I have a 10 feet Red sunset maple in a pot that I would like to plant at the south west side of my house to be used as a shade tree, you know to shade the house from the afternoon sun. My question is if I plant the tree in the intended location, the tree only gets the sun from noon to sunset, can it survive on this kind of condition ?
Appreciate if any expert in this group can share their experience.
I'm no expert but I had one in similar situation. I say "had" because it got so big it threatened the house and I had to cut it down. Frank
Sounds as if you have more than enough sun for it IMO. DK
It was a maple, but don't think it was a red maple. Important thing is you consider ultimate size of tree in relation to your house. Google indicates red maple will be 40-60 ft in 25 years. My tree was healthy but I had to trim one limb that was scraping garage roof and tree got so big, I was concerned that if it fell, it could cause considerable damage to house. Frank
Samples of maple shade tolerance on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most shade tolerant: red maple= 6.0-7.9 tolerant; sugar maple= 10 (most tolerant maple); boxelder= 1.8, very intolerant; silver maple=
5.8, intermediate.(Source: "Native Trees For Urban And Rural America, A Planting Design Manual For Environmental DesignersGary L. Hightshoe)
This is consistent with my experience. I planted a sugar and a red among hybrid poplars which quickly grew and shaded-out the maples. This was 1979. The poplars had to be removed as they were dying. The sugar thrived in the shade and is now about 50 ft. tall. The red, which is ordinarily faster than the sugar survived but is spindly and about 15 ft. tall. Other reds planted in partial sun averaged at least 3 ft. linear growth per year.
Jack
That's plenty of sun. What state are you in? I have one that receives very little direct sunlight. It's kind of under a tree canopy of other full grown distant trees. (planning for the future) ...So mine has grown slowly. I believe this tree has a very shallow root system. I lost another one I had to a strong wind which was already about 15 feet. Maybe these trees topple easily during storms due to the nature of the root system. So you might want to plant accordingly to which way most of the storms blow in your area. (would it blow away from your home or towards it?) I don't think they are very draught tolerant when they are young (depending on where you live). But they are a beautiful tree. Whether or not this is the most suitable shade tree for a smaller lot well that might be a good topic for discussion. You could plant the maple on another spot just for eye appeal and get something else instead for shade. I once saw a website that showed the silhouettes of tree shapes in black and their various appropriate use. For example; umbrella shaped etc. and it discussed various tree uses. Maybe you could find a website like that.
Respectfully,
Zebrin
I am from Southern Ontario, Canada, zone 6. We don't get too much wind in our area, so that shouldn't be a problem. Also here in the great white north the growing season is short, together with the fact that it only gets half day sun, I doubt it will grow at the rate of 3 feet a year as mentioned by another poster. I will be happy if it grows 1 feet a year. So 15 or 20 years later it will still be just a bit taller than my roof, not much of a threat to the house.
The red maple is one of my favorite tree. Another ones are northern red oaks, sweet gums, and serviceberry, which I plan to plant in some other spots around my house.
Can half a maple survive half as well half a day with half sun half the time?
Maybe if you used half strength fertilizer and you watered it only half as much half the time?
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