Sugar Maples: A Fan-Favorite Tree

Lou Meyer, business development manager for Davey's Mid-Atlantic region, joins Talking Trees to discuss why sugar maple trees are loved by arborists and tree lovers alike. Meyer also touches on sugar maple pests, different sugar maple variables and how sugar maples produce maple syrup. 

In this episode we cover:  

• Why do arborists love the sugar maple? (:49)
• Making space for a sugar maple in your yard (1:54)
• How are climate patterns affecting sugar maple populations? (2:35)
• Can sugar maples be treated if infected by Ambrosia beetles? (5:43)
• Are sugar maples still being planted in the Mid-Atlantic region? (7:08)
• Sugar maple variables (7:37)
• How do sugar maples produce maple syrup? (9:23)
• Maple cream pies (11:53)
• Can maple trees be pruned while they are sapping? (12:33)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To learn more about sugar maple sapping and pests/diseases, read our blogs, Tapping Doesn’t Seriously Damage Maple Trees (But Don't Plug Holes) and What Disease Is Killing My Maple Tree. 

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company 

Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com. 

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

Transcript

Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Companies podcast Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more, because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer. I'm joined again by our old friend Lou Meyer. He has been on the show many times.

He's a regional business developer for the Davey Tree Expert Company for the Maryland and DC area. Today, I am so excited because we're talking about a tree that just about every arborist I interview says is one of their favorites, and it's the sugar maple. How are you doing, Lou?

Lou Meyer: Doug, I am wonderful. So happy to be here with you once again.

Doug: Tell me about the sugar maple. Why does everybody love it so much?

Lou: It's a great question. It is in the top five of most arborists favorite trees. We're asked that question all the time, "What's your favorite tree?" I have to admit that mine moves around quite a bit. I usually have a favorite tree of the month or of the season. Sugar maple is my favorite right now, let's say that. The black walnut is up there as well, along with the hackberry. I love northern hackberries. The sugar maple is a favorite because it's so identifiable, its beautiful fall colors. Who doesn't like maple syrup? The flavor's fantastic. It is a widespread tree. We've all worked with them in one way or the other.

Doug: I always get asked, "What do you grow underneath a big sugar maple?" I say a bench.

Lou: [laughs] It's a perfect example, a bench, [inaudible 00:01:44] a pancake stand.

Doug: Because of those roots, right?

Lou: Yes. They are a surface species for sure.

Doug: As we always talk about on the podcast, if you're planting a sugar maple, be sure you have the space to plant a sugar maple.

Lou: Yes. A lot of people think of them as small trees. They go, "Oh, they're so tiny. When I put them in, I don't see many big ones." They can get upwards of 60 to 75 feet tall with a widespread. Now if you're in the forests of Vermont, they're going to be tall and skinny as any forest tree is, but if you're putting one in your front yard, they can get up to 40 or 50 feet in spread, definitely not a small tree. We put them in the medium to large at full growth for sure.

Doug: There are some concerns that I've heard from interviewing arborists about the change in climate and how it's going to affect sugar maple. Is that something that's on your radar?

Lou: It is. Here in Maryland where I am, we've seen some changes in the local sugar maple populations. We've seen some pests and diseases coming. Something that's important to understand is that tree health is directly influenced by weather. Trees have natural defense systems. Much like you or I have white blood cells as human beings, trees have natural defense systems also to fight off infestations of pests and diseases. When trees are stressed out from climactic change or weather events, those pests and diseases can get in easier.

Think of your house if you're a human being and your house is out of order, your furnace filter hasn't been changed in years, you got a bunch of pets-- I have dogs. I love pets, but you have a bunch of pets and there are danders everywhere, you haven't opened the windows in a while, you're going to have all sorts of breathing issues that can lead to asthma and other things. It all has to do with the condition of the environment that you are in. Trees are no different. When they are stressed out through weather events or other things, those pests and diseases get in. Yes, to get back to your question in a roundabout way, we are seeing some decline in the sugar maples here in the Mid-Atlantic region because of that. As the average temperatures rise, they are succumbing to pests. The ambrosia beetle is a big one that we've seen recently. There's a native ambrosia beetle and there is a non-native ambrosia beetle. Both of them are destructive.

The non-native one is just racing through these though. Now, sugar maples and oaks in this region, especially, you know it's an ambrosia beetle when you see little pinprick holes in the trunk and the sides of the tree and a very distinctive compacted sawdust that's coming out of the hole. It's the frass, which is a fancy way of saying insect poop, and the outcome of the sawdust as it's boring into the tree. It looks like spaghetti coming out of the sides of your tree.

It'll extend out about maybe an inch, inch and a half of the most, but you'll see these little blonde spaghettis coming out of the side, and that's the ambrosia beetle. Pear thrips are another pest that is affecting the sugar maples, and that's all over the place. That's not necessarily due to climactic change, but that's just one of their big nemeses. Pear thrips are a little insect that'll feed on the buds of the tree before they break. Then, when those leaves open up, they're just haggard. They're shredded. It looks like if you have a late frost, as the leaves are opening, it looks very similar to those pear thrips.

Doug: Is there anything you guys can do? Let's start off with the ambrosia beetle. Can the tree be treated?

Lou: Yes, the tree can be treated. As always, we recommend proactive treatment. That means watering your tree in times of drought, nutrient management programs to return nutrients to the soil that the tree needs. In our urban and suburban environments that most of us live and operate in, the soil is stripped of nutrients through development of the neighborhoods that we're in, and then through the cleanliness of our properties, our sanitization of blowing all the leaves off your property, pulling all the limbs off your property, those nutrients aren't recharging like they would in the forest.

