Extremely commonly grown trees!! In fact, they are often used as 'street trees' in new developments in my area. Red maples are native trees with one of the largest natural ranges of any tree species, so that indicates a huge adaptability for various planting conditions. But they prefer well drained but evenly moist soils on the acidic side of the soil spectrum. Once established, they can be quite drought tolerant but don't skimp on the watering for new trees for at least 2 (preferably 3) years.

Like any maple, they are prone to Verticillium wilt, so planting one where that is known to be an active pathogen will certainly limit or prevent the establishment.

btw, 'Autumn Blaze' is a Freeman maple, a hybrid between Acer rubrum (red maple) and Acer saccharinum (silver maple).

Thanks for the helpful info, gardengal. How do you know if Verticillium wilt is an active pathogen in your area? Maybe that's the problem I've been having.

Incidentally, the last red maple I planted had a split bark within the first week of planting (it may have arrived that way from the nursery, I'm not sure), and even though I taped up the bark, it never healed. That might have been a factor in the tree's demise as well.

So how you are supposed to know if Verticillium is an active pathogen in your area? Anybody know?

It would have caused the death of some other verticillium susceptible plant.....of which there are literally hundreds of species. It could very well be the reason previous maple plantings failed. You can also have the soil tested for that specific pathogen, however the pathogen is present in many, many soils although inactive - I'm not sure how they determine if the pathogen is dormant or active, though.

OK, thanks. Well, I guess I just won't be planting any more red maples. LOL.