pruning is required in the first 10 to 15 years. They support the strongest central shoot in its unhindered development into a trunk if all vertical competing shoots are consistently removed. Furthermore, use the scissors to follow all the side shoots that sprout from the bottom of the trunk.
Tip
Botanists consider silver maple to be a shallow-rooted tree. As a result, when you transplant the tree, a significant amount of root volume is lost. You can compensate for this deficit by cutting back all branches by a third. If pruning is not carried out, stunted growth and infestation by weakness parasites are inevitable.