Proper nutrient management is important, establishing appropriate mulch levels two inches deep, five to six inches from the trunk of the tree, never piled up against the trunk. All those things to proactively improve the tree's health so that it can fight off those pests and diseases better. Now, for things like the ambrosia beetle, we do treat for boring insects with products. If you know that they're coming through your area, if your sugar maple is in decline for whatever reason, preventatively treating for borers is a good measure.

Doug: In your region, in that Mid-Atlantic region, are you still planting sugar maples?

Lou: We are. They're still a viable species. They're a beautiful color. They have so many benefits beyond just sugar. We are still planting them. I'd have to say as far as design goes, I haven't seen as many being planted. The industry is pulling back some but it's still going strong.

Doug: When we say sugar maple, is there only just one sugar maple? Is that the identifier for it, it's the sugar maple? Or are there variables?

Lou: There are variables. The sugar maple itself, let's talk about that. The Acer Saccharum or Saccharinum, some people say, which is Latin for 'sharp sugar' which I find fascinating, from the sharp maple leaves and the sugar that it produces, is, I would say, a keystone species. It's really important. It's a native to the eastern United States of America, but it goes, I think, across the country not down south and not in the Pacific Southwest by any means, but from coast to coast, it is prolific.

That has been around forever. That's the bright orange leaves that you see in the fall, especially in the Northeast. It's the state tree of four states, New York, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Vermont. More than any other tree species. When we asked earlier, "Why do arborists love it so much?" It's not just arborists. People love it. It's a great tree. In the industry, we have created-- [unintelligible 00:08:47] we do create them, cultivars that have been bred for specific characteristics, size, more vibrant color, different leaf shapes, all sorts of things. We've doctored a number of trees and sugar maples are no different.

Doug: Is there any one of these other sugar maples that you particularly enjoy?

Lou: Not necessarily sugar maples. I love all of them. I know that's a cheap exit, but I really do. I think they're just a great species.

Doug: I'm assuming sugar maple means that's the one where you tap it for-- sap in the late winter and turn it into maple syrup?

Lou: That is exactly true. A lot of people think, "Oh, I'll just put this tap in the side and syrup will pour out." That's not quite the case. It usually takes about 30 to 50 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup. Yes, in the late winter, very early spring, here in the Mid-Atlantic, that is late February through mid-March is the sugaring season. Yes, you tap into it, you start drawing the syrup out. You can do it old-fashioned with a bucket hanging from a hook. The commercial syrupers have very complex systems of taps and hoses that will run for miles through a forest to collect just oodles of gallons of sap. A single tree-- Obviously, it's dependent upon size, but a single tree can make about 20 gallons of sap. When you think about that, it's about two mature trees to get one gallon of syrup, which can explain why Grade A pure maple syrup costs so much, but it's well worth it.

Yes, you pull that sap out, and then you boil it. On these sugar farms, you got the boil houses where they have these large trays that are heated. Historic ones have wood-fired stoves. It's a really cool, traditional way of doing it. They boil the syrup, and as the water evaporates, the syrup concentrates into what we would pour over our pancakes.

Then, beyond pancakes, the maple is used for different things. You can turn it into a sugar. You can boil it down to a solid. Thomas Jefferson actually experimented. He planted trees at his Monticello estate in Virginia, down by Charlottesville, with the intention of replacing cane sugar with maple sugar, the solid sugar. It's way too expensive because of the time spent, but it was an idea. Then, maple flavoring, obviously. My favorite dessert, my birthday pie-- My mother-in-law has done such a great job of learning this one, where she makes it as a maple cream pie, which is a tradition of the Northeast. Nothing makes me happier than a maple cream pie.

Doug: I'm not going to let you off that easy. Tell me about maple cream pie. I know this isn't about trees, but what is a maple cream pie? Because it sounds amazing.

Lou: Yes. Think of a chess pie. The custard of a pecan pie without the pecans on it, it's that with a maple flavoring into it. It takes a lot of maple syrup, but man, it's a sugary, maple-y taste with a flaky, buttery crust. You put a little homemade whipped cream on it, and it's top-notch.

Doug: Oh, wow. Next time I'm in Baltimore, you're going to have to figure this out. I want to try that.

Lou: I'll talk her into it.

Doug: When we're talking about the sugar maple and the way that they get sap out of it, does that affect the timing on pruning for that tree? Can you prune it during that period where it would be, I guess, is the term bleeding or--

Lou: Sapping, I think is the term.

Doug: Sapping?

Lou: That's what I would use. That's a great question. I don't think so. I think that you'd probably want to avoid it during that time specifically. I do know that they stop drawing sap out as soon as the leaves break. The reason why is the flavor of the sap changes unfavorably-- For whatever reason, when the leaves start breaking out, the sap, the flavor just go south. Most trees you want to prune in the dormant season. Late fall would probably be a good time for sugar maples as it's going into dormancy. The tree is less affected by the pruning at that point.

Doug: Lou, I want to thank you again. That was a great deep dive into sugar maple. I want to do all sorts of podcasts like this with you on different specific species. I think we'd have a lot of fun doing that.

Lou: Oh, you betcha. Absolutely. [inaudible 00:13:50].

Doug: I don't know about that black walnut though. You can't grow anything around a black walnut, right?

Lou: When we do that episode, I might change your mind about that.

Doug: [laughs] All right. That's what we call a tease in the business. Lou, thanks again. Always great to talk to you and we'll talk to you soon.

Lou: It's been my pleasure, Doug. Always great to be here with you.

Doug: Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company, I am your host, Doug Oster. Do me a favor, subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss a show. If you've got an idea for an episode or maybe a comment, send us an email to podcasts@davey.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S@D-A-V-E-Y.com. As always, we like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast, trees are the answer.

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