A Funeral for a Maple Tree

A visit from the city arborist and a closer look at a foreign tree

The posting appeared on the maple one afternoon. “This gentle giant is retiring,” it read. That’s the way that the City of Pittsburgh’s Forestry Division likes to put it. It means that they’re getting ready to cut down the tree.

This Norway maple has towered in front of our house since we moved in and – judging by the looks of it – it’s been here for the past few decades. It’s sad to think of it coming down but it’s also clearly been limping along these past few years. At least half of its branches are no longer growing leaves and much of the trunk seems to be hollow.

Norway maples are native to Europe and Asia and they first put down roots in America in John Bartram’s Philadelphia garden in the mid-1700s. Soon Bartram was growing his own and offering them for sale through his catalog. Folks in America were used to sugar and silver maples but they were delighted by the exotic-seeming Norway maple which quickly became a popular ornamental tree. George Washington ordered two of the trees from Bartram in 1792.

Norway maples became a popular choice for street trees since they grow relatively quickly and fare well in snow, pollution and droughts. When Dutch elm disease struck in the twentieth century, nurseries were ready to fill the void with Norway maples.

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On our street it’s becoming clear why Norway maples may not always be a good choice for street plantings. Nearly all the Norway maples on our block are dying. We’ve already seen three cut down by the city in the few years we’ve lived here. Very few trees are equipped to live in a mostly paved environment where the only open patch of soil is a 2-foot-wide hell strip. The Norway maple has shallow roots which is good for capturing rainfall but bad for the state of our sidewalks and curbs.

The trees can grow ninety feet tall which is probably great in a European forest but less great when there are power lines crossing it. Every few years some crew comes through and lobs off the top of the tree, further weakening it. Every time a winter storm comes through, our Norway maple sheds a few branches. It also sheds hundreds of tiny helicopters every fall that quickly seed in our yard. Every spring I weed out a hundred tiny Norway maple trees. I won’t miss that.

I hope we’re home the day the city arborists come by because I’d love to keep part of the tree in our yard. Last summer when a neighbor cut down a tree, I lined the logs up along our sloped prairie to form a natural-looking barrier that keeps mulch and dried leaves in and dog pee out. It also offers a home to insects and a food source for woodpeckers.

Now it’s time to start thinking about what tree should take the place of our “gentle giant.” Norway maples can no longer be found on Pittsburgh’s “Approved Tree Species for Streets” list. There are a lot more native options on the list and a special section for trees that can be planted under power lines. They recommend redbuds, common smoketree and crabapples among others. Do you have any recommendations for a tree variety that we should plant in front of our house? Or any words of caution? I’d love to hear them.

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And one more thing: I love this time of year when our side yard erupts in blues and purples.

The ironweed is covered in blooms and pollinators.

It looks like the asters are just a few days away from blooming too.

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