Red Maple(s) when do they "spread out"?

[doctorragamuffin]

Hey everyone,

I've got two red maples in my front yard -- I've lived here 5 years and to be honest they don't seem to have really spread out a lot in that time. They're probably not too much older than the house (9 - 10 years), but I'm wondering -- at what point do they start to "spread"? Aren't they supposed to be spreading trees? They seem to truly grow straight up.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Is there any reason why one would seem to be leafing out already while the other is taking its sweet time? (Hasn't even gotten past seed yet??) I'm a bit alarmed. . .

Doc

[Newt]

Hi Doc,

If you are talking about Acer rubrum - red maple, they don't spread out.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/c...er_rubrum.html
http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/ACERUBA.pdf

Maybe what you have is a red leafed maple? Or do you have a Japanese maple? Got any pictures?

The variability of growth could be for many different reasons. The site itself maybe? Could it be one gets more sun then the other, one got more winter wind then the other, or they are genetically different and can be variable? Watch for any signs of pests or diseases. Sometimes it takes a bit of patience.

Newt

[Bud]

It really depends on which cultivar of japanese maple it is and the way you prune it.* In order to get a beautiful looking Japanese maple is to prune it well.* If your tree is kind of sparse on limbs it may be wise to prune it way back and then keep it pruned later every few inches to get the body it needs to speread out.**

[doctorragamuffin]

[align=left]Sorry to be so long in re-visiting this topic. . . been watching these maples carefully over the last year. . .[/align]
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[align=left]They're silver maples, by the way. . .[/align]
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[align=left]Be back later...any thoughts???[/align]
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[Newt]

Hi Doc,

Good to 'see' you again!* I stumbled across a site a while back that showed, over time, how trees improperly grown in the nursery due to crowding can effect the ultimate shape of the crown of the tree.* I can't find it now as I suspect it has been deleted from the Univ of Fla site.* It was photos of many different trees grown under different circumstances by Prof. Edward F. Gilman.* He's established guidelines now for nursery stock.
http://66.165.117.218/newspecs.asp

I did find this but it only has sketches for what I was referring to. Take a look at their page 13 here.
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/plan...s/g&s_1-27.pdf

Newt