Scarlet Maple?

21 years ago

Anyone know anything about this tree? I was asking the gardening expert at Home Depot for advice for a tree for my front yard. He suggested the "Scarlet" maple. Of course they didn't have one, but he said the other local nuseries should carry them. Buds and Blossoms as well as Dothan nursery have never heard of it.

I want a tree that will grow at a pretty good pace, that will have beautiful foliage, and will not grow to be gigantic. I was thinking of a Bradford pear. Dave (from home depot) said it was a lovely, fast growing tree; however, because it grew so fast it tended to be brittle. He advised that I would love it until a big windy storm came blowing through and my tree lost half its branches. And since there are so few trees in my neighborhood to serve as a barrier to the wind, this could create a problem. Any advice from your experts????

Thanks,

Becky

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Comments (4)

tony_pman
21 years ago
I bet he's talking about the red maple. The leaves turn red in the fall. It's a very good tree. The yellow maple and the silver maple are also good trees. The pear tree is out. Its pretty while small, but it does damage easily. The golden rain tree is a nice tree. The Japanese cherry or crabapple make nice trees. I have most of these plus a feww others. Tony
pfllh
21 years ago
Another thought is possibly the red Japanese Maple, the leaves are a cranberry color. Both the acer and lanceleaf are pretty as the leaves have a lacey appearance. They do grow at a good rate and do not get huge like the regular maples. I have both the red and the green and really like both.
You have more of a chance of getting some of those hurricane winds than I do in Prattville. Leftover Ivan twisted our largest Bradford and split it down the middle.
Lynn
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Seamus
21 years ago
If you want a true maple with bright foliage, look for "Autumn Blaze" or "October Glory". We recently replaced a pitiful example of the maple family (cheap builder specimen) with the "October Glory". Both of these have the beautiful, bright red foliage in fall. The difference between them is that the Autumn Blaze has larger leaves and is a more columnular shape (more vertical). October Glory has slightly smaller leaves and has a rounded shape to its canopy. That is what we bought and I think we will be very happy with it.

I don't know exactly where you live, but you can see some of these trees at a couple of places: In front of the Brio Tuscan Grill and Copper Grill Steak House at Brookwoord Village, and in front of the State Farm Building off to the left going 65 North.

You should be able to find these at any nursery that carries a fair variety of trees. We looked at Green Valley Farms (Hwy 17 near Montevallo), and John's Nursery (small nursery off Hwy 17/Cahaba Valley Road). Prices vary from $140 to $250 dependent on size of course.
gilisi
21 years ago
dave from home depot is right about bradford pears. these trees look great for a few years and then self destruct like they're on crack or something. I bought some scarlet maples that are about 5 ft. tall and look very healthy at collinsville trade day for $12.50 ea. a few wks ago. the leaves are light green lance shaped with a thin line of burgundy around the edges and they are supposed to turn shades of red in the fall.